Looks like the Republicans are in the lead in the generic ballot and set to take over the Senate in 2014. While the big states like California and New York liked their Obama, it looks like other more rural states like Arkansas are going to move in a different direction Senator wise.

Mark Pryor might be a great guy, but he is just another stooge for Obama.

I look forward to Harry Reid handing over the gavel or the shoe or whatever the hell he beats on the desk at the Senate. Probably will hand over some dirty underwear that he keeps at the desk most likely.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/generic_congressional_vote-2170.html

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/generic_congressional_vote-2170.html

Portege,

We had 8 years of Bush a Republican that got us into 2 wars and hit at the time record debt levels. Then we have 8 years of Obama a Democrat, that did essentially the same thing that Bush would have done. Spies, drones and record debt.

You seem to think that if we just put a bunch more Republicans in and kick a bunch of Democrats out that all will be fine. You seem to also ignore the fact that the Republican brand is deeply tarnished.

It is my opinion is that the country is in a treacherous cycle. We have delegated the responsibility of job creation to the Fed and monetary policy. The Fed has obliged by moving jobs from the future to the present using zero interest policies which penalizes young people and those of us that save money. The problem is that this policy is inherently flawed. Worse yet, the less it works, partisan politics take hold, and all they do is blame the party in power. It is clear to me that neither Republicans nor Democrats can solve this problem. Both parties have had their chance and failed.

So, what is the answer? Agreed, we are in deep trouble, and need a solution.

The thing about Obama is that his policies are not much different then Bush. In fact, Obama wanted to get us involved in Syria. If it wasnt for the protesting and deep opposition he would have gotten us into Syria.

I might ask what is different about Obama's policies versus Bush?

Now that your "living" in Thailand, shouldn't you be posting on Thai Visa about the yellow vs the red shirts, or maybe even picking a side and joining them 555 ???

What happened to your Republicans in Virginia? The top 3 spots went to the Democrats.

Virginia is controlled by a few very populated urban areas which are Democrat, but the rest of the state is Republican. If you displayed a county by county map of Virginia and colored in the counties which are Republican and the counties which are Democrat the state would be completely Republican except for a few spots which are Democrat. Those few spots, though, have the majority of people in the state...densely populated urban areas.

In any event, I am not too worried about Obama. There is now zero chance the House will be taken by the Democrats. There is about a 50-50 chance the Republicans will take the Senate. I noticed Nate Silver is no longer publicly commenting on the issue. His last words in July were that it was a 50-50 chance. I wonder how he sees it now with Obama's approval rating at record lows and the generic ballot which is +5 points Republican.

Whatever happens in 2014, I think it will be the same shit until 2016.

If the truth be known, we were all fooled these last 10 or so years. The same corporate big money forces which controlled Bush now control Obama. The Obama Presidency closely resembles the Bush Presidency. We are just pawns, fools, chumps...that is the real truth.

So, what you're saying is that, Virginia went Democratic - again - because a majority of voters selected them. Again.

Republicans seem to equate real estate to voting power. It doesn't work that way. A voter in Arlington is equal to voter out in bumfuck. Regardless of how tools like Portege think.

When Hillary takes office Jan 20th, 2017, I'm sure a lot of Republicans will be thinking "how did this happen?".

By keeping interest rates so low for so long, it greatly damages the future which penalized the young people and their children. On top of that, it hurts people that save money like myself.

The problem is that the country is greatly divided when it should be united. The banks and lobbyists are united, and somehow the special interests are successful of deflecting attention from themselves and dividing the nation.

America prides itself on being a capitalistic republic. The reality is that it is neither. There is no true representation and capitalism has been replaced by crony capitalism with the winners those that have access to Washington DC or Wall Street.

I wish the country were united on these issues but they are not. So in my view the US will hit bottom along with the UK, Europe and Japan, and then hopefully we can rebuild from there rather than fight among ourselves.

I don't normally agree with Portege on a lot of things, but he is accurate in his last paragraph. When you have organizations such as ALEC, CATO institution, American Enterprise Institute. These are some of the "shadow groups" that have a large influence the direction out government leans.

