Ten oz

I am all for life with parole. I think it is immoral to execute inmates. My point is that one side want execution and the other side wants life without parole. Those are the two positions. As such one cannot call life without parole a compromise. It is not. No one is asking for anything less.

Pro capital punishment advocates want people executed. Those opposed want life in prison with parole. Middle Ground or a combination of those two positions would have to be greater than life in prison without parole but less than execution; no such solution exists. One side or the other simply must get it there way.

That isn't the middle though. Everyone, Liberals included, agrees with that. Middle ground would be between that are killing the person.

You are saying economic prosperity as though it is a Universal term. In reality what is good for some isn't good for all. Moreover our goals simply are not the same and that is okay. People are free to want different things. This is an over used anecdote. Somethings don't have workable combination. There isn't a sensible middle ground with "Jews will not replace us". Something people simply need to stand for or against 100% without concessions. Jim Crow was a combination solution and it was wrong. What is the combination solution, the middle ground, for capital punishment? Some issue are just that black or white; alive or dead.

Numbers 11 and 12 are the primary reasons I support Democrats. When I first got into politics, first started paying attention and listening to the sales pitches, I considered myself a Republican. I accepted the notion the gay people didn't need to marry in that marriage was a religious thing. I felt legal recognition of partnership was fine. While education is important I felt people had plenty of choices and no one is forced to take on debt to get an education. I believed that what a livable wage was varied greatly by locality and it should be up to cities and states to determine and not the federal govt. I believed consumers had the purchasing power to endorse alternative energy by purchasing solar, more efficient devices, and etc. I was not to the left on many issues at all. Then I moved from San Francisco, CA to Boise ID and quickly realized that Racism and a deep sense of privilege was at root in the Republican base and platform. In San Francisco there weren't a lot of Republicans. The few I dealt with were always very well read and care when presenting their views; nuanced positions that centered around law and the importance of freedom/choice. In Boise were liberals didn't exist I encountered Republicans all day ever day who made no secret their positions centered around the idea that only white Christians (to include Mormons) were "Real Americans" and that only Real Americans should have a say in society. While living in Boise it was common for people to use the N-word in casual conversation. Normal hear people use gay slurs and joke about HIV/AIDS. I realized the careful nuanced positions I heard Republicans in San Francisco argue were just facades. The base of the Republican party are bigots who believe all minorities, LGBT, and women should exist is subservient positions in society to white christian males. I literally heard as much stated numerous times while living in Boise. Moreover the trend repeated as I have lived different places. When I lived in San Diego Republicans were careful and had nuanced positions. When I was in rural VA it was back to commonly hearing racial slurs. Now I am in Washington DC. I do not agree with the entire Democratic platform. I vote for Democrats because I find them to be honest and it is easy to work with honest people.. As I have traveled the country I found Democrats to hold the same talking points and positions everywhere. Behind closed doors and among themselves their nature doesn't shift. I believe Republicans to be totally dishonest. The party launders racism into the mainstream in trade for a voting base that will turn a blind eye to corruption. I am 100% opposed to their vision for America. The growth of social media and online forum has really driven this point home. Read what's said by anonymous liberals & conservatives then read what is said among those who aren't anonymous. The nature of conservative positions shift to very dark places when anonymous. Liberal positions remain identical. I Republicans simply aren't sincere .

