What kind of government do you prefer?

[Anonymous]

The public interest is a tedious thing. Sparing a thought for others is of no immediately obvious benefit. Private interests are easier to understand and pursue.
In a speech on Friday in North Carolina, Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to take on the issue of price gouging by large corporations. Researchers for U. K. think tanks Institute for Public Policy Research and Common Wealth found in late 2023 that profiteering, or “greedflation,” “significantly” boosted prices, leading to increases of 30% or more in corporate profits. “Excessive profits were even larger in the US, where many important sections of the economy are dominated by a few powerful companies,” wrote Phillip Inman of The Guardian.
The July report for consumer prices from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which came out yesterday, showed that prices rose less than 3% in the previous twelve months. Core inflation has fallen to its lowest rate since April 2021. For well over a year, wages have grown faster than inflation.
Responding to today’s news that inflation is coming down, the stock market ticked up in expectation that the Fed will now be more likely to cut interest rates in September. Applications for small businesses continue to boom across the country, with 19 million new business applications since Vice President Harris and President Biden took office, an annual growth rate 90% higher than prepandemic averages. Congressional Republicans are trying to cut the Small Business Administration and to cut taxes for big corporations.
Politico greeted today’s economic news with a headline saying, “Inflation is easing. Now, Harris has an even bigger problem with the economy.” And the New York Times reported that in a speech in North Carolina, “Harris Is Set to Lay Out an Economic Message Light on Details,” adding that she is expected to tweak Biden administration themes “in a bid to turn the Democratic economic agenda into an asset." Seems out of step with reality.

A government that works for everyone - so I'm voting Harris/Democrat

A government that works for the rich and powerful at the expense of everyone else - so I'm voting Trump/Republican

I don't believe these options are accurate because the media owned by those who by definition must be rich and powerful told me so.

Updates

1 y

Biden and Harris, along with the cabinet officers and staff of the executive branch, revived an older ideology calling for the government to promote the interests of the American people as a whole. This means regulating business and providing government services and oversight to make sure no interest can run the table.

[MisterWack]

I don’t take the media programs lightly, though what I will say is I was a Trump supporter and when I closely monitored unedited, full length, and uninterrupted speeches & promises also read his Tweets via Twitter while looking at both sides of the political spectrum via newsletter / TV program I would see Trump in a very different light than the man I supported.

I voted for the first US President I ever cast a ballot towards, Joe Biden. I kept up with his speeches, interviews, State of The Unions, etc.(just as I did with Trump) along with media on both sides as I said. I’m glad Kamala Harris & Tim Walz are pushing forward and will look forward to voting for them come November.

[OddBeMe]

Good Q. If we (voters) hadn’t allowed corporate interests take over our politics we wouldn’t need a strong government to fight back on price gouging, monopolies etc.


And that costs taxes to do.

[sawno]

Stop posting these biased propaganda posts. You had 4 years of Harris, is the working class better or worse off now? Its much worse isn't it. It doesn't matter what the propagandist lies are they don't actually defend the people, none of them do. Not Harris, not Trump, etc they are all in it for the corporate donors.

So then it becomes a matter of which has the best benefit of the people while still protecting the corporate donors and that's obviously Trump. Because he at least wants to cut down on government taxation and make the energy prices cheap again so the inflation spiral can end.

If you tax the rich they will just increase their prices so you end up paying it anyway. Know those games where they put a ball under 3 cups but its in his hand the entire time? Its very much like that. The only actual solution is a decrease in taxation, any other option no matter who they claim to tax, no matter what they claim to fund with it is just hurting poor people more.

[Asker]

Biden is president. And yes the working class is much better off now. Stopped reading after your first lie.

[sawno]

Its the Biden HARRIS administration and we both know Biden isn't the one making the decisions.

[Asker]

Why would i know about your hallucination?

[OtterMan68]

Absolute monarchy with me in charge.

Autocracies are the most efficient forms of gov. No debates, no partisanship holding up legislation, no tedious votes...

in second place: a consitutional republic with a multi-party system. The only thing worse than a two-party democracy/republic is a one-party democracy/republic

[exitseven]

A government that puts citizens first, and implements policies that protect people and practices fairness and not "equity".

[Asker]

Sounds like you've been conditioned to hate a word even though it means basically what you said you want in the same sentence.

[exitseven]

Equity is the opposite of fairness.

[Asker]

No. They are the one in the same.

[exitseven]

Equity is giving one group an advantage whether it is money or favoritism in hiring over another group. Fairness is that everyone gets the same.

[Asker]

Nope. Equity is ensuring everyone has the same fair starting line.

[sawno]

Incorrect, equity is discrimination often practiced by racists / sexists to warrant discriminating against another group. Equality (Which I also disagree with) is treating people the same which can be radicalized in similar ways.

Fairness is the best one but also very hard to define since it can change. So what I like to say is that its the concept of giving people universal criteria. For example, anyone qualifies for this aid if your income is below X. That means literally anyone can apply as soon as that criteria is met, which is a very equal treatment but its not radical equality since your giving everyone equal treatment, a criteria has to be met first. Similarly its not equity since we aren't being discriminatory based on background, merely on the current merrit.