I just wish Portege, would see the light and start to vote and support those politicians that would be beneficial to him in the long run. Just a reminder, all those NGO's are supported by the religious right wing republicans.

He reminds me of those in my are that vote republican, I call them "vote rich, live poor" for they are the ones that bitch the loudest about low pay and minimal raises, and when I pointed out the CEO of his company doubled his compensation to over 14 million, the response is...well he is a job creator we can't touch him.

Just a reminder, all those NGO's are supported by the religious right wing Republicans, people YOU voted for, what happens when your in AC on a visa run and the IJM raids a bar and decides to haul you off to jail just for being there.....how will you feel about that? How will you feel about YOUR tax dollars being used to toss you in jail, for doing nothing wrong.

I have seen the light. The light is that politics revolves around money...$$$. It doesnt matter who you vote for because the large corporate interests will control the people elected eventually. In Obama's case, its clear that if you are super wealthy you will eventually meet up with him especially at one of those "fundraisers". However, for us Joes we will never touch him.

I might be Republican just like Roadglide might be Democrat, but that point is moot because Obama is neither. To be fair I will say that George W. Bush was neither Democrat or Republican. Obama and Bush are on the side which hands them the most cash.

When Obama retires from the Presidency he will then go on the speech circuit and legally get handed millions of dollars from large corporate concerns or super wealthy persons. I kind of believe that Hillary will not run because then she cant be on the speech circuit making hundreds of thousands of dollars per speech. The Clintons are on their way to becoming billionaires and they could make more money outside of the White House then in the White House. A billion bucks would secure the future of their dynasty.

Who do we vote for? I have no idea as they all seem to be the same people...the same song and dance. I am proud of people like Ed Snowden who risked their lives to shed some light on the issues. If it were not for those characters where would be today? We would be that much more blind to whats going on behind the curtain.

The Obama Presidency will end like the Bush Presidency. Since they are essentially the same guys, it will all end the same.

than

Portege,

The more you write, the stupider you seem. You should be a man of few words.

Portege,

I agree with you. There is little discernable difference between Bush and Obama. The reason is that money has totally corrupted our government and even our notion of capitalism.

Today business has transformed itself into PowerPoint presentation, seed money, and exit strategies.

Cheap money is a vicious drug that allows our government to avoid tackling difficult issues while hurting future generations and disdaining the true conservative people that actually save money.

The Republican party is lost because they are no longer conservative.

Here is what I figured out. The reason why it has not exploded yet is because the Fed has been intervening in all markets worldwide. I believe the Fed is long on a bunch of crap like the Euro, the Yen, GroupOn, Twitter, and whatever other junk. Which means that the Fed is weakening their balance sheet to unbelievable levels to continue the facade.

America is a great country but it should not rely on the Federal reserve and cheap money policies to create jobs. Until we figure this out, we will never get well.

The mistake most Democrats make is they believe the "Republican Party" is composed of just a few individuals like Ted Cruz or Rand Paul. They believe the "Tea Party" is an organized force with a leader and a headquarters. The fact is the "Tea Party" is an idea ideology with no leader and no headquarters. It is a system of beliefs and opinions. However, the "Tea Party" is not actually a party.

The "Republican Party" is not just composed of Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. There were 48 million Americans who voted for Mitt Romney. 37% of the American population identifies with the Republicans while the rest are either Independent or Democrat. So the "Republican Party" isnt just a few talking heads in Congress. The fact is Ted Cruz and Rand Paul won competitive primaries and elections. The people of their respective state want them to be there. They dont act alone, but with the people who voted for them right behind. So when Ted Cruz shut down the government the people who voted for him wanted him to do that. He did not act alone in that regard.

The problem Obama faces is that on many occasions he has acted alone based on his own personal opinions and beliefs ignoring the people who voted for him and, instead, putting the people who donated money to the campaign ahead. For example, I dont believe many Democrat voters want the NSA to have this drag net over the American people. Obama, however, feels differently. Obama believes in the dragnet. I dont believe any of the voters want us in places like Syria, however, the people who donated money to Obama want us in Syria.