Unfortunately many average people do not realize how markedly different the best interest of wealthy is from their own. The belief is a rising tide lifts all ships. That the same forces which enable the wealthy to get wealthier will also enable middle income people to advance too. It is a huge error. For those who have capital recessions are buying opportunities. Depending on how one makes their money recessions are extremely useful. When the economy is bad it creates more renters. Those who own property are able to use those renters to subsidizes their real estate ventures and make money. What's good for billion dollar business vs small business; big box stores and Walmart thrive in bad economies because people can't afford to shop at small local Deli's, Cafe's, Bakeries, and etc where the quality is better but the prices are a bit more. Walmart wins when price is the primary focus of consumers rather than quality. What's good for Walmart is terrible for small business. The Walton Family is worth 145 billion dollars. Same goes for fast food. More people eat out at McDonald's when their wallets are tight and are less likely to try some family owned Thai restaurant or whatever. That doesn't make wealthy people evil. That isn't my point. Rather people need to understand that what's good for some isn't good for all. There are industries and people who are better off in a bad income than in a good one. People who make their living buying foreclosed homes on the cheap, renting them out till their investment is covered, and then selling for full price. Every market doesn't want to see a strong middle class. So when policy is being discussed we have to be mindful of how the people taking make their money. Identify if whats good for Nurse or Teacher would also be good for them rather than just assume if would be.

Robert Mueller was appointed FBI Director by Bush 's first year after Bush pressured Louis Freeh to resign and Mueller remained Director through Obama's full first term. As investigations into Benghazi, Fast Furious, and etc kicked around Obama never threatened investigators, fired career govt employees, or etc. Clinton has sat under oath before Congressional panels led by Republicans and answered questions. So did Holder, Lynch, Susan Rice, and etc. Obama could have claimed executive privilege and kept them from having to testify but he did not. Obama was always careful not to interfere with legal proceedings or investigations. When people attempt to equate what Trump is do to what Hillary Clinton or Obama did they do so from a position of extreme bias. What Trump is doing to the FBI is unprecedented in modern (post WW2) time. We have never seen it before.

We had Tax cuts in 1981,1986 , 2001, and 2003. Below are charts showing GDP, Unemployment, annual budget deficit, and the average hourly wage through the periods of tax cuts to today.

Yes, obstruction of justice in the Russian investigation. What are you confused about. Just Google Trump and obstruction of justice. You'll get millions of related links.

I do not believe that age makes a person smarter. However when it comes to long standing Political talking points time provides lots of experience. You are in highschool. You have not lived through the execution of these thing. None of this is new. Since I very first started following politics I have heard Republicans say we need lower taxes. Election cycle after Election cycle. When the economy is bad Republicans say we need a tax cut. When the economy is good Republicans say we need a tax cuts. No matter what the issue or environment Republicans always want tax cuts; always. Republicans have been in power before. Republicans have cut taxes before. All this has been done before. It doesn't wirk. Go back and look at annual deficits under Reagan and Bush 41, look at GDP and job Creation then compare it to Clinton. Do the same for Bush and Obama. Tax cuts have no lasting positive impact.

You are just being argumentative. Trump is being investigated for Corruption of Justice. We already know for a fact people in his cabinet lied to the FBI; Flynn has already pled guilty to it. Saying that all senior FBI people are political is just a bit of Whataboutism. The President doesn't have the right to obstruct justice. His attacks against the FBI and senior members of DOJ are meant to disrupt their ongoing investigation. It is illegal. It doesn't matter whether you think FBI and DOJ officials are Politicians first or not.

"Some experts, officials, and members of Congress have contended that her use of private messaging systemsoftware and a private server violated State Department protocols and procedures, as well as federal laws and regulations governing recordkeeping. In response, Clinton has said that her use of personal email was in compliance with federal laws and State Department regulations, and that former secretaries of state had also maintained personal email accounts, though not their own private email servers. After allegations were raised that some of the emails in question contained classified information, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) initiated an investigation regarding the origin and handling of classified emails on Clinton's server." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton_email_controversy The FBI only got involved because of the accusations made by Republican in Congress. I will not waste time debating the fact in depth as it is off topic. I only mentioned it to point out that Republicans are now attacking agents for their handling of the Clinton probe despite that fact that Republicans were the reasons the probes existed in the first place.

Which means what. All agencies are ran by humans. Does that mean we should tolerate all Political mistreatment? Do you honestly not think Trump is disrupting there ability to do their job?

