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Voting
Apr 16, 2023 8:22:00 GMT -5
Post by k9krap on Apr 16, 2023 8:22:00 GMT -5
So now I’m starting to see some GOPers talking about raising the voting age. They are terrified of GEN Z voters! How long do we have to put up with their cheating (or gerrymandering) to win elections?
Edited to add: as an aside, I must say that I’m thrilled that Spanberger is now my representative. I recently sent a letter to her about the gun issue and she responded with a well written and thought out response. I’m sure it was from an aide and has been sent to many others. I’m not an idiot. But it didn’t read like the form letters I’ve received from others, both senators and representatives.
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Voting
Apr 16, 2023 12:13:49 GMT -5
Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Apr 16, 2023 12:13:49 GMT -5
This kind of fits in with a long running contradiction in our society about the age in which one becomes an adult. What we've done is we've created different levels of adulthood whereas traditionally you were considered an adult at the age of 18. The contradiction is that once one is emancipated, they are an adult. If you didn't raise your children almost exclusively for when they reach that time, then you dropped the ball as a parent. I don't agree with the restrictions places on 18 year olds until the age of 21. It's like a probationary period and it's unhealthy. Can be drafted into the military but can't buy cigarettes. Idiocy IMO. "Well the brain doesn't fully dev......." OK, if that is what determines adulthood then make that the age of emancipation as well. Everybody wins and 18 year olds will barely notice since we've already handcuffed them to the titty.
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Voting
Apr 16, 2023 12:22:44 GMT -5
Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Apr 16, 2023 12:22:44 GMT -5
Oh and to your OP, I'm not sure I agree. Historically younger people are more liberal but the last few decades, at least from what I've seen, has more people instructing their children what to believe rather than giving them the space to figure things out organically. I doubt that there's enough of a majority demographic in any generation at this point that strikes fear in either political party.
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Voting
Apr 17, 2023 0:13:24 GMT -5
Post by k9krap on Apr 17, 2023 0:13:24 GMT -5
Except the abortion issue has brought out youngsters in droves. I think they’ll make a difference for the upcoming election. Okay, I hope they make a difference.
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Post by bobathon on Apr 17, 2023 2:54:23 GMT -5
However the kids vote, it's clear that the GOP thinks this country needs less democracy. All these people voting just isn't right. Why do you think dimwits like Boebert are back with the "it's a republic not a democracy" bullshit? They find there's just too much democracy in this country anymore.
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Voting
Apr 17, 2023 11:16:14 GMT -5
Post by minx on Apr 17, 2023 11:16:14 GMT -5
Those young'uns don't know how to vote correctly. Why I hear some of them are disobeying their parents and voting for them dem-o-crats! We can't have that!!!
Seriously though, the republicans have always tried to quash the youth vote. Nothing new here.
And I agree with John. If an 18 year old is old enough to sign papers to enlist in the military, then they're old enough to drink, vote and own their own gun. I also agree that most 18 year olds are total idiots and shouldn't be allowed to do any of the above until they've been on their own for a bit. I'd prefer to see the age set at 19 or 20. Give them time to be on their own and work a bit.
But that would also assume that there are jobs available for 18 year olds that don't involve the words "Would you like this bagged?" Because in too many areas of the country there simply aren't jobs or opportunities for 18 year olds to move out and work, which is beyond sad.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Apr 17, 2023 11:48:24 GMT -5
So true and that extra 3 years doesn't seem to hold as much promise for maturing as it used to. But I'd not try to fight raising that age of emancipation to 21. That would also be the minimum age for the draft (remember 18 year olds are stoopit).
I've had many good ideas and just as many bad ideas. It could be either but I've always thought a 2 year public service requirement for all people between the ages of 18 and 21, and before the age of 25 or so (enough for four years of college). That would include military, reserves, emergency services, public works, health services, or anything from a list of these things that the individual could choose. This is how you would earn your emancipation early and get "free" shit like paid community college or career training, for example. Anyone participating at the minimum age of 18 would receive full benefits of being an emancipated adult and added benefits such as tuition, 100% health care coverage, and a living wage. Something like they do in other countries but with liberal flair. Obviously there's a lot more to it but going into finite details is a waste of time since I'm already pissing in the wind anyway.
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Voting
Apr 17, 2023 11:51:03 GMT -5
Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Apr 17, 2023 11:51:03 GMT -5
PS- Anyone that wants to change the voter laws to exclude currently eligible voters should be stripped naked, strung up by the nards, and have ripe tomahtoes hurled at them, mercilessly, I might add.
