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divad
Trad climber
wmass
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Mar 17, 2017 - 10:51am PT
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Subsidies for airline service to small communities is on the chopping block. The majority of the areas that received these subsidies voted for Trump.
That's just in keeping with his campaign theme song, "You Can't Always Get What You Want".
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Mar 17, 2017 - 11:04am PT
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Just to give insight into GOP thinking:
As many have noticed, we have a opioid narcotic problem in the US, with tens of thousands of Americans being killed by OD's.
The GOP looks at this great increase in use of these drugs, and sees an opportunity: You get to kill off the swamp-dwellers, AND you have the opportunity to make money at the same time!
"With less than 5% of chronic pain patients becoming addicted to opiates, this leave the other 95%, who are often some of the poorest in America and have nothing to do with addiction or addiction treatment, to pick up the tab for addiction treatment. I find myself truly disappointed and ashamed of our government. This tax is discriminatory and we are going to fight it."
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dirtbag
climber
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Mar 17, 2017 - 11:18am PT
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Attacks on meals on wheels are political gifts to democrats.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Mar 17, 2017 - 11:25am PT
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Trump and Constitutionality:
0-3
Are you tired of winning, yet???????????????
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monolith
climber
state of being
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Mar 17, 2017 - 11:52am PT
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I sure hope Trump is able to fill out his term and run again.
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dirtbag
climber
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Mar 17, 2017 - 11:57am PT
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I have a feeling that many of his voters simply wanted him to piss off liberals.
Ok, he's done that, big time. Yay team.
Further fragmenting this country might be his only major accomplishment.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Mar 17, 2017 - 12:53pm PT
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nutagain- I feel for ya- but you have shown nothing but contempt for working class Americans whose jobs have been lost to globalization.
I get that you perceive that about me. I don't feel any contempt at all for people who lose jobs to outsourcing in the past, or automation in the future. I have been one of the most vocal people here about this growing problem and how we should deal with it. I have been forthcoming in my viewpoints about how I think government and our economy should be structured to help the vast majority of us:
 increased taxes on high income folks and especially on corporate profits
reduced military engagement in the world, to be a player in NATO actions rather than a global police/parent
government paid quality daycare for parents who are working or actively interviewing
government paid education through university level
government investments in science research, especially alternative energy production and storage
All of these things would help America as a whole, though it's fair to say these things alone won't specifically help rural America compared to urban centers with universities and companies that champion innovations.
The problems of rural America are deeper, because manual labor is a more vulnerable commodity that will command lower wages even as America goes through periods of prosperity. Part of the problem is a lack of commitment for folks in small towns to develop marketable skills and move to the places where those jobs exist. But part of it is also the simple reduction in need for workers to meet our collective needs.
I have been a champion for a baseline wage for all people as I foresaw a time when there just aren't enough jobs to go around. That very directly would help people in rural areas, and enable them to pursue whatever they want (agriculture, auto-repair, specialty restaurant, bed and breakfast to meet new people, whatever....) that will enrich their lives without fear for their basic ability to feed their families and keep thr lights on.
All that said, I have expressed contempt for something that you lumped together which I did not. I do have contempt for willful ignorance and the type of small-town bullies that oppress people who are physically weaker but smarter than themselves. I guess bullies and ignorance lives everywhere city or country, but my rural upbringing means I have more direct and visceral experience with that breed. My kids live in an affluent area with educated parents and being smart is a badge of honor among youth. In my childhood, it was a social stigma to overcome with my charming personality ;) When I see people smugly ignorant and making fear-driven votes for policies that will hurt themselves and me along with it, it does piss me off. I deal with that frustration by trying to educate, show examples, use logic to make my points repeatedly for people who might not have the capacity to get it the first time. That's the most constructive way I can see to deal with it. I might be wrong or simply inexperienced/unaware of better ways to deal with it.
So in short, I have compassion rather than contempt for people who want to work but are stuck in circumstances that makes that very difficult or impossible. I don't have contempt for rural America. I do have contempt for aggressive ignorance and people who act without considering the consequences for the system as a whole and without making an effort to find solutions that benefit as many people as possible.
Aside from all this, it's not an "us" and "them" issue where educated/liberal people are in opposition to uneducated/conservative folks. It's not a rural versus city folk dilemma. Those are false wedges that mask how we are all living in the same country and how we are all screwed if the system doesn't work for large swaths of us. The real us/them is who aggregates wealth versus who loses it in our system.
And those aggregating the wealth know that as long as we can stay mired in stupid bickering between whatever wedge of the day is effective (pro-choice/pro-life, pro/anti-gay, guns/no-guns, city/country, true Americans vs immigrants, whatever), then the rich folks can keep the limelight off of them and keep getting richer while every day we lose the power to fight it without resorting to a bloody revolution.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Mar 17, 2017 - 01:57pm PT
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Nut Again... I like what you are saying but you should keep your posts shorter so Madbolter has room for his Walls of text...
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dirtbag
climber
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Mar 17, 2017 - 02:08pm PT
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Yep, survival. And, it was all too evident during the campaign that we would be subjected to this kind of crap.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Mar 17, 2017 - 02:15pm PT
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Point taken on brevity! It's a tough one for me.
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divad
Trad climber
wmass
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Mar 17, 2017 - 04:44pm PT
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Seems like trump is the only person in the world, other than those who voted for him, that believes Obama had him tapped.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Mar 17, 2017 - 05:10pm PT
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I suspect Trump is either hoping to uncover some universal/widespread surveillance stuff that he can claim a victory over, as a way to save face and say he was wiretapped, or he knows he was specifically followed because of honest security measures to protect our country and it is pre-spinning it for his followers.
It might be classified now so people are publicly denying it happened, and later Trump will try to use this to discredit them when they are ready to make non-classified shares.
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Winemaker
Sport climber
Yakima, WA
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Mar 17, 2017 - 05:36pm PT
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Man, after posting my new look picture I thought the White House would call me with a job offer. Damn, just silence. By the way, you should try walking around with a stash like that; you get ....... looks ...... and of course hot babes (well. not yet anyway).
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Mar 17, 2017 - 06:25pm PT
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No president has ever behaved this way. He just looks like the clown Prince or the emperor with no clothes...
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SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, A sailboat, or some time zone
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Mar 17, 2017 - 06:56pm PT
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Prince or the emperor with no clothes...
Oh please. Why'd you have to bring up that image? Ewwwwwwwwwww
Susan
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