On the government shutdown front, shit just for interesting: We may see GOP moderates vote with the - Polidicks

[QUOTE=BrickInHead;42362867]heads up the american system is literally designed to be this inefficient and slow to change. deal with it. more parties in the us would only mean dumb issue advocacy and would only serve to encourage logrolling. which is bad. corrupt. and stupid as shit. [editline]30th September 2013[/editline] also we see here a post by gunfox, with a fundamental misunderstanding of what a government "shutdown" entails (protip: go look at the gov' shutdown under clinton for better information)[/QUOTE] Look up the Soviet Union. This is how it fell. Massive spending, huge over sized military budget, increasingly divisive internal politics. One day it was simply no longer viable. Government shutdowns under Clinton sucked, but were calculated risks and the nation wasn't economically fucked at the time. A government shutdown when you are economically so far in the hole, like we are now, means there is a chance you don't come out of it. Stocks will tank and you can suffer a complete economic meltdown coupled with a failure of your national credit rating. The potential dangers of this shutdown are massive. I think we will scrape by, but it is going to hurt us pretty bad if it goes through. We don't have much more of this left. We like to assume we are invulnerable, but this is getting serious. [editline]30th September 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=LordCrypto;42362945]hi i'm gunfox who thinks a government shutdown entails literally ceasing to become a state[/QUOTE] No but the economic, political, and military union which binds us, the individual states, becomes extremely tenuous however.

[QUOTE=GunFox;42363750]Look up the Soviet Union. This is how it fell. Massive spending, huge over sized military budget, increasingly divisive internal politics. One day it was simply no longer viable. Government shutdowns under Clinton sucked, but were calculated risks and the nation wasn't economically fucked at the time. A government shutdown when you are economically so far in the hole, like we are now, means there is a chance you don't come out of it. Stocks will tank and you can suffer a complete economic meltdown coupled with a failure of your national credit rating. The potential dangers of this shutdown are massive. I think we will scrape by, but it is going to hurt us pretty bad if it goes through. We don't have much more of this left. We like to assume we are invulnerable, but this is getting serious.[/QUOTE] If we bounce back after a day or two, it won't be so bad. The real shark in the waters is going to be the debt ceiling issue. If we default, that's going to create a hellstorm much worse than the shutdown.

[QUOTE=Bentham;42363780]If we bounce back after a day or two, it won't be so bad. The real shark in the waters is going to be the debt ceiling issue. If we default, that's going to create a hellstorm much worse than the shutdown.[/QUOTE] Oh that is certainly the next clusterfuck. I don't look forward to that.

[url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/30/politics/shutdown-showdown/index.html?hpt=hp_t1]A shutdown is imminent though.[/url]

[QUOTE=GunFox;42363750]Look up the Soviet Union. This is how it fell. Massive spending, huge over sized military budget, increasingly divisive internal politics. One day it was simply no longer viable. Government shutdowns under Clinton sucked, but were calculated risks and the nation wasn't economically fucked at the time. A government shutdown when you are economically so far in the hole, like we are now, means there is a chance you don't come out of it. Stocks will tank and you can suffer a complete economic meltdown coupled with a failure of your national credit rating. The potential dangers of this shutdown are massive. I think we will scrape by, but it is going to hurt us pretty bad if it goes through. We don't have much more of this left. We like to assume we are invulnerable, but this is getting serious. [editline]30th September 2013[/editline] [B]No but the economic, political, and military union which binds us, the individual states, becomes extremely tenuous however.[/B][/QUOTE] welcome to the sliding scale of gunfox went from "literally ceases to exist" to "we're still existing but tense" wherever will it go next!!

[QUOTE=GunFox;42363798]Oh that is certainly the next clusterfuck. I don't look forward to that.[/QUOTE] I dread it. I mean the shutdown sucks, but I don't expect (and I hope I'm not proven wrong by these imbeciles) it to last longer than a few days. If it does, my family is going to be in a lot of trouble financially, because both my parents work for government funded entities. Enough people are deluded about what the debt ceiling is though, that we very well might fuck that up too.

[QUOTE=GunFox;42363750]Look up the Soviet Union. This is how it fell. Massive spending, huge over sized military budget, increasingly divisive internal politics. One day it was simply no longer viable.[/QUOTE] The United States has people sent to prison for disagreeing with the government, no free market, their constitution directly calls for the state to be communist, has third world standards of living, barely any roads, complete control of the internet, and is a dictatorship?

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;42363859]The United States has people sent to prison for disagreeing with the government, no free market, their constitution directly calls for the state to be communist, has third world standards of living, barely any roads, complete control of the internet, and is a dictatorship?[/QUOTE] Thanks Obama.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;42363859]The United States has people sent to prison for disagreeing with the government, no free market, their constitution directly calls for the state to be communist, has third world standards of living, barely any roads, complete control of the internet, and is a dictatorship?[/QUOTE] Highest incarceration rate of pretty much anywhere, a market controlled heavily by massive corporate interests, a constitution that is no longer being adhered to, a remarkably significant control over the internet both in and outside of the US, and is lead by a seething mass of morons that we like to pretend are the result of democratic processes. Plenty of roads though. Fuck yeah, take that commies.

