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[PantherLotus]

Republican Primary Calendar

Debates:
July 10, 2011. Nevada
August 11, 2011. Iowa
September 7, 2011. California
September 12, 2011. Florida
September 22, 2011. Florida
October 11, 2011. New Hamphsire
October 18, 2011. Nevada
January 12, 2012. Iowa
January 19, 2012. South Carolina
January 30, 2012. Iowa
February 2012. New Hamphsire
March 5, 2012. California

Primaries:
February 6 – March 5, 2012: Early states (Iowa caucuses, New Hampshire primary, Nevada caucuses, South Carolina primary)

February 6 – Confirmed date of the Iowa caucuses
February 14 – Expected date of New Hampshire primary
February 18 – Confirmed date of the Nevada caucuses​

March 6–31, 2012: Primaries (and other contests) that provide for proportional allocation of delegates to the candidates, and all nonbinding caucuses;
April 1, 2012 onward: All other contests.

PoliGAF's Rich Political Conversation and Debate Historical Index
2011 - PoliGAF 2011: The 112th U.S. Congress is now in session: Want some graphs with that? #1

President Obama's Second Year
2010 - PoliGAF 2010: Whoever wins, we lose
2010 - PoliGAF 2010: On our way to November 2
2010 - PoliGAF 2010: HOPE Fades, but CHANGE doesn't happen in a day

President Obama's First Year
2009 - PoliGAF Thread of PRESIDENT OBAMA Checkin' Off His List | Posts: 46,835 | Views: 1,390,139
2009 - PoliGAF Thread of PRESIDENT OBAMA's First 100 Out of the Way | Posts: 25,681 | Views: 967,487

The 2008 Election
2008 - PoliGAF After Party Thread of Harsh Realities | Posts: 11,623 | Views: 433,164
2008 - PoliGAF Election Day 2008 Thread of A New Dawn in America | Posts: 16,858 | Views: 623,393
2008 - PoliGAF Interim Thread of 2008 Early Voting | Posts: 22,020 | Views: 925,562
2008 - PoliGAF Interim Thread of USA General Elections (DAWN OF THE VEEP) | Posts: 20,508 | Views: 574,791

The 2008 Campaign
2008 - PoliGAF Debate #3 Thread of Hey Joe, where you goin' with that plunger in your hand | Posts: 7,013 | Views: 286,013
2008 - PoliGAF 2nd Pres. Debate 2008 Thread (DOW dropping, Biden is off to Home Depot) | Posts: 13,895 | Views: 544,879
2008 - PoliGAF Thread of Post #7323 (LAST DAY TO REG. IN CO,FL,IN,MI,OH,PA,TX,VA) | Posts: 8,422 | Views: 341,146
2008 - PoliGAF Thread of VP Debate 2008 Trainwreck-in-slow-motion Popcorn Party Edition | Posts: 5,951 | Views: 224,876
2008 - PoliGAF Thread of First Debate Election 2008 - GAF doesn't know shit | Posts: 9,359 | Views: 334,198
2008 - PoliGAF Interim Thread of cunning stunts and desperate punts | Posts: 25,810 | Views: 812,183

2008 Primaries, Conventions, and He Said/She Said
2008 - PoliGAF Thread of Republican's Turn at Conventions
2008 - PoliGAF General Election Thread of Conventions (Sarah Palin McCain VP Pick)
2008 - PoliGAF Thread of THE END and FIST POUNDS (NYT: Hillary drop out/endorse Saturday)
2008 - PoliGAF Thread of Obama's Victory Lap and Smoking Hopium in Internet Dens
2008 - PoliGAF Thread of toothless Hill-Billys (75,000 in Portland for OBAMA post #3599)
2008 - PoliGAF Official May 6th Primary Thread (All I need is a Hirracle, all I need is you)
2008 - PoliGAF Official April 22nd Primary Thread (Democrat Apocalypse)
2008 - PoliGAF Interim Thread of Tears/Lapel Pins (ScratchingHisCheek-Gate)

New Thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=444564

 

[elrechazado]

I love the graphs, they look like a staph infection covered in herpes.

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

Thanks Panther! Work caught up with me this week

 

[Escape Goat]

Its funny because his name is Weiner and Boner.

