I have to go to a card party tonight (mixed couples) Politics is always the topic of discussion....What should

Question

we discuss ?

Answer 1

Cut and paste a day's worth of questions and answers from this site.

That should be entertainment enough.

Answer 2

Minimum wage is always a good topic. Like Hillary Clinton making the point that it is a bad idea to raise it while she was trying to promote the idea.

She said something to the effect of "If people have more money in their pocket, they will spend it and help the economy". Sorry I don't have an exact quote, but that is the gist of it.

I completely agree with that statement, but appearently she (and her audience) don't understand that that is the biggest argument AGAINST raising the minimum wage.

Follow my logic on this one: if it is true that people that have more money will spend it and help the economy, it is reasonable to conclude that the opposite is true: if people have less money, they will spend less and hurt the economy. Therefore, it is logical to conclude that it would be good to increase the amount of money that people have, and bad to decrease the amount.

Here is where the idea of raising the minimum wage runs into problems. Only about 4 million people make minimum wage, a little more than 1% of the population. Raising minimum wage increases the cost of business and therefore prices increase to pay for the higher cost (a.k.a. inflation). Inflation affects 100% of the population.

Therefore, raising the minimum wage gives about 1% of the population more money (good for the economy), but costs the other 99% of the population more money (bad for the economy). I'm no math expert, but I'm pretty sure that 99% bad is greater than 1% good.

Obviously, my figures are not exact, but they are close enough to get the point across. Logically and mathematically, raising the minimum wage is a bad idea. I just thought it was very funny and ironic that Hillary Clinton is too stupid to realize that her arguments in favor of it are actually the best arguments against it.

Answer 3

Your first answer actually points out to the problem quite clearly but in a way she didn't mean too. I only needed read her first line and already she is insulting others, which in turn shows her own insecurity in her ideas. Rather ironic. Thing is people believe very strongly on these topics and they have such a major day to day impact that it's hard to remain dispastionate about them. Me I'm off in my own pasture when it comes to religion so it's easier for me to talk religion than most for whom it is a clear cut this is how it is kind of thing. Politics is even worse. Even without the aid of politicians politics usually comes down to a contest for resources between various segments of society. Somebody has to lose in such a contest and the impact on people's lives is fairly dramatic in a negative way most of the time as most of the time both sides lose in such contests. Socialized medicine for example would completely deny all health care to me in this country before the ink was dry on the bill. There would be one rule or another that would exclude me from using Federal subsidized health care and because of the massive tax increases necessary to fund it and the huge paperwork burden placed upon health care providers paying cash for health care would no longer be an option. As such I have a vital stake in opposing socialized medicine. When I mean vital I mean socialized medicine is literally an attempt to kill me. Hard enough to get health care now without insurance but to have to bow and scrape and modify my life would be even more difficult. Then owing child support or owing on a student loan or being convicted of a certain crime or failing to eat a prescribed diet or failing to do something or another would leave far more people without health care coverage than the current system, on top of that it would make it nearly impossible those not covered to get health care. If that's not attempted mass murder I don't know what is. See how easy it is to get emotionally entangled in politics. How much is at state. That is why it's a bad topic in a neutral environment such as a party or wedding or something like that. I could have used a dozen examples and riled up one side or both sides on issues. Once asked a question here on YA just to point out how both sides on abortion have nonsensical aspects of their stances. Managed to rile quite a few people with that one, surprised it wasn't deleted :)

Answer 4

If politics is on the table it's a no win situation.

I suggest you inject your opinion of "why".

Why can't we agree to disagree? Why do people take it so personally? Why is the change in who runs the House and Senate so drastic every 6 years? Why do we continue to keep voting in the same people election year after election year?

It will only take one negative or disagreed upon political question and the why's will be gone. If that happens, you might as well start talking about religion and evolution.

Answer 5

You could discuss how Pelosi may be scuttling the Dems' good will by pushing Murtha and that she is allowed this one slip, but needs to be mroe in touch with the will o fthe people.

If she continues in this vein, she is no better than the GOP, who were accused of this same kind of politicking

Answer 6

If you can actually get a liberal into an intelligent discussion (you know, where they don't resort to name-calling or lying), talk about any issue you want. It should be interesting.

Ask them why they think that an agency that can't seem to do anything efficiently should be in complete charge of our health care.

Ask them how they are actually going to do things "better." Ask for some specifics.

Answer 7

the negative effects of illegal aliens on our country...try to get everyone you can to contact the "elected class" and demand representation for middle-class Americans...no amnesty!

Or you could discuss the affect the media is having on illegal immigration...ie undocumented workers instead of illegal aliens, jobs Americans don't want which we would take if they paid a livable wage or we (Americans) were "entitled" to all the freebies from our government so we could live on what the illegals are paid!

Or you could discuss either impeaching emperor bush or trying him for treason because he did not close our borders within hours of 9/11....

Answer 8

The illegal immigration and the side effects of power shift in the Congress.

Answer 9

Minimun wage, gay marriage, stem cell research, and the Iraq war. Things that would make people really mad and spiteful.

Answer 10

Better be careful. Maybe wear a bullet proof vest.