I wish it had been Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold. Littleton, CO would be better for it.

In school, I was bullied too. Here's the kicker - my dad was a cop, gunsmith, and holder of a Federal Firearms License. Yes, that means he sold guns.

My home had guns stacked like cordwood. I'm not exaggerating. I had my first rifle at age 11 and became very proficient - most of the guys on the force considered my dad the marksman of the group. Probably came from his stint in the military, but whatever. I think you get the picture. I knew my way around most guns, could hit what I wanted to, and had easy access to weapons of all sorts.

Here's the thing. I never took the bully's shit. They called me a name, I embarrassed them. They put a tack on my chair, I stabbed them in the kneecap with my automatic pencil. By the time I got to the back half of high school, I had no problems with people whatsoever.

You see, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold just sat there and took it. They tried to find an outlet for their rage - video games, violent movies, blowing stuff up in the woods - but in the end, it was never enough. Because they never learned to send the evil back where it came from.

Hate is like acid. Try to contain it, and you become the only thing that can hold it - glass. And when you do shatter, it gets really damn messy.

Eric and Dylan shattered. I never did, because I realized a long time earlier that holding it in was the path to self-destruction.

This is something politicians of all stripes do with concepts they're considering.

You have some odd group, loosely connected with the mainline, release a paper on some odd policy shift. You immediately decry the readiness of the idea, but never actually put the idea down.

Then, you sit back and watch what people do with it. Do your party bigwigs panic? Does your base embrace it? What do the major money sources say about it?

If you watch politics long enough with an eye for this sort of thing, you'll see this done everywhere.

So, considering it's the Republicans, I'm sure Reince Priebus and a few others will be monitoring talk radio, Breitbart, and the major news outlets to see how this is received. They'll also poll their elected officals to see if anyone called/wrote in about it.

So, if you like this, TALK ABOUT IT. Call into Rush Limbaugh or your local version of it. Call or email your R representatives, if you have any. Tell them you like this. Highlight the positives. Talk it up. Argue for it!

Keep in mind that the Republicans are, *right now*, reevaluating their platform for ideas that get people elected. Instead of being a snarky ass, this is a great time to show them that thoughts like this could get them the "youth vote". If you're willing to shed some of your preconceptions about politics in general and Republicans in particular, that is.

Why not use buttons?

Because you don't run out of buttons on a touchscreen.

Think of it this way: at my poll this year, I have 7 options for President. Even if you break down each race to its own screen, what's the likelihood you'd build in as many as 7 buttons, considering our 2-party system? Sure, you could put some candidates to "page 2", but imagine the whining and lawsuits those candidates would subject us to....

(and for the curious, the parties represented for President are Republican, Democratic, Constitution, Libertarian, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Socialist Equality Party, Green Party)

Barack Obama (as proxy for Harry Reid) pulled the plug on that one.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/8012171/President-Barack-Obamas-Yucca-Mountain-decision-is-a-blow-to-US-nuclear-power.html

We'll see if it ever moves again. Hopefully someone along the way will have more sense than this.

This canard about wanting to redistribute from the "Middle Class" to "fat-cats" is one of the oldest lies of leftists.

Since this is Slashdot, let's reach for a car analogy. Namely, the shade-tree mechanic.

One guy, with a basic chest of tools, can do a certain amount of work per day under his shade tree. A couple of brake jobs and an oil change or two is the most he'll do in a typical day. This work might net him $100 in profits on a day, assuming he can stay busy. Keeping a 5-day work-week, that's $500 a week, $26,000/year assuming he's in a climate without extreme heat/cold, or snow or rain, to slow him down. That also doesn't include the cost of wearing out tools, retraining for new tech, etc. And of course, the shade tree doesn't pay for health care, Social Security's employer-share, or a pension.

Now throw in a capitalist. This guy has a garage, full set of tools including dealership-quality diagnostics, hydraulic lift, engine lift, tire mounting station, and so forth. Our intrepid mechanic can now do anything from rebuilding an engine or transmission to high-speed oil changes with the bulk oil filler and waste oil drain. Darkness and heat/cold are no longer obstacles to his work, and the visibility/professionalism of the location allows for steadier work. The shade tree mechanic is now worth $42,830 on average (according to BLS in May 2010).

So yes, the capitalist owning the garage is making money off the shade-tree mechanic. But the garage owner is also assuming all the risk, tax implications, benefits costs, maintenance/upkeep costs and advertising cost. And the mechanic has roughly doubled his income (remember, $26,000 is an impossibly ideal situation) off the capabilities the capitalist brings to the party.

