• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Trouble Looms for Obama, Democrats with Election Day 2014 Approaching

Unitedwestand13 said:
It makes orginising an effective response more difficult.
Click to expand...

Why specifically?

Is the HHS incapable of handling it? The Surgeon General is under them.

Is the staff of the Surgeon General department incapable of doing their jobs?

Is this a 1-person job only?
 
US Conservative said:
Perhaps, and long term the republicans need to get their priorities straight. However, short term they win this election.
Click to expand...

Yes, Republicans may win some battles but Democrats have already won the war. Americans are hooked on big government like a junkie on heroin.

the days of small government are over. Every election is just going to be which party promises more of it, which will always favor Democrats.

" Vote for me and I'll give you more free gmmit sh#T" is a very effective campaign.
 
tres borrachos said:
Why specifically?

Is the HHS incapable of handling it? The Surgeon General is under them.

Is the staff of the Surgeon General department incapable of doing their jobs?

Is this a 1-person job only?
Click to expand...

The surgeon general serves as a source leadership postion in charge of coordinating a response to health crisis's.

Would you deprive a ship of its cheif engineer?
 
Unitedwestand13 said:
The surgeon general serves as a source leadership postion in charge of coordinating a response to health crisis's.

Would you deprive a ship of its cheif engineer?
Click to expand...

So if a ship's Chief Engineer was taken away, the ship would just stop dead in the water, yes, and nobody would be able to do anything. No crew member, nothing. Unless you have that official Chief Engineer, everything stops. Is that about right?

If a pilot became sick during a commercial flight, I guess the plane would plummet from the skies too.

The last Surgeon General did a lot in her time in office. Too bad most of it was centered around breastfeeding, which we all know is a national crisis.
 
tres borrachos said:
So if a ship's Chief Engineer was taken away, the ship would just stop dead in the water, yes, and nobody would be able to do anything. No crew member, nothing. Unless you have that official Chief Engineer, everything stops. Is that about right?

If a pilot became sick during a commercial flight, I guess the plane would plummet from the skies too.

The last Surgeon General did a lot in her time in office. Too bad most of it was centered around breastfeeding, which we all know is a national crisis.
Click to expand...

I don't think you know what the role of a surgeon general is.
 
Unitedwestand13 said:
I don't think you know what the role of a surgeon general is.
Click to expand...

I know exactly what it is.

Is the Surgeons General's office under HHS? Yes it is. Is there a staff there? Yes there is. Do they have an interim SG? Yes they do. Did the last Surgeon General spend a ridiculous amount of time focusing on breastfeeding? Yes she did.

Try again. And please tell me how organizing a response to the Ebola issue is a 1-person job.
 
tres borrachos said:
I know exactly what it is.

Is the Surgeons General's office under HHS? Yes it is. Is there a staff there? Yes there is. Do they have an interim SG? Yes they do. Did the last Surgeon General spend a ridiculous amount of time focusing on breastfeeding? Yes she did.

Try again. And please tell me how organizing a response to the Ebola issue is a 1-person job.
Click to expand...

Maybe the surgeon General can help take so pressure off the head of CDC.
 
rcart76 said:
Are you sure about that?

We can't even get simple appointees in position because of partisan gridlock. Do you think not having a surgeon general is good for the country?
Click to expand...
Partisan gridlock? All he needs to be confirmed is a simple majority in the Senate, and the Dems have the numbers.

And we do have a Surgeon General, btw -- an "acting" SG. The position is not vacant, and he's as much up to the task as the guy who's been nominated.
 
Moderator's Warning:
Blog story move to appropriate location
 
tres borrachos said:
I'm not McConnell's biggest fan, but it would be a refreshing change of pace to have a Majority Leader who is more focused to passing legislation than calling the Koch Brothers "un-American" or what name a certain football team has.
Click to expand...

That's funny. McConnell has presided over a shattering of all time record numbers of filibusters, from legislation to judges to POTUS nominees. He's certainly had a focus of "passing legislation..."

So if a ship's Chief Engineer was taken away, the ship would just stop dead in the water, yes, and nobody would be able to do anything. No crew member, nothing. Unless you have that official Chief Engineer, everything stops. Is that about right?

If a pilot became sick during a commercial flight, I guess the plane would plummet from the skies too.

The last Surgeon General did a lot in her time in office. Too bad most of it was centered around breastfeeding, which we all know is a national crisis.
Click to expand...

I agree that not having a SG isn't a crisis or THE factor in any inadequate response to ebola, but you're essentially arguing that the people who fill top jobs serve no useful purpose. Seems uncontroversial that the top person often makes a real contribution to the organization and its success, which is why organizations typically spend a great amount of effort hiring the best available person for that job.
 