Let's not forget that it was Republicans that insisted Hillary Clinton be investigated in the first place. Now years, millions of dollars, and countless man hours later it is Republicans criticizing those they tasked investigating for not reaching the desired Political outcomes Republicans wanted. It is abusive to those agencies. DOJ and the FBI need to be able to function by the letter of the law and not as a political tool.

Firing the Director, bullying the deputy director, and demagoguing field agents (Strzok and Carter) negatively impacts the whole agency. Additionally Politically pressuring agencies, as Trump has done to both the DOJ and FBI, to investigate his political rivals wastes agencies resources. It isn't only the highest level people. Thousands of agents can be involved in investigations. Trump is politicizing both agencies and it has detrimental impacts on their abilities to function.

FBI members are Politicians? The FBI investigates federal crimes. The are federal law enforcement officers. A local police officers jurisdiction ends at the city line. FBI are able to handle things that cross state lines. They investigate serial killers, terrorists, drug dealers, human trafficking, fraud, and etc. There is nothing inherently Political about them.

Until some time passes it will be difficult to say definitively that the most recent taxes cuts are positive or negative. The Administration own stated goal to offset the deficit increases is GDP of 4% annually. So we can see if that metric in met. We have seen rounds of tax cuts over the decades. Taxes prior to the changes were already lower than the average going back to WW2. The Reagan and Bush tax cuts didn't improve anything. Average pay has continued to be flat while corporate profits and productivity grew. With a few years of Reagan and Bush's tax cuts we experienced recessions. So history doesn't seem to indicate that tax cuts help average workers.

I am amazed at how quickly Republican voters have fallen in line. A year or two ago if you had told me that Republicans would be openly demagoguing Law Enforcement agencies I wouldn't have believe it. Republicans have normally been the party that held up law enforcement officials as Heroes.

Many people have been warned in various threads to stay on topic. I specifically want to address the attacks the White House has launched on members on the FBI and DOJ. Which already existing thread do you believe this fits into? The Deputy Director of the FBI resigned yesterday amid pressure. So it isn't as though this isn't timely. His National Security Advisor lying to the FBI about Russia is nothing? The former FBI Director testifying under oath that Trump asked for loyal and for him to drop the investigation into Flynn's activity is nothing? Trump Jr and Kushner meeting with what they understood to be Russian intelligence to get dirt on Clinton is nothing? His National Security Advisor has already pled guilty. Hard to imagine any administration nit being investigated under these circumstances. It was his own Attorney General who recused himself that led to the independent investigation. A move celebrated at the time by both Republicans and Democrats. Any Politician's policies "might" work. That is no excuse to ignore the law. Where did I mention race or Racism?

In the past year we have seen the Acting Attorney General Sally Yates fired and the Director of the FBI fired. Trump openly attacked the current Attorney General Jeff Session and the DOJ on twitter and in interviews for not investigating his political rivals until they relented and launched new probes into Hillary Clinton. Now the Deputy Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe ,whom's wife Trump has attacked on social media, has resigned. Meanwhile the House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines to release a classified memo Republicans believe show corruption within the FBI. Comey has already testified under oath that Trump had told him he expect loyalty. Trump has openly lamented that he never would have made Sessions Attorney General if he knew Session would recuse himself in the Russia investigation. The pattern is clear. Trump wants the DOJ and FBI to be political loyal to him personally and has actively sought to disrupt any investigations into his (Trump's) wrong doing. The abuse of power is rather self evident yet it doesn't seem as though there is any recourse. Provided Congress supports the behavior is a POTUS above the law? Is there any constitutional avenue members of the DOJ or FBI can pursue to shield themselves? When Black Lives Matter where growing support a lot of people on the right insisted that Police were hero's doing a tough job. Blue Lives Matter and All Lives Matter sprung up to counter Black Lives Matter. If people just did what they were told, followed instructions, all would be fine many argued. Republicans complained that Police Officers around the country were under attack. What incredible hypocrisy that they now standby silently has Trump tar and feathers the DOJ and FBI. James Comey started his career in law enforcement in 1985, Andrew McCabe in 1996, and Sally Yates in 1989. The DOJ and FBI employee people who have spent decades on the job working under multiple different administration now see their service challenged to protect Trump.