This is what we call a win/win. And it's the part the knee-jerk left-wingers refuse to see. If you can't see how capitalism has lifted our intrepid mechanic out of poverty, you're just willfully blind.

Actually, the Libertarians are having a strong effect on the Republican party. You'll notice that Ron Paul debated on the stage with the other Republican candidates, and got a strong response. The effect is usually sneered at as "The Tea Party". But if you look at any candidate labeled as a Tea Party candidate, you'll see a strong libertarian streak.

Furthermore, it's worth noting that, just before the Civil War, the Republicans WERE the 3rd party. The bad thing about a 2-party system is that, no matter who the 3rd-party is, if they get strong they eventually become one of the 2. The good thing about a 2-party system is that some fringe group (like the Greens or Austria's Freedom Party) can't hold the coalition government model hostage in order to advance their narrowly-supported agenda.

Stop repeating that lie. It's over 6 months from Franken's TrunkO'Votes' seating on July 1 2009 to Scott Brown's seating on January 19 2010.

Obamacare was introduced to the House on October 26 and passed on November 8. Even though your concerns about Senate members don't apply here, what was done in July, August, September, most of October, most of November, and in December?

Working hard there, I see.

The Senate created a version of that bill inside another bill on November 18, and passed it on December 24. What did they do during July, August, September, October, half of November and half of January?

I guess a budget would be too much to ask for.

Presidents are the de facto leader of their party. If Romney pushes a tax plan and the Republicans control the House (which they almost certainly will), then Romney's plan will pass.

In President Obama's first two years, Republicans didn't even have the votes in the Senate to do a filibuster, and were also the minority party in the House.

How did his tax policy fare?

When you need to cut costs in a country, you can't simply shed citizens to save money

This highlights the problem - you're projecting citizens to be employees of the government. They are, in truth, both owners and customers of government.

It is not the place of government to "find jobs for all of the ex-" whatever. Instead, by being as minimal and clear as possible, government helps create the sort of conditions and marketplaces where people can thrive doing business.

1. If no one can prove, or ask me to prove, that I'm not who I say I am, then what's the risk? Hey, prove the world is round. But gather no evidence. Good luck.

So, since you asked, I'd rather commit the fraud no one's going to look at - which is to say, show up at the poll, tell them I'm Snoopy Brown at 123 Any Street, show that that name/address is on the voter roll, vote, and walk away. Or hell, I can walk in, same-day register, cast a ballot that will be counted, and walk away. No one will find me, or even look.

But go on and tell yourself no one would do that. I bet you're her first, too.
Of course, that assumes you actually belive the inane tautology you're pushing. "The only fraud is something NOONE would EVER do, because, like, RISK!!!11!" Lie 1.

2a: "Everyone" was not required to get the "full ID". Even the Huffington Post, home of people who love Voter ID, talks about some confusion, but in the end, "Eventually, she got her card." Change the program on some bureaucrats, expect some confusion. But, in the end, "she got her card". Truth hurts, huh chief. Lie number 2 for you.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/27/pennsylvania-voter-id-trial_n_1920993.html

3. Your example about "OMG EBIL REPUBS ARE TEARING UP REGISTRATIONS!!11! " is from 2 YEARS AGO. And what conclusion was come to from the FBI looking into it? Oh yeah, NOTHING. It's bunk! Lie 3, you're out.

The fact of the matter is, you like your partisan view to have multiple votes per person. It's the same old game people like you play. First, you wanted slaves to "have votes" so their master could vote for them, keeping slavery legal. Now, it's making sure that anyone can go into any polling center in the USA, claim to be anyone at all, and vote. So your point of view (a phrase I use loosely in this case) gets overrepresented. Well, the free ride's coming to an end. Almost every first-world, civilized country requires a photo ID to vote. It's well past time we joined them.

It took war to get people like you on the right side of history last time. Hopefully it won't come to that again.

Let me see if I can help you with some of this.

1. You say the problem doesn't exist. The problem there is, if anyone can just walk in to the poll and say, "I'm Steve Wozniak", and we never ask for any proof that they are who they say they are, how do you prove they aren't Steve Wozniak 3 days later? Add to this the well-documented voter registration quotas Acorn was running, and you have a political organization with a list of registered, fantasy voters. Photo ID, of course, means you can mess up the registered voter rolls all you want and it won't matter. Right now, it matters greatly.

2. I'm not aware of a Voter ID law that doesn't provide for appropriate ID for those who can't afford it, or some other means (like nursing home residents' medical records) as appropriate. That said, you can't open a bank account, get a credit card, drive, drink, get into clubs or buy medicine without photo ID. It seems highly unlikely any significant amount of people really don't have it anymore.