[Asker]

Nope, equity is giving everyone the same starting line.

[exitseven]

NO, equity is stacking the deck so everyone ends up on the same finish line. It does not matter who works the hardest or is the smartest or performs the best.

[Asker]

Nope, it is so everyone has the same starting line

Or rather, what do you have against everyone having the same starting line that you would twice pretend I meant something besides what I say I mean?

[gorydetails]

I want a government that leaves me alone. So not commie harris

[NOTHINGEVERHAPPENS]

Man…I wish.

[Asker]

Harris isn't a communist. The media just calls it communist any time someone isn't giving more money and power to the rich and powerful.

Anyway, if you want a government that leaves you alone then you don't want a government. You can already have that by going off to live in a cave or something. But if you're just another lazy person who wants to keep all the benefits of having a government while avoiding the costs, tough shit. The rich are doing that for themselves, not you. You will be the one paying those costs either way. The question is whether you want a government who will make sure the benefits are for you and are spent efficiently or a government who gives it all to the rich and powerful as inefficiently as possible.

[gorydetails]

LMAO. The dumb bitch just claimed she wants to institute price controls.

[Asker]

Good. Price gouging is out of control. Haven't you people been complaining about inflation for the last four years? Was that all complaining because you want it fixed or complaining because you were mad the democrats removed your fascist from power?

[gorydetails]

Thanks for explaining that you have zero fucking clue about economics. You're as dumb as she is.

[Asker]

That isn't what I explained. That's just what you heard because you want christian nationalism. You believe that if Trump wins companies will reduce prices to make him look good. Or they won't and you still won't care because you just want christian nationalism.

[gorydetails]

Yes, I know you have zero fucking clue about economics or "price gouging". You don't have to double-down by blathering about an unrelated topic.

[Asker]

I'm not the one who thinks companies will reduce prices because they like Trump 🤷

[gorydetails]

No you're the one who salivates at the boogeyman word "gouging"

[Asker]

Is that what you imagine people do when they are robbed? Salivate? Just because you love being conned doesn't mean the rest of us do.

[gorydetails]

Great. Then you should be able to explain to me, in detail, how grocery stores are gouging.

[NOTHINGEVERHAPPENS]

Man, if you want a government that works for everyone, you won’t find it at the ballot box.

[Asker]

It is an issue of direction not destination. We are far from it but do we want to take another step towards it or take another step away? Those are the choices.

I would point out we only have to reach the destination of the rich and powerful ruling everything once and there will be no stepping away from that.

[NOTHINGEVERHAPPENS]

That’s the rhetorical equivalent of holding a carrot in front of the voter’s head. “Any day now, if you just keep voting then things will get better.” How many steps, exactly? I want a finite end date for this ordeal.

[Asker]

That would require predicting people. It's easy to have a plan that treats everyone as NPCs. It gets a little harder when you consider they are not and that the rich and powerful who want things to get better only for themselves will sabotage efforts to the contrary every step of the way, as they have done throughout all of human history.

[NOTHINGEVERHAPPENS]

I’m not falling for a carrot on a stick. You’re making promises you know your can’t keep in the name of career politicians and unelected bureaucrats. Nothing will change by doing the same thing. “Haha, we know that nothing changed, but it’s because of those other guys! Vote for us again and this time things will really change, pinkie promise!” I’m not buying it anymore. I want results. And I want to know exactly when I’ll have them.

[Asker]

I'm describing physics. There is no promise here. It's a republic if we can keep it. There is no magic involved just work and the fruits of that labor. The question is what work do people want to do. If you want to work on society vote for the party trying to do that. If you want to work to help a rich guy get richer vote for the party trying to do that. And if you don't want to work, go live on a mountain somewhere. Life I work.

[NOTHINGEVERHAPPENS]

Republic? Why is it a republic? Cause it says it is? You realize Harris and Biden are fabulously wealthy too, right? And probably getting richer as we speak. They don’t know or care that either of us exist. They’re not our friends, our family. We have no reason to believe a word any of them say about anything, ever.

[Asker]

Who told you the options are for politicians to care only about themselves or to memorize all 300 million of their constituents? Was it the media owned by the rich and powerful?

[NOTHINGEVERHAPPENS]

It was the media that convinced you that they care at all. The same media that’s owned by proxy by politicians.

[Asker]

The media didn't convince me anyone cares. And the media isn't owned by politicians - at least not in the US. The media just told you that so you give in to despair and just let the rich have everything they want.

[NOTHINGEVERHAPPENS]

The rich and politicians are two peas in a pod. The illusion of a free press in this country is just that, an illusion. All major outlets are propaganda.

[Asker]

Right. But the reason for that is because we let our despair get the best of us and so don't bother to stop them.

[Pterodon]

I’m voting for Trump

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

Monarchy.