Than as I mentioned before, and you denied, you want to see less immigration period. To include legal immigration. The changes you reference and Trump has proposed would limit legal immigration. Trump's proposal would make nearly 2 million of those you call illegal in trade to limit future legal immigration.

Trump hasn't even passed a Budget yet and the tax cuts haven't been law long enough to to have impacted anything either way. The strength of the U.S. Dollar was down 10% in 2017, GDP for the final quarter of the year fell short of the 2.9% expectations and well short of Trump's goal of 4%, less jobs were created in 2017 than in 2016, but the stock market just keeps climbing. One major change is the way the economy is being discussed. To prevent Obama from getting credit Republicans insisted the economy was terrible throughout his time in office. Now that Trump is in office they applaud the economy. So without a major party complaining around the clock about the economy it is seems everyone finally agrees the economy is okay. That along with the tax cuts, changes to military retirement, and the promise of deregulation has the stock market soaring. Typically bad news like failing to meet GDP expectations cause the market to dip yet it just raced right along past that information. I am not sure what it all means. With the tax cuts in effect and a budget in place (maybe) 2018 should provide better insight regarding what impacts Trump is or is not having on our economy. - U.S.Dollar is down https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/25/us-dollar-slammed-as-mnuchin-abandons-strong-dollar-mantra.html -GDP for the 4th quarter https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/26/business/economy/gdp-economy.html -Job creation by year https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0000000001?output_view=net_1mth

Having leaders who are liars, racists, and etc have bigger and more long term impacts than the apologists care admit. For the middle age and above voter who supports Trump some of it is just a bit of fun and way to thumb their nose as long standing political rivals. For younger people, those in their formative years, it leads to distrust in officials, society overall, and angst. Since Trump even began his campaign bullying of minorities and immigrants rose all across the country. The pain and anger caused as kids fight on playgrounds our political rhetoric they don't even understand will have negative impacts for generations. It is easy for adults to dismiss Trump lying about his weight, crowd sizes, paying off porn stars, and etc but for kids who are being taught at school (and home hopefully) that lying is bad the contradiction has different psychological implications. I have read many stories about kids at school using Trump quotes to bully students. White students chanting at minorities "build the wall". Trump's actually words and what he means by them are literally incendiary enough that kids can use his quotes to bully each other with. When I really stop to think about it, to compare it to my childhood, it is nuts!! No kids ran around chanting "Gorbichaf tear down this wall" or "read my lips no new taxes" as a means of attacking other each other. Kids didn't know or care about political slogans. I had no idea who my teachers had voted for, my friends parents had voted for, and didn't care. Today that has changed. Trump's divisiveness has separated the whole country into us vs them. It is negatively impacting the way we treat other. As if that weren't bad enough there is the attacks on science and media. If I were 12yrs old today I have know idea what I would be thinking. I have no idea what it means for the long term but I am worried. http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/336582-kids-quote-trump-to-bully-each-other-at-school-report

I wasn't insisting it needed a political angle but rather am confused as to why it isn't in Quantum Theory rather than politics.

That and they are already so heavily invested in Fossil Fuel. Building an offshore platform isn't cheap. Beyond future profits they would lose incredible amounts of money they have already invested in the infrastructure needed to produce Fossil Fuels. In my opinion those investments serve as a point of no return for some. They simply have so much skin in the game they'd do anything to protect themselves. Of course they can never make enough to be whole, never be able to leave the casino ahead, so they continue. Average people don't have to play along though. Don't have to subsidise the fossil fuel industry. People can choose solar for their homes and slowly wean the residential market off fossil fuel.