There is a reason the markets are up or down on any particular day, but we as individuals will never figure it out. There are a few people with the real knowledge in that regard, but 95% of us dont know on any given day.

At this point, we can just look forward to the next election and hope that things dont blow up too badly in the meantime. The one thing which is scary is Obamas approval rating. Despite very positive media coverage and endorsements, only 40% approve of Obama in the Gallup polls. What if the media was neutral, where would Obama be in the polls?

For a lost and broken party, the Republicans are doing well in the generic polls right now up by 2 points. Its like two rival football teams. The Democrats are saying the Republicans are broken while they are up 2 points on the scoreboard. I guess by saying the party is broken motivates them. Good for them, but they are still down on the scoreboard and the House is in firm control of the so called broken Republican party.

(Message edited by Portege on December 10, 2013)

When Hillary takes office Jan 20th, 2017, I'm sure a lot of Republicans will be thinking "how did this happen?".

Spot on.

The thing about Hillary Clinton and the Clintons in general is cash $$$. Hillary rakes in millions of dollars from speaking fees. She recently accepted 400 grand from Goldman Sachs for a speech. She is no different then Mitt Romney or any of these other characters who base themselves around money. If she were to be a Presidential candidate all of this would come out and her finances would be picked through very thoroughly.

I respect the opinions of all people. I respect Liberalism and understand why you enjoy it so much. However, both Hillary and Obama represent $$$ and Goldman Sachs. Neither of them represent Liberalism. They represent Benjamin Franklin or Benjamin Franklins. They do not represent your liberal causes.

The most respectable character in my mind is Chris Christie. Seems like your next door neighbor and seems genuinely concerned about the issues which face us all. You never see him with celebrities or billionaires unlike Obama or Clinton.

The Democrat party is infected with the cash virus. They no longer raise funds for the campaigns, but it goes to their own pocket. Look at Jesse Jackson's son for example. All of them do it to a certain extent, but Jackson was too obvious and abusive of the practice.

(Message edited by Portege on December 11, 2013)

I agree with the statement that Hillary is the odds on favorite to win the 2016 election. I also believe that little good will come from it.

Portege, I think your comments about the Democrats being corrupted by cash are correct, but you seem to think that the Republicans don't have the same disease. That's not right. If you look at the TEA party, it is entirely financed by the Koch brothers who are billionaire Republicans.

Dipshit, it's the "Democratic Party". Not "Democrat Party", that's a Republican talking point/insult.

Portege didn't seem to find money to be too much of a problem for a candidate when he was cheerleading for Romney last year.

Look on the bright side. Current US goberment policies are creating a generation of impoverished young women. Mmmmmmm.... Impoverished young women.

I won't place odds on 2016 until the GOP has someone resembling a frontrunner. Not sure who that would be just yet. In any case allot of this free Fed Monopoly money seems to be flowing my way at the moment so if it's actually worth anything and I can figure out how to put it somewhere that isn't going to shit in the future, hopefully I'll be able to flee this country with my big bag of loot and go on refugee status before the whole thing goes off the tracks. I'll leave it to others to enjoy the utopia they have created here. ;-)

Going full circle. I think that when things do crash and crash they will, it will impact our hobby quite a bit. The dollar will tank against the currencies of all the currencies where punters partake. Air travel in dollars will go through the roof.

There is no real "Tea Party". Where is the headquarters? Who is the leader? The "Tea Party" is more or less like Occupy Wall Street. It exists more in the mind then in substance. Its an ideology and not a real party.

As for cash, I believe it corrupts both sides and that is why there should be more laws, regulations and probably a Constitutional amendment on that issue. Make no mistake. I do not at all believe new laws will stop the corruption. When Obama's term ends, he will go on the speech circuit collecting the bribes which were promised to him. He too will speak in front of Goldman Sachs and receive a half million or more.

http://www.salon.com/2013/07/17/the_buckraking_practices_of_hillary_clinton_and_8_other_political_heavies_partner/

I guess the one thing we can all agree about is there should be more regulation and disclosure in regards to cash. One thing I know has to stop is the speech circuit. A politician shouldnt retire then go on to make a half million per 1 hour speech. That is legalized bribery.