I think the It's Happening Ron Paul gif would be appropriate right now to illustrate how well the US Government is doing right now.

People need their welfare, and believe me, shit will happen if this country doesn't get it. My family relies on it, a ton of people rely on it. The US will be devastated if welfare is permanantly shut down. Especially shit like medicaid and foodstamps.

[QUOTE=GunFox;42363911]Highest incarceration rate of pretty much anywhere, a market controlled heavily by massive corporate interests, a constitution that is no longer being adhered to, a remarkably significant control over the internet both in and outside of the US, and is lead by a seething mass of morons that we like to pretend are the result of democratic processes. Plenty of roads though. Fuck yeah, take that commies.[/QUOTE] want a time plane ticket to soviet russia?? look we may be not as good as you would like, but we're better than the USSR jesus christ

[QUOTE=GunFox;42363911]Highest incarceration rate of pretty much anywhere, a market controlled heavily by massive corporate interests, a constitution that is no longer being adhered to, a remarkably significant control over the internet both in and outside of the US, and is lead by a seething mass of morons that we like to pretend are the result of democratic processes. Plenty of roads though. Fuck yeah, take that commies.[/QUOTE] We lasted longer, doesn't make us completely stable, though. Corruption, greed, apathy, ignorance are things that will not go away, and are the consequences of a 'free' society. Not saying we're anything near as bad as soviet russia, but we have problems that need to be fixed.

[QUOTE=lifehole;42363927]People need their welfare, and believe me, shit will happen if this country doesn't get it. My family relies on it, a ton of people rely on it. The US will be devastated if welfare is permanantly shut down. Especially shit like medicaid and foodstamps.[/QUOTE] If I remember correctly Kansas and Oklahoma (I think) have done away with food stamps.

[QUOTE=GunFox;42363911]Highest incarceration rate of pretty much anywhere, a market controlled heavily by massive corporate interests, a constitution that is no longer being adhered to, a remarkably significant control over the internet both in and outside of the US, and is lead by a seething mass of morons that we like to pretend are the result of democratic processes.[/quote] No sorry. The USSR in 1990 is not remotely comparable to the USA in 2013. The market is a million times more free than in the Soviet Union. A lot of people are in jail but it's not for being outspoken against the government. The constitution is still being adhered to (your entire legal system is still running the same so I don't know what crap this is). Regulation of the internet in the US is nothing on the level of what a country like China does, and yes, America is democratic. Like it or not, Democracy is an arms race for popular ideas, and if the people speak, those policies must be enacted. Overall, democratic countries do better than any other, and the USA is considerably democratic.

About the debt ceiling shit coming right up after this, is it or is it not possible for Obama to raise it unilaterally?

[QUOTE=AJisAwesome15;42364104]About the debt ceiling shit coming right up after this, is it or is it not possible for Obama to raise it unilaterally?[/QUOTE] no, He still has to go to congress for that.

The house will likely be the only real hurdle to raising the debt ceiling, and I imagine they will try one more time to hold us hostage with Obamacare as the bartering piece [editline]30th September 2013[/editline] If anyone is watching CSPAN right now, the democratic senators are getting heated during a QA [editline]30th September 2013[/editline] Politics tonight in a nutshell: Senate: Hi, yes, I'd like a burger with no pickles please. House: Yo Mikey, order up, burger with extra pickles Senate: No no, no pickles, please take it back and get my order correct House: Yo Mikey, too many pickles, put half as many Senate: No, you idiot, no pickles, I won't take it with pickles House: Can we negotiate a couple pickles? Sorry I'm really drunk right now Senate

Midnight on the west coast. Did it happen?

The US government has been shut down. FELLOW BRITS, SEIZE THE OPPURTUNITY AND TAKE HAWAII!

its pure anarchy where I am, looting and riots everywhere im currently firing a handgun into the crowd wildly as I post

[QUOTE=pentium;42364362]Midnight on the west coast. Did it happen?[/QUOTE] [quote] At roughly 12:30am House will have next vote series on the rule. At approx 2:00-2:15 am we will have our final vote series of the day. — Erica Elliott (@ericaelliott) October 1, 2013[/quote]

Yep, White House Budget Office directs Federal Agencies to shut down.

[QUOTE=Judas;42364376]its pure anarchy where I am, looting and riots everywhere im currently firing a handgun into the crowd wildly as I post[/QUOTE] I don't know why, but this is the hardest ive laughed at a post in a long time

[QUOTE=pentium;42364362]Midnight on the west coast. Did it happen?[/QUOTE] It's happening.

The amount of violence in the street outside right now is indescribable

[QUOTE=Medevila;42364439]I can't tell if you're joking or..? It's not like there aren't police[/QUOTE] there are not police [editline]1st October 2013[/editline] its carnage im telling you [editline]1st October 2013[/editline] CARNAGE

oh fuck looters breaking down my door right now i hope i have time to

There are no police, just bands of raiders pillaging the town as I speak. I can't even hear Obama's drones anymore.

I can hear the explosions from here.