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Post by minx on Apr 17, 2023 12:35:02 GMT -5
I would love to see a program like the CCC come back. Those folks did everything from building parks to recording history through photography and interviews. I often wonder how much history we've 'lost' by not interviewing and recording the stories of our grandparents. Many of them lived through things like the automobile coming into popular use, experienced the depression as a child, and saw the rise of the internet.
My grandmother was born into a well-off family. She told me stories of the pony cart that arrived to take her to school each morning. A nice Black man drove it, and yes it was a little surrey complete with a fringe on top - very fancy. She married well, and they lost everything to the depression. To the point where she had to place her two youngest sons (one of whom was my dad) into foster care because they couldn't afford to feed him. She was a nurse, and supported her family, as my grandfather was never able to get a decent job. On her own, she built a nursing home and died a well-off woman at the age of 98. Along the way, she raised 4 kids (retrieving my father and uncle from foster care), traveled the country and lived a very full life. It would be interesting to have her life story recorded, along with others of that generation, both rich and poor.
Instead we have states like Iowa, which just voted to tighten eligibility requirements for SNAP benefits to 'reduce' fraud. Nevermind that this 'reform' will cost more than they gave out in benefits for the past 2 years. Or that a majority of the people in Iowa who rely on SNAP are those who have retired and are on fixed incomes. We'll just let folks go hungry so some company who's in bed with the sponsors of this shit can rake in some bux. Simply repulsive.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Apr 17, 2023 14:42:15 GMT -5
SNAP ought to be automatic with Medicaid/Medicare, and SS. We lost over $400 a month, granted it was the extended benefit resulting from the COVID emergency, but that was something we counted on heavily to help make ends meet with my pittance of SSDI.
I would fully support bring back the CCC and what's even sadder is that so many people are unaware of what it did, and how many times they have unknowingly benefitted from it in one way or another. Been to a state park? Just as one example.
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Voting
Apr 17, 2023 14:50:27 GMT -5
Post by minx on Apr 17, 2023 14:50:27 GMT -5
I wouldn't agree that it should be automatic, as I'll be well able to afford food when I qualify for Medicare.
But once you qualify for Medicaid, SSDI or SSI, it should be an opt-in automatically. As in when you apply, you should be asked "If your benefits are approved, will you need SNAP assistance as well?" Because both of my daughters qualified for Medicaid, but since we were paying their food costs they didn't need SNAP. So not everyone needs it, but enough do that it should be the same application.
Don't get me started on the bullshit of counting your car as an asset against the income limits. If I just purchased a $40,000 car and become disabled, it doesn't mean I have a $40,000 asset unless that puppy is 100% paid off.
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Voting
Apr 17, 2023 17:11:35 GMT -5
Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Apr 17, 2023 17:11:35 GMT -5
I'm not sure if you're familiar with CommonHelp.org but that's how one applies for benefits in this state. There's a questionnaire and after you answer the whole thing it will tell you which benefits you may qualify for, including SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, Energy Assistance, etc. You can apply for everything essentially with one application. They even schedule your interview with the local DSS for you. All online. Also, they do not count the home you live in or your primary vehicle for most means tested programs, at least in this state. The problem is still along the lines of what you're saying, that you essentially have to be destitute in order to qualify for anything especially if you don't have dependent children. That hurts a lot of seniors, disabled, and "VLI" (very low income) people barely hanging on.
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Voting
Apr 17, 2023 17:13:52 GMT -5
Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Apr 17, 2023 17:13:52 GMT -5
Writing this little post to remind myself to tell you about my cousin that moved from MD to NC and the clusterfark that ensued. Time to make dinner so I won't be back on until later..
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Voting
Apr 17, 2023 23:52:24 GMT -5
Post by k9krap on Apr 17, 2023 23:52:24 GMT -5
McCarthy wants to do the same to SNAP on the federal level, minx. And he may lose his leadership soon. There are rumblings.