3. Actually, no one is looking for real people to not be able to vote. See point 1. But then, maybe you say this because you like it this way. (I'll leave out party affilitaion of those who don't like what's right/wrong being documented anywhere, to protect the guilty)

Gee, that's real interesting. There sure are a lot of pretty pictures in those articles, and a lot of Democrats-did kind of verbage. You'd almost think someone created those articles on purpose!

To quote Tom Hanks, I bet that's a coinke-dinkie.

And then to look at the budget articles from the mid-2000's...why, there's almost nothing there!

I'm sure it's just another big coinke-dinke. No one ever manipulates Wikipedia! Why, it's the gold standard for truth and objectivity!

I guess I should ignore the New York times (that bastion of hard-core right-wingers)
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/federal_budget_us/index.html

And Politifact, they're clearly clueless:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/aug/05/buddy-roemer/obama-submitted-budgets/

The Hill is totally wrong.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/163347-senate-votes-unanimously-against-obama-budget

In fact, even that RWNJ hotbed, the Huffington Post, acknowledges it:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/16/house-gop-budget-plan-senate_n_1522393.html
"Democrats haven't passed a budget since 2009, opting against weeklong floor debates that would have exposed party members to dozens of politically difficult votes or put themselves on record in favor of tax hikes or huge deficits."

But hey, enjoy your wikipedia edits. Propagandist.

Your argument on "securitizing debt already incurred" would make sense, under a different government.

In the USA, we have a law that limits the amount of debt the federal government may incur. This, of course, is revised regularly to accommodate the ongoing profligate spending by both parties.

The difference now is that we have no budget.

You see, normally the President gives the House of Representatives a budget, they discuss it, edit it, and issue a new bill outlining the spending they've agreed to, typically including an amendment to the law limiting debt. This package law (often called an omnibus budget) goes to the Senate, where they typically vote it down and create their own version. A "conference committee" is conviened which hammers out a compromise bill between the House and Senate, which each passes. This bill then goes to the President, which is signed or vetoed.

However, the President has given the House no budget in the last 3 years. (there was a very loose model which was never intended to be voted on, but got a 0-414 vote anyway) Budgets were presented to the Senate (incorrectly, because spending bills must originiate in the House) which failed 0-97 or 0-99.

The House has sent the Senate budgets, but the Democrats have the majority there, and their leadership refuses to allow the budgets to come to a vote or to be considered.

And so, with no budgeting done, the government has run on "continuing resolutions" which just allow spending to continue without any real consideration or overall view. And, of course, without the usual debt ceiling increase that comes from "well intentioned" budgeting. (using the term loosely) The essential problem is that the federal government has failed to do its job, although primarily the Senate and the President.

Seriously.

Like no one here understands what it feels like to need to pull a raid because you're 100 Vespene gas short.

After you call your bank (including any banks you have loans/credit cards/ with) and let them know what happened, do this:
(stolen shamelessly from usbank's website)
1.Call the major credit bureaus:
Equifax: 800-525-6285 or equifax.com
Experian: 888-397-3742 or experian.com
TransUnion: 800-680-7289 or transunion.com
First, ask that they place a “fraud alert” on your credit file. A fraud alert prevents creditors from changing your accounts – or opening new ones in your name – without proper verification. Then, request a free copy of your credit report. If you see any additional signs of fraud, notify the credit bureau and the creditors whose accounts are affected. After the disputed transactions are resolved, request another copy of your credit report to make sure your file has been updated.

2.Call your other creditors – including your phone and utility companies – and let them know that you’ve been a victim of fraud. Close any accounts that may have been compromised. As a precaution, consider resetting all of your passwords.
3.Inform check security companies about the fraud:
National Check Fraud Center 843-571-2153
SCAN 800-262-7771
TeleCheck 800-710-9898
CrossCheck 707-586-0551
Equifax Check Systems 800-437-5120
International Check Services 800-526-5380
Chexsystems 800-428-9623
CheckRite 800-466-2748

4.File a police report if you think your personal information (driver’s license, address) has been compromised or stolen.

5.Call the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) identity theft hotline at 877-438-4338, or file your complaint online at ftc.gov.

6.Be vigilant, patient and persistent. It can take weeks — or even months — to resolve identity theft. Keep a close eye on all of your statements, review your credit reports regularly, and immediately report any discrepancies.

Why so paranoid? Because with nothing more than your SSN and Address, the bad guys can see your free credit report and know about *every line of credit you have*.

The race is on; here comes Pride in the back stretch.