What would it take for the GOP to lose the House?

[Savannahmann]

45. 70% of the people blame Hamas for the Israeli situation.

So you have a choice. You can explain to the people that you believe Hamas is not to blame, or you can call them a bunch of idiots.

Historically, people would discuss the issue. Now, we just call anyone who disagrees with us an bunch of idiots. Then we act surprised when they don't come out and vote for us.

People don't support a Minimum wage hike that causes the loss of half a million jobs. What do we do? We ignore that part of the poll, and point to the question above it. We call anyone who objects to a Minimum wage hike a greedy bastard. But there is a point. In 1985 I got my first job, for less than Minimum wage, under the Reagan training plan that allowed people to get paid less than minimum wage to get training. For one hundred hours I got $2.85 an hour instead of $3.35. I worked fast food. I was the guy who fried the burgers, filled the cups with ice and drink. I shook fries and dropped more into the vat of bubbling oil. I did it all.

Now, look behind the counter. There is a machine that drops the cup into a holder and swings it around to be filled with ice and drink. A lousy job? Sure. No way to live on the wage? Absolutely not. But it was a line on the application for the next job. Now, those jobs are gone. A machine dispenses drink. A machine does welding that humans used to do. A machine was cheaper in the long run, and will continue getting cheaper. Meet the first of the new generation. Baxter

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See the big red machine? It's taking a job that a human used to have. With the advances in computers, and programming, such designs are getting cheaper all the time. But wait, there is no way that some jobs will be replaced right? I mean, how about working huge machines like they have at ports. Those jobs will never go away.

But not to worry, because they'll never take the place of whatever. In another generation jobs will be management, repair of the robots, and perhaps some sort of housekeeping. We should be talking about this. Instead, we're dumb enough to fight it, like we can hold progress back by wishful thinking. Cheaper, faster, and doesn't call in sick. The big bosses dream. I would say look at being a driver, but with Google making cars that drive themselves, we'll be out of that job too.

So why aren't we discussing the education we need to give our children today to get them ready for the workforce of tomorrow? Why aren't we talking about revamping the educational system to give us a chance to get into the forefront of the trend?

Because we don't care. We don't care what happens to our children. So long as we win the election. We'll worry about that later, much later. We'll blame the Rethugs if something happens. Greedy bastards firing humans to get the job done cheaper and all that.

The Rethugs are reading the polls, and crafting their message to appeal to the issues the people care about. Economy is a big one, so the Rethugs promise to fight the job killing whatever. We read the polls, and decide that people are idiots and we should ignore them. If JFK had done that we'd still be flinging tiny capsules into space as part of the Mercury program.

JFK went out and told the world why Missiles in Cuba were bad, and we considered it unacceptable. The public got behind him. He explained what he believed, and what he wanted, and asked for their support. He got their support. Nixon promised peace with honor, and talked about peace treaties and all that. The public supported him. Look at history. Some of the biggest things done were done after the public was informed about what, and why.

Churchill's speeches were examples of inspiration. No one else could have rallied the British People the way he did. Anyone else would have had doubts, and those doubts would have come out in the speeches, and the people would have picked up on those fears. Instead the Fire Wardens braved the bombs to stand on rooftops to call out fires in London. People kept signing up to go to sea on merchant ships to bring vitally needed food and supplies despite the very real risk of death. Because they knew Britain would win, and they knew that Churchill believed it with all his heart.

Stop calling our opponents idiots. Even I call them Rethugs, but I should stop too. When they oppose the job killing minimum wage, they're playing to populist pressure, we need to explain what we believe will happen, and we need to be real, genuine, and we need to care. We have to stop the political games, and start to talk to the people, and listen to them. Town Hall meetings need to be ramped up and taken on. Yes, they're going to have instigators in the crowd, so what? Answer them, tell the people the truth, tell them the facts, and sit there courageously and talk to them. Because some will still hate you after the meeting, but more will respect you, and will consider your words. We need to hear the people, and talk to them, and actually work for them. Democratic Politicians and Republican Politicians are much the same. They both see the people as a means to an end. In the end, we work for the voters. It's past time we started doing just that.