Usa Thread

[Flashermac]

Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy

 

 

 

The US is dominated by a rich and powerful elite.

 

So concludes a recent study by Princeton University Prof Martin Gilens and Northwestern University Prof Benjamin I. Page.

 

This is not news, you say.

 

Perhaps, but the two professors have conducted exhaustive research to try to present data-driven support for this conclusion. Here's how they explain it:

 

Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.

 

In English: the wealthy few move policy, while the average American has little power.

 

The two professors came to this conclusion after reviewing answers to 1,779 survey questions asked between 1981 and 2002 on public policy issues. They broke the responses down by income level, and then determined how often certain income levels and organised interest groups saw their policy preferences enacted.

 

"A proposed policy change with low support among economically elite Americans (one-out-of-five in favour) is adopted only about 18% of the time," they write, "while a proposed change with high support (four-out-of-five in favour) is adopted about 45% of the time."

 

On the other hand:

 

When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organised interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the US political system, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favour policy change, they generally do not get it.

 

They conclude:

 

Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organisations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America's claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.

 

Eric Zuess, writing in Counterpunch, isn't surprised by the survey's results.

 

"American democracy is a sham, no matter how much it's pumped by the oligarchs who run the country (and who control the nation's "news" media)," he writes. "The US, in other words, is basically similar to Russia or most other dubious 'electoral' 'democratic' countries. We weren't formerly, but we clearly are now."

 

This is the "Duh Report", says Death and Taxes magazine's Robyn Pennacchia. Maybe, she writes, Americans should just accept their fate.

 

"Perhaps we ought to suck it up, admit we have a classist society and do like England where we have a House of Lords and a House of Commoners," she writes, "instead of pretending as though we all have some kind of equal opportunity here."

 

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746?SThisFB

[Coss]

"so...you want Hillary to pose nude to even it up "

 

Already done

 

 

 

 

 

you may want to avert your eyes...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.huffingto...4b0411d30724467

[cavanami]

Coss...you are an evil man!

[BelgianBoy]

gross.....

[jitagawn]

Nasty

[Guy Himmaparn]

so...you want Hillary to pose nude to even it up :barf:

 

For Bill's eyes only..... And we all know what that led to....

[Flashermac]

Jackie Mason Suggests Anti-Gun Michael Bloomberg Should Be Protected by Rabbis With Pastrami Sandwiches

 

 

Renowned Jewish comedian Jackie Mason “continues to be one of this election cycle’s more amusing political pundits,†said the New York Post’s “Page Six†on Sunday.

 

Describing Mason taking figurative aim and shooting at former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s stance on gun control, the Post quoted the comic poking fun at the Jewish billionaire who is considering a presidential run as an independent:

 

“He’s standing there with 12 bodyguards, telling you that you shouldn’t have a gun to protect you, while he has 12 guys protecting him! As if his life counts, but yours is not important? If guns are not important and nobody should have a gun to protect himself, why does Bloomberg have 12 bodyguards? Why doesn’t he stand there with 12 rabbis? Why do they have guns? Instead of guns they should have pastrami sandwiches.â€

 

The Post was citing a radio interview Mason gave to Aaron Klein on AM 970’s “The Answer,†in which he also said of the candidates in the presidential campaign, “It’s unbelievable that not only is a Jew now acceptable to run for president, now a Jew is a hit!

 

"Because we have a Jew if Bloomberg runs. We have another Jew with Sanders running. And we had a black person before. And the only person who can’t get a job for the presidency is a tall, white gentile.â€

 

 

http://www.algemeine...mi-sandwiches/#

[cavanami]

Good idea!

[zzzz]

zzzz, on 13 October 2012 - 04:39, said:

 

"I was a Democrat last election. This year, I'm with the Justice Party. They believe that there should be universal health care, free 4-years of college for all...."

 

What Bernie Sanders has been saying about universal health care and free college tuition sounds familiar to me -- it was my position 4 yrs ago (see above). He has my vote.

[Flashermac]

Like him or not, Sanders is the only one whose positions have been consisted over the decades. Hillary, on the other hand, flip flops with ease, while Trump just a few years ago was a liberal Democrat who backed Carter against Reagan and thought the Clintons were great. You know what you'd get with Sanders. With Trump or Hillary, it's "whichever way the wind blows."

 

p.s. There has been speculation that Trump is running to mess up the Republicans. His recent statement that he may run as a independent if he doesn't get the nomination seems to support that.