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Voting
Apr 18, 2023 11:52:05 GMT -5
Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Apr 18, 2023 11:52:05 GMT -5
Writing this little post to remind myself to tell you about my cousin that moved from MD to NC and the clusterfark that ensued. Time to make dinner so I won't be back on until later.. My cousin has Parkinson's. He was diagnosed in his mid-late 30s and is now about 60. His wife and I confide in each other as we are both caregivers for very disabled spouses. They have lived in MD all of their lives (he has, I'm not 100% sure about her) and had a real rough time with life. They have been through things that ordinary people should never have to experience. Anyway, for the past 20 years or so he's been on disability and she was eventually forced to become a full time caregiver. In that same time their daughter abandoned her child and they adopted her (one of those things that was a total mess). FF to about a year or two ago and they were somehow convinced to move to NC to be closer to that same daughter under the impression she might get some help with the teenager she had no relationship with and her father. Nope. To make matters worse, and where I was really going with all this, is that NC denied them any public assistance, mainly Medicaid and SNAP. He has his Medicare but she and the girl had squat since the girl got a job at fucking McDonald's. I'm not sure but I think I remember one of the denials also was because of a waiting period if you were a new resident in NC. Talk about some red state bullshit. Nothing says Welcome to our state like "fuck off". After about a year or a year and a half at most down there, it became a total shit show with the ignorant daughter and her family she dumped her own child for, and they were hung out to dry by everyone and everything. So she decided to pack and roll AGAIN, and moved back to MD. It probably didn't seem like it at the time but it was the best thing for her, my cousin, and their adoptive kid IMO. They also have 2 sons there and are apparently at least some help to them and actually loved by them as well. They do visit and have family things together. AND, they are back to getting at least some assistance by the state. I think the girl just turned 18 so I'm not sure what her status is with CHiP, Medicaid, or whatever. Need to check up on them since it's been a couple of months without connecting.
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Post by minx on Apr 18, 2023 16:00:57 GMT -5
Jesus H Christ John! That redefines clusterfuck.
I'm glad that VA is a one-stop shop for applying, but it pisses me off that you have to be beyond destitute to qualify for anything. Just not right.
And while I'm on my soapbox, these programs (SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, ect) should all be FEDERAL programs and not STATE. Feds provide the bulk of the funds, so they should have a uniform set of requirements and a uniform application process that all states have to follow.
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Voting
Apr 19, 2023 1:40:51 GMT -5
Post by k9krap on Apr 19, 2023 1:40:51 GMT -5
Don’t forget, these young voters are veterans of school shootings and the shooting drills.
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Voting
Apr 19, 2023 13:56:18 GMT -5
Post by minx on Apr 19, 2023 13:56:18 GMT -5
True, but don't forget that many of them have also been raised with a deep and well-seated belief that those shootings only occur because 1) The perpetrators were outcasts and had mental health issues. If the popular kids had been nicer, or the school staff and teachers had taken that poor soul under their wing, this wouldn't have happened. 2) The good guys weren't allowed to carry guns within the school - if teachers and staff were armed, these thugs would think twice about shooting up the school. 3) There is no discipline in school. Let's face it - teaching kids about CRT and gender have destroyed any sense of belonging and discipline!
So the only 'real' solution is to increase gun rights, and restrict what can be taught in schools, right?
And yeah, I know some parents who espouse the above, and their kids are dead clones of them. And they are truly the nicest people ever in the groups I'm in - it's when you friend them that you realize how rotten they truly can be.
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Voting
Apr 19, 2023 18:44:36 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Apr 19, 2023 18:44:36 GMT -5
Ohhhh you missed one... God. They took God-duh out of the schools and let the evil in.
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Voting
Apr 20, 2023 13:01:25 GMT -5
Post by minx on Apr 20, 2023 13:01:25 GMT -5
Holy Hell! How could I have forgotten that?
Jesus has been banned and now kids can't pray anymore!!!
Man, the moment my big toe crossed the threshold of the public school, I could feel the religion leaking out of my body. Just oozing out. And the next Sunday at church when they said the 'Our Father', I couldn't comprehend the words at all - it was like a foreign language!
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Voting
Apr 21, 2023 0:25:51 GMT -5
Post by k9krap on Apr 21, 2023 0:25:51 GMT -5
So they are grooming/indoctrinating the kids? As long as the internet and social media is available, I think they will be able to discover the truth if they want it. Of course, if Russia and China have their way, that may become unusable, too.
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Voting
Apr 21, 2023 7:22:12 GMT -5
Post by minx on Apr 21, 2023 7:22:12 GMT -5
Of course they are! They're groomin them to forget the words of the Priest on Sunday, and worse yet, the Pope in Rome!
HEATHENS!!!!!
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Voting
Apr 22, 2023 5:01:02 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by bobathon on Apr 22, 2023 5:01:02 GMT -5
Fear not! Texas just voted to establish Christianity in their public schools. Commandments and prayers, that'll fix it all!
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Voting
Apr 22, 2023 10:35:53 GMT -5
Post by minx on Apr 22, 2023 10:35:53 GMT -5
Oh Thank God!
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