jseal,

What 'useful data' are you talking about?

Aqua,

Are you suggesting that what someone considers propaganda cannot be considered useful information by another? You have already agreed that one’s POV can influence one’s assessment.

Hell no they are trying to get it passed before recess (UM school ground reference all too appropriate) because many house members know they will catch @#$% when they go home on recess..... too bad we can't get the tooth paste back in the tube

/me puts away her 10' pole

Depends on how you define useful. Some might define an outright lie as useful if it will coerce someone into voting a specific way, subscribing to a specific belief or getting a signature on a petition.

I'm sure there are some that would consider such information useful indeed.

I do not.

Aqua,

I am sure that some people really and truly believe that there will come a day when politicians will not lie/shade or spin the truth/deemphasize the inconvenient, etc. to achieve their goals.

I am not a member of that group.

How about if we wait to see what the final bill looks like before deciding “it is bad” or “it is good”?

I wasn't discussing politicians specifically, but since you've brought it up I will add that I do not have much hope that either. Unfortunately that's part of the 'game'.

I also wasn't discussing a specific bill, but I agree that actually reading the bill and deciding for yourself if it's good or bad is the best course.

What I was discussing is the propaganda being emailed and posted in blogs (and generally not authored by a politician) that warn of terrible things happening in the legislature (State and/or Federal) and proceeds to detail (for example) all the ways in which your rights will be stripped away if bill such and such passes, even though there are no such provisions written into the bill. Of course, that's also assuming the bill in question actually exists.

While I do not consider that behavior unfortunate, we do agree on this long-term prospect of politicians.


Yes, although I usually rely on an analysis or review by an unbiased third party.


Yes. Extremist views are a nuisance, and can distract attention from important unresolved issues. See above.

Before anyone gets thier "panties in a bunch" The last two posts that I made,
were strictly because I,personally,thought that they were funny!If people put
as much thought into constructing a bill as goes into making words stand for as much as they do in these e-mails,all of our problems would be solved!As for
myself & MOST of the people that I,personally,know,they usually figure things
out & don't make decisions based on propaganda!They decide on what affects
them personally.If only everyone used that much consideration! Irish :argue:

In my opinion that is the worst way to make decisions and is the crux of the problem we had with the previous administration.

OK how many here are self employed themi01 waves his hand luckily I have backup insurance through my wife's employer What are all your thoughts ?

I have been self employed. I have family insurance through my husband's work.

themi01,

Our health benefits are available through my wife's employer.

On the plus side of the current proposals, at least the CBO alerted Congress of the financing problem BEFORE the bill was voted on. :thumb: Now hold the line on the coverage and find a budget neutral way of financing it.