 

[TheKaeptain]

How did you guys decided who made the Op?

 

[PantherLotus]

^ It was actually a 4-5 person effort. RustyNails got the title, I got those big flaming liberal picture/descriptors, someone else provided the debate dates, and Rusty did the title banner. I did the historical index from a previous thread, which LovingSteam had honored and taken on himself. Opiate ran a contest and after 24 hours we all kinda decided to combine the ideas anyway. Hell, even Amir0x got in on the action looking for a little more blunt appraisals of Obama, which I added after reading.

Thanks Panther! Work caught up with me this week

Yeah no problem. FWIW, you ran a good show for a long time. If anybody can, the other thread was locked before I could copy the code for all the links for our PoliGAF historical links. (opiate, pweeeaaase?)

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

Yeah no problem. FWIW, you ran a good show for a long time. If anybody can, the other thread was locked before I could copy the code for all the links for our PoliGAF historical links. (opiate, pweeeaaase?)

LOVE THE NEW TAG! Already PM'd Opiate to unlock the old thread in order to get the links.

 

[Orbis Tabula]

How did you guys decided who made the Op?

There was contest, I believe.

Anyway, I've been lurking PoliGAF for multiples threads. Just thought I'd pop in. I'll maybe try and post a bit, but I don't know much. I'm here more to learn.

 

[cooljeanius]

Subscribed, I always love reading these threads even if I feel too intimidated to contribute by how well-informed everyone is here...

 

[JCX]

Really hoping for Michelle to win the nomination. I wonder who she would pick for VP.

 

[Jackson50]

Cool OP, guys. Truly. Also, the top ten posters from last thread:

Despite his ban, eznark still had the third most posts.

 

[PantherLotus]

Welcome, Eskimo and cooljenius. The real truth is that nobody really knows shit. The people that admit it and still come strong with an opinion and back it up are the most respected, I think.

And don't believe the hype that this is a anti-conservative thread -- it's just that conservatism has lacked smart and honest voices for a long time, at least those that are elected.

 

[Beowulf28]

Really hoping for Michelle to win the nomination. I wonder who she would pick for VP.

But what if she wins?

 

[Salazar]

I read today that Huntsman is jumping in.

I recall this possibility being treated with great scorn in this thread. Still the case ?

 

[PantherLotus]

I read today that Huntsman is jumping in.

I recall this possibility being treated with great scorn in this thread. Still the case ?

Did you watch Hardball yesterday? Matthews went over his guest's analysis (writer at the Nation, I think?) of Romney -- nobody can get to the LEFT of him, which means Huntsman is wasting time and money unless he can somehow overcome superhuman odds against him. I think it's a solid argument.

The conclusion, wildly, is that Bachmann represents the current middle-road, sober conservative. Bachmann.

 

[Oblivion]

Bout time! Sheeeeit.

There was an interesting discussion going on in the old thread before it closed.

So we're supposed to come here for serious discussions with people like this?
A good example of why conservatives stay out of this thread.

I sometimes wonder if people like soul creator and puddles actually go through life thinking that their opinion concerning a complex and generally objective issue depending on your values really is as iron clad correct as simple math. What a bizarrely close minded way to live.

What did Soul Creator say that was innacurate, though?

 

[Jackson50]

I read today that Huntsman is jumping in.

I recall this possibility being treated with great scorn in this thread. Still the case ?

He faces significant impediments. His candidacy is quite the long shot. Otherwise, I think many posters respect him and would welcome a Huntsman candidacy; granted, their respect likely waned after stated he would have supported the Ryan budget.

 

[Skiptastic]

Congrats to the winners of the PoliGAF contest. I really wish I had Panther's skills in making things look good (not fair, he fucking does that shit for a hobby...or was it work? either way, he's fucking awesome at it) because I would have loved my "Fucking Mandates, How Do They Work?" OP of slamming 2008 Dems and the 2010 Repubs for not doing enough to get jobs back on track. (That's what they were elected to fucking do!) But sour grapes...the OP looks awesome and the thread title is quite clever.

(Caution: Rambling and Tangents Ahead)

My goal in this thread is to either finally be lumped in with ez and Toxic as part of the "conservative GAF" bloc or to be founding member of Moderate GAF. I'm leaning more towards the latter, seeing as I'm not really happy with either side of the spectrum. I'm very jaded about the lack of positive messaging going on these days and the lack of coalition building and spirit of bipartisanship. RINOs and Blue Dogs are seen as slurs on differing sides of the political aisle, but if you can't find common ground on which to get legislation passed, then we get into stalemate. I am seriously unhappy with that aspect of our political culture. How a guy like Richard Lugar could be in danger of losing his seat boggles my mind (although, to be fair, I am not in favor of lifelong politicians so it is about time for him to move on...)

I missed the conversation that ended the previous thread (work then 3 hours of MBA class will do that...) All I'll say on the "liberal monkey pile" that goes on in this thread is that it makes me read and re-read all of my posts numerous times before I finally hit Submit Reply. I hope that makes for better posting, but I've been caught off guard.

What makes me happy reading PoliGAF is the big picture discussions: how to tackle debt and deficit, what impacts those actions will have on people. I love talking about big picture topics that I think are really important, like debt and deficit reduction, reigning in 'entitlement' programs, government's proper role in your life (on the local, state and national level), and all that stuff. I'm hoping we can continue to have those discussions on a respectful level.

So let's get back to it. Remember: if this is your first night in PoliGAF, you have to post.

 

[Jenga]

oh wasnt panther that dude with the asian girls

i like the asian girls better

 

[TacticalFox88]

Excellent. Most Excellent indeed.

 

[Alpha-Bromega]

This is my first time wanting to be a true participant in PoliGaf after a few year long ban prevented me from doing so the last couple threads. I have a hard time wanting to reply in earnest sometimes because the thread often moves quite fast!

 

[TacticalFox88]

Who Posted?
Total Posts: 20,405
User Name Posts
RustyNails 882
speculawyer 772
eznark 729
Invisible_Insane 684
TacticalFox88 571
PhoenixDark 554
ToxicAdam 507
GhaleonEB 468
Jackson50 464


Hall of Shame. Fifth place? Eh.

 

[Salazar]

oh wasnt panther that dude with the asian girls

i like the asian girls better

Me too.

Cheers for the Huntsman explanation.

 

[Milabrega]

Are Huntsman and Perry the only two still expected to jump in? Christie? Any others may that float in?

 

[PantherLotus]

<3 ya skiptastic, and totally agreed. The best discussions are when we set aside the partisan silliness and realize that the majority of us are neither pure capitalists nor pure communists.

The best discussions are when we discover the stuff we mostly agree on:

1. Economy: We like big business, but there's room for the government to keep on eye on things.

2. Military: We want a strong military and to protect American interests, but we don't really want to meddle and spread our forces too thin. And we can probably cut some costs here.

3. Guns: We want and support gun rights, but nobody needs an Uzi.

4. Abortion: It's a gut-wrenching subject and impossible choice for anyone to make, and we want as few of these as possible. But we're not taking it away.

5. Equality: Everyone has the right to get married to a loving and willing partner regardless of orientation or current gender status. Everyone has the right to work, the right to organize, and the right to equal education, opportunity, religion, and all that.

 

[Vanillalite]

The Incidental Economist

Meme-busting: Selling insurance across state lines will lower costs
June 15, 2011 at 8:30 am Aaron Carroll

This is an ongoing series on health care system “memes” that continue to permeate our debate, even when evidence shows them to be false. The introductory post contains links to all entries.

This meme appeared recently as part of Governor Romney’s health care plan. It’s a common one, brought out often to argue that deregulation is the answer to lowering health care costs.

But let’s think this through.

The reason that insurance can’t be sold across state lines right now is that states have the right to regulate their own insurance markets. Yes, states – not the feds – get to set their own rules when it comes to the individual insurance market.

Since states differ in terms of local politics, and local needs, they set different rules for insurance. Some states want to have an insurance market where you can’t be denied insurance for any reason, and you can’t be charged more for being sick. Other states want to limit the difference you can be charged for being older or sicker if you want a policy.

I say “want” because we still live in a democracy, where people vote for what they think they need. These states have these policies because they were enacted by local governments elected by their residents. So, unless you no longer believe in state government, this is how it goes.

Right now, there’s nothing stopping an insurance company from selling policies in every state in the nation. They just have to create policies within each state that comply with local laws. Many insurance companies do this, finding a way to be profitable in each market.

This is the first problem with the “sell insurance across state lines” argument. If you support this, you’re effectively telling states that they cannot make their own decisions. They can’t set any standards for themselves locally. They have to abide by the decisions of other states when it comes to insurance.

Because, make no mistake about it, if you remove the state regulatory boundaries, all the insurance companies will set up shop in the state with the fewest regulations and start to sell insurance nationally. This is exactly what happened with the credit card industry.

Perhaps this doesn’t bother you. Perhaps you’re fine with this because you believe that it will lower costs, and that is paramount. So let’s deal with that side of the issue.

There is no doubt that when you set community ratings and guaranteed issue that the cheapest policy will be much more expensive than the cheapest policy in a state without those regulations. Let me explain. If I created an insurance company in a state without any regulations, then I could choose to cover only completely healthy young males. I could be assured none would get pregnant. None would need pelvic exams, or mammograms, or Pap smears. I could refuse to cover anyone who had ever been ill, or who had ever had a family member who had been ill.

As you can imagine, it would be really cheap to care for this population, and so the insurance I’d sell would be really, really inexpensive. Everyone else, however, would be out of luck. And anyone who tried to insure that population would find a skewed risk pool, making the average policy created for it really expensive.

Now, if I’m a healthy, young male in a regulated state it might be attractive to me to buy a policy from that unregulated state. But if I were a female with diabetes, I’d be totally screwed. Moreover, as all the healthy people snapped up cheap policies, the remaining people would form an uninsurable risk pool.

About 20% of the population is responsible for about 80% of health care spending. Would they be any less ill? Would their medicines cost less? Would their procedures? What exactly about health care would be cheaper in this alternate reality?

No one would want to insure them.

What we would have is a world where it would be likely cheaper for those who don’t need health care to get insurance. For everyone else, especially those who need care, insurance would be more expensive, and care harder to obtain.

There’s no example of this working out well, anywhere in the world. It’s rhetoric that sounds good, but would lead to terrible outcomes.

 

[ronito]

aw man I liked the whole "Obama is the best republican candidate." title.

 

[Oblivion]

Congrats to the winners of the PoliGAF contest. I really wish I had Panther's skills in making things look good (not fair, he fucking does that shit for a hobby...or was it work? either way, he's fucking awesome at it) because I would have loved my "Fucking Mandates, How Do They Work?" OP of slamming 2008 Dems and the 2010 Repubs for not doing enough to get jobs back on track. (That's what they were elected to fucking do!) But sour grapes...the OP looks awesome and the thread title is quite clever.

(Caution: Rambling and Tangents Ahead)

My goal in this thread is to either finally be lumped in with ez and Toxic as part of the "conservative GAF" bloc or to be founding member of Moderate GAF. I'm leaning more towards the latter, seeing as I'm not really happy with either side of the spectrum. I'm very jaded about the lack of positive messaging going on these days and the lack of coalition building and spirit of bipartisanship. RINOs and Blue Dogs are seen as slurs on differing sides of the political aisle, but if you can't find common ground on which to get legislation passed, then we get into stalemate. I am seriously unhappy with that aspect of our political culture. How a guy like Richard Lugar could be in danger of losing his seat boggles my mind (although, to be fair, I am not in favor of lifelong politicians so it is about time for him to move on...)

I missed the conversation that ended the previous thread (work then 3 hours of MBA class will do that...) All I'll say on the "liberal monkey pile" that goes on in this thread is that it makes me read and re-read all of my posts numerous times before I finally hit Submit Reply. I hope that makes for better posting, but I've been caught off guard.

What makes me happy reading PoliGAF is the big picture discussions: how to tackle debt and deficit, what impacts those actions will have on people. I love talking about big picture topics that I think are really important, like debt and deficit reduction, reigning in 'entitlement' programs, government's proper role in your life (on the local, state and national level), and all that stuff. I'm hoping we can continue to have those discussions on a respectful level.

So let's get back to it. Remember: if this is your first night in PoliGAF, you have to post.

Door is thataway, sir ---------->.

Spoiler

 

[RustyNails]

:3

 

[PantherLotus]

Tell ya what, one of you make me an avatar with the SNSD chicks and I'll put it on. Damn the no-.gif avatar thing. I loved it so much.

 

[SolKane]

Not enough "Jobs" in the first banner.

 

[TacticalFox88]

Tell ya what, one of you make me an avatar with the SNSD chicks and I'll put it on. Damn the no-.gif avatar thing. I loved it so much.

GAF didn't crash during E3 so I guess it served us well!

 

[RustyNails]

PL, can you put replace your banner link with this one? http://i.imgur.com/7RCFm.jpg

There's couple of typos in there...still.

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

5. Equality: Everyone has the right to get married to a loving and willing partner regardless of orientation or current gender status. Everyone has the right to work, the right to organize, and the right to equal education, opportunity, religion, and all that.

Ah, but what do you mean by "right to work?"

 

[RustyNails]

Not enough "Jobs" in the first banner.

I actually thought about just repeating jobs jobs jobs all the way in the banner, but figured that it wouldn't be fair to other topics that are discussed in here. Needless to say, come August talk of debt will be the national discourse.

 

[Chichikov]

^ It was actually a 4-5 person effort. RustyNails got the title, I got those big flaming liberal picture/descriptors, someone else provided the debate dates, and Rusty did the title banner. I did the historical index from a previous thread, which LovingSteam had honored and taken on himself. Opiate ran a contest and after 24 hours we all kinda decided to combine the ideas anyway. Hell, even Amir0x got in on the action looking for a little more blunt appraisals of Obama, which I added after reading.

Sounds like communism.

 

[Jackson50]

Are Huntsman and Perry the only two still expected to jump in? Christie? Any others may that float in?

Huntsman announced that he will announce his candidacy. Perry has teased a candidacy; otherwise, he has been reticent. While he is not expected to run, I doubt many would be surprised if he indeed ran; I suppose he is a wild card. Christie is not expected to run. He has issued myriad Shermanesque statements affirming his disinclination. In addition to those three, Senator DeMint has recently flirted with a candidacy; still, his candidacy is unlikely. Finally, Sarah Palin...or not.

 

[polyh3dron]

Really hoping for Michelle to win the nomination. I wonder who she would pick for VP.

Either a teatard nutjob like that Alaskan republican senate candidate Whatshisface, or some idiot lapdog plucked out of obscurity.

 

[Opiate]

Unlocking old thread. Work quickly.

 

[TacticalFox88]

Gabrielle Giffords has been released from the Hospital. Just to start of the thread with some good news at least

 

[ToxicAdam]

Who Posted?
Total Posts: 20,405
User Name Posts
RustyNails 882
speculawyer 772
eznark 729
Invisible_Insane 684
TacticalFox88 571
PhoenixDark 554
ToxicAdam 507
GhaleonEB 468
Jackson50 464

.

My workplace finally blocked neogaf (nooooo!) a month ago. So, that will probably be the last thread I am in the top 10.

My goal in this thread is to either finally be lumped in with ez and Toxic as part of the "conservative GAF" bloc or to be founding member of Moderate GAF. I'm leaning more towards the latter, seeing as I'm not really happy with either side of the spectrum. I'm very jaded about the lack of positive messaging going on these days and the lack of coalition building and spirit of bipartisanship. RINOs and Blue Dogs are seen as slurs on differing sides of the political aisle, but if you can't find common ground on which to get legislation passed, then we get into stalemate.

I always kind of bristle when people call me a conservative. I'm pro-gay marriage, pro-abortion, favor limited gun control and am weary of free trade agreements. The last Republican president I have voted for is Bob Dole back in '96. I voted for Sherrod Brown (Ohio Senator) back in 2006. I guess my strong skepticism towards AGW and my union-bashing confuses people.

The truth is, in this current paradigm of polarized politics, moderates ARE a dirty word. They are seen as weak and easily manipulated (when the opposite is actually true) and a roadblock to party unity. You look at the comments liberals make about Blue Dogs and it's the EXACT SAME verbiage you would see coming from Rush Limbaugh when he talks about moderate Republicans.

 

[PantherLotus]

Unlocking old thread. Work quickly.

Done, thanks.

 

[timetokill]

Cool, I'll enjoy reading all of your posts, PoliGAF.

 

[TacticalFox88]

My workplace finally blocked neogaf (nooooo!) a month ago. So, that will probably be the last thread I am in the top 10.




I always kind of bristle when people call me a conservative. I'm pro-gay marriage, pro-abortion, favor limited gun control and am weary of free trade agreements. The last Republican president I have voted for is Bob Dole back in '96. I voted for Sherrod Brown (Ohio Senator) back in 2006. I guess my strong skepticism towards AGW and my union-bashing confuses people.

The truth is, in this current paradigm of polarized politics, moderates ARE a dirty word. They are seen as weak and easily manipulated (when the opposite is actually true) and a roadblock to party unity. You look at the comments liberals make about Blue Dogs and it's the EXACT SAME verbiage you would see coming from Rush Limbaugh when he talks about moderate Republicans.

What exactly ARE you conservative about anyhow?

 

[PantherLotus]

^The only reason he's saying he's not conservative (and everything thing he mentioned has nothing to do with conservativism) is because people think of Michele Bachmann when you say it.

My workplace finally blocked neogaf (nooooo!) a month ago. So, that will probably be the last thread I am in the top 10.




I always kind of bristle when people call me a conservative. I'm pro-gay marriage, pro-abortion, favor limited gun control and am weary of free trade agreements. The last Republican president I have voted for is Bob Dole back in '96. I voted for Sherrod Brown (Ohio Senator) back in 2006. I guess my strong skepticism towards AGW and my union-bashing confuses people.

The truth is, in this current paradigm of polarized politics, moderates ARE a dirty word. They are seen as weak and easily manipulated (when the opposite is actually true) and a roadblock to party unity. You look at the comments liberals make about Blue Dogs and it's the EXACT SAME verbiage you would see coming from Rush Limbaugh when he talks about moderate Republicans.

Oh come now. Anyone that lives in Missouri and has relatives outside of KC or STL knows exactly why Claire McCaskill is the middle-road Democrat that she is. And it really doesn't bother me. I'm more of a centrist than I appear, too.

I'd rather have her than two Roy Blunts, that's for sure.

 

[JCX]

But what if she wins?

Hopefully my comedy career will have picked up by then.

 

[Skiptastic]

<3 ya skiptastic, and totally agreed. The best discussions are when we set aside the partisan silliness and realize that the majority of us are neither pure capitalists nor pure communists.

I agree wholeheartedly. My Man Mitch said it at CPAC, "Purity in martyrdom is for suicide bombers." We're not going to agree on everything, and nobody is going to be a pure Democrat or Republican through and through. We need to find ways to build on the items we agree upon and not stifle new concepts and ideas simply because they don't immediately conform to our predispositions.

I always kind of bristle when people call me a conservative. I'm pro-gay marriage, pro-abortion, favor limited gun control and am weary of free trade agreements. The last Republican president I have voted for is Bob Dole back in '96. I voted for Sherrod Brown (Ohio Senator) back in 2006. I guess my strong skepticism towards AGW and my union-bashing confuses people.

The truth is, in this current paradigm of polarized politics, moderates ARE a dirty word. They are seen as weak and easily manipulated (when the opposite is actually true) and a roadblock to party unity. You look at the comments liberals make about Blue Dogs and it's the EXACT SAME verbiage you would see coming from Rush Limbaugh when he talks about moderate Republicans.

Well, then I will defer to you as leader of Moderate GAF! Didn't mean to give you a label you don't want. I was more just whining about my lack of impact in these threads lol.

 

[Oblivion]

RustyNails 882
speculawyer 772
eznark 729
Invisible_Insane 684
TacticalFox88 571
PhoenixDark 554
ToxicAdam 507
GhaleonEB 468
Jackson50 464
gcubed 438
Oblivion 397

Ooh, just missed out out of the top 10. I knew I was pretty close, though!

 

[PantherLotus]

Ok enough sucky sucky. Let's get Kosmo in here and go to town.

 

[Jackson50]

My workplace finally blocked neogaf (nooooo!) a month ago. So, that will probably be the last thread I am in the top 10.

I wondered why their had been a sudden decrease in your posts.