KLATTU said:
Yes, Republicans may win some battles but Democrats have already won the war. Americans are hooked on big government like a junkie on heroin.

the days of small government are over. Every election is just going to be which party promises more of it, which will always favor Democrats.

" Vote for me and I'll give you more free gmmit sh#T" is a very effective campaign.
Click to expand...


Here is the difference between the two parties

Democrat = Domestic welfare

Republican = Foreign and Corporate welfare


At the end of the day, both parties believe in big government when it involves crap they like.
 
Taylor said:
Partisan gridlock? All he needs to be confirmed is a simple majority in the Senate, and the Dems have the numbers.

And we do have a Surgeon General, btw -- an "acting" SG. The position is not vacant, and he's as much up to the task as the guy who's been nominated.
Click to expand...

You clearly don't understand senate rules that are in place do you?
 
US Conservative said:
By Gary Langer Oct 15, 2014 7:01am
Barack Obama and his political party are heading into the midterm elections in trouble. The president’s 40 percent job approval rating in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll is the lowest of his career – and the Democratic Party’s popularity is its weakest in polling back 30 years, with more than half of Americans seeing the party unfavorably for the first time.

ht_chart_6_kb_141014_23x15_608.jpg


Trouble Looms for Obama, Democrats with Election Day 2014 Approaching - ABC News

The world is on fire, the Democrat parties policies have demonstrably failed. November 4th is less that 3 weeks away-the dems will lose seats in both the senate and house. The Republicans will gain the senate.
Click to expand...

....and the news is???? and the significance is?????
 
rcart76 said:
Here is the difference between the two parties

Democrat = Domestic welfare

Republican = Foreign and Corporate welfare


At the end of the day, both parties believe in big government when it involves crap they like.
Click to expand...

Yep, one is tax & spend and the other tax cut & spend.
 
lifeisshort said:
BO has mishandled Ebola, the stock markets crashing, our economy is still sputtering and ISIS is taking over Iraq as we speak. This will be the biggest rep sweep in history.
Click to expand...

Don't get carried away.... most of the contested races are in red states that were won by Dems in their sweep in 2008. This should be a walk in the park for an out of power party, in an off-year election. The cons will enjoy modest gains in the house (because those districts are so gerrymandered, there aren't that many competitive districts) and will likely, but not assuredly, have a change of control in the Senate, that they will struggle to achieve.

It will be a nice night for the Cons, but far, far, far short of the biggest sweep in history.

BTW... the same wind at that back climate that will flip the Senate in 2014, will be wind at the back for the other guys, so the Senate will flip back in 2016. Enjoy it while you can.
 
Last edited:
US Conservative said:
Already discussed. Nobody is here to spoonfeed you.
Click to expand...

agreed. no point in spoon feeding crumbs. I thought perhaps you had some substantive arguments that you had not yet laid out, but I guess not. I am disappointed that you apparently have already played your best cards.
 
tres borrachos said:
I know exactly what it is.

Is the Surgeons General's office under HHS? Yes it is. Is there a staff there? Yes there is. Do they have an interim SG? Yes they do. Did the last Surgeon General spend a ridiculous amount of time focusing on breastfeeding? Yes she did.

Try again. And please tell me how organizing a response to the Ebola issue is a 1-person job.
Click to expand...

Same reason why things don't get done in Congress. Politics, in this case, office politics.

In any organization, the boss establishes the tone at the top which affects the behavior of the personnel beneath them. For example, Stalin established at atmosphere of paranoia and mistrust that had his subordinates constantly informing on each other's plans and ambitions in order to stay in his good graces. Office politics in a communist dictatorship.

Part of the dysfunction to the ebola response drives from the fact nobody who holds a leadership position in the national health service really wants to be responsible for it. The career risks of failure are too great when there's a chance other people will be blamed or no specific individual will be blamed -- the media blaming the "CDC" without lighting a fire under a specific individual's ass is the same as blaming no one at all. Aside from general unfamiliarity with the infrastructure and personnel organized beneath them, an acting surgeon general doesn't really inspire the kind of fear that gets bureaucrats moving.

The main reason is, a dedicated surgeon general will be around a long time. Even if he can't punish subordinates for their failures during a crisis because interfering with the chain of command undermines the response, he can ruin their career later when the crisis has come to an end. He is incentivized to do so because their failures reflect badly on his appointment and therefore for HIS career and his boss's (the president's) career. Since everyone in the bureaucracy is conscious of the unrelenting threat their boss poses to their career within the national health service, anyone in a position of authority within the bureaucracy will be very aggressive about tackling issues that might possibly be held against them later.
 
upsideguy said:
Yep, one is tax & spend and the other tax cut & spend.
Click to expand...

Well, it's 'tax cut and spend, then discover a deep concern about awful, terrible deficits only when the other party gets in office, so there is no choice but to make the poors and olds suffer, and give out more tax cuts to the wealthy.'
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom