Tell me about Gary Johnson

[sourceninja]

...

 

[Fanatical Meat]

You act like winning is what is required to change policy. If enough people support a 3rd party (10-15%) it will be enough to effect policy. You also act as if there is a good choice in this race, a choice that will not be bad for america or at the very least less bad for america. I disagree.

Here is the problem and its not insurmountable but traditionally has been. Getting 10-15% this cycle and keeping that 10-15% plus building on it for the next cycle. This is were all 3rd parties fail. They move forward at first then stop because they are too narrow focused or don't have realistic plans.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Here is the problem and its not insurmountable but traditionally has been. Getting 10-15% this cycle and keeping that 10-15% plus building on it for the next cycle. This is were all 3rd parties fail. They move forward at first then stop because they are too narrow focused or don't have realistic plans.

one thing about Gary Johnson which has made it easier for me to lend support is that he's fit. He's relatively young. Even if he gets 14% this cycle and narrowly misses the debates, etc., he can just go at it again next election, where he'll likely get even more votes. Why do I say that? Because he's doing amazingly well with the younger crowds.. up to 40yo. As the older demos die off, the voter base will lend itself more to Gary.

With all of the drama between Hillary and Trump, and that a majority of americans don't want to vote for either.. it's a unique time for Gary.

 

[dank69]

You act like winning is what is required to change policy. If enough people support a 3rd party (10-15%) it will be enough to effect policy. You also act as if there is a good choice in this race, a choice that will not be bad for america or at the very least less bad for america. I disagree.

10-15% won't happen, and even if it did it would not affect policy. The Dems are already shifting towards libertarian views on a lot of policies as it is. I think MJ, for example, will be legalized by the end of Hillary's second term unless the party of small government manages to block it.

Libertarian fiscal policy is bad for America and is not rooted in reality, so Dems are not shifting towards that and they shouldn't. We aren't going to go back to the gold standard no matter how many idiots think doing so is anything other than a scam being pushed by con artists in order to bilk gullible people. The sky is not falling when it comes to our debt as these people will have you believe.

As for what is bad for America, I think it is possible that Hillary will make some improvements in some areas and make some things a bit worse in other areas. I hope we will see a net positive outcome and think at worst we could see a minimal net negative outcome.

Trump will be a disaster that will make the Dubya years look like the golden age of reason. He knows nothing about anything despite believing he knows everything about everything. Just ask him, he has the best brain. When he takes over, he will appoint every GOP establishment crony from all the previous GOP admins because he doesn't know any better, and he will take their advice about everything because he doesn't know any better. They will push more trickle down because we just didn't push trickle down hard enough for it to work last time, this time will be different. Muslims we become second class citizens along with most of the other minorities. Trump will go to war with any and every nation that dares to criticize his awful hair, and the GOP Congress will happily go along with him every step of the way, because in the fantasy election scenario where Trump wins, the GOP also retains control of the Senate. he'll also sue every news organization that dares to criticize "his" policy.

 

[fleshconsumed]

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. Can't vote for Trump and can't vote for Hillary. The only two independant candidates are Gary Johnson and Jill Stein. Going by the ontheissues.org list, here are some of the more cuckoo positions that Gary Johnson holds:

Cut federal budget by 43%
Cut Medicare/Medicaid by 43%
Cut Defense by 43%
Anti Keynisian
Ending the Fed is OK
For private prisons
Could be pro Death penalty despite admitting many people are mistakenly convicted?
Vouchers for church schools despite believing in separation of church and state
Abolish department of education
Pro free trade, no restrictions, no tariffs (jobs lost are the ones we do not want)
Unlimited campaign contributions by corporations?
Pro ammesty for illegal immigrants
I view government in the same way as philosopher Ayn Rand
A portion of Social Security ought to be privatized
Replace the payroll tax with FairTax
Raise the retirement age to 70 or 72
Raise the retirement age; plus means testing
23% national sales tax while eliminating the IRS
Get rid of income tax and capital-gains tax.
FairTax on all new goods & services, with prebates for poor
Opposes Net Neutrality; no government regulation of Internet

There is a lot that I like about GJ, his positions on domestic spying, patriot act, drug wars are all great. He also has good points about needing to reduce government spending including unnecessary wars across the globe. That said, he has too many cuckoo opinions for me to take him seriously. You just can't cut the fed budget by 43%, you just can't cut your way to balanced budget. The real answer is both cut spending and raise taxes, but everybody is too afraid to mention the latter. FairTax and Sales tax is inherently regressive in nature. Abolishing department of education and giving vouchers to church based schools is nuts. Privatizing social security is also wrong move. Ideally Social Security should be your "insurance" retirement plan in case your other investments do not do well or in case of market downturn. It's the equivalent of 6-month emergency savings in your typical hosehold budget. Nobody should be putting those emergency savings into market. Unlimited donations by corporations is not a problem as long as we know who donated and how much? Sorry, also wrong.

This cycle I'm probably going to put my vote for Jill Stein. To be fair, she also has her share of nutty/naive positions, but overall I feel they're not as far out as those of Johnson. So Jill Stein it is.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Libertarian fiscal policy is bad for America and is not rooted in reality, so Dems are not shifting towards that and they shouldn't.

The problem with this is that GJ doesn't follow a strictly libertarian fiscal policy; he's fiscally conservative AND spent 2 terms as governor where is fiscal policies were wildly successful.

So while many of your objections are valid, I think if you're going to make the claim above, doing so in context of Johnson's campaign might be misguided and promptly dismissed in the face of Johnson's successful history.

Because ultimately it sounds like you're saying 'they can't do that, it's not realistic'.. when reality is 'that's not what he wants to do, and what he wants to do he already did it, successfully'.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. Can't vote for Trump and can't vote for Hillary. The only two independant candidates are Gary Johnson and Jill Stein. Going by the ontheissues.org list, here are some of the more cuckoo positions that Gary Johnson holds:



There is a lot that I like about GJ, his positions on domestic spying, patriot act, drug wars are all great. He also has good points about needing to reduce government spending including unnecessary wars across the globe. That said, he has too many cuckoo opinions for me to take him seriously. You just can't cut the fed budget by 43%, you just can't cut your way to balanced budget. The real answer is both cut spending and raise taxes, but everybody is too afraid to mention the latter. FairTax and Sales tax is inherently regressive in nature. Abolishing department of education and giving vouchers to church based schools is nuts. Privatizing social security is also wrong move. Ideally Social Security should be your "insurance" retirement plan in case your other investments do not do well or in case of market downturn. It's the equivalent of 6-month emergency savings in your typical hosehold budget. Nobody should be putting those emergency savings into market. Unlimited donations by corporations is not a problem as long as we know who donated and how much? Sorry, also wrong.

This cycle I'm probably going to put my vote for Jill Stein. To be fair, she also has her share of nutty/naive positions, but overall I feel they're not as far out as those of Johnson. So Jill Stein it is.

Has Jill Stein ever been a governor? No.

Has Jill Stein ever put her policies to practice? No.

GJ has, and he's been successful at it.

While you might not agree with all of his stances, the likelihood of GJ actually getting things done and being successful at it are remarkably higher.

 

[fleshconsumed]

While you might not agree with all of his stances, the likelihood of GJ actually getting things done and being successful at it are remarkably higher.

This is the same argument that was used in Hillary vs. Bernie argument: Hillary's ideas may not be as good as Bernie's, and some of her positions are downright horrible, but at least she'll get things done. Sorry, but GJ has too many wacky ideas for my liking. If he could tone down somewhat on balanced budget, education, and taxes then I'd have no problem voting for him, but as it stands, thanks but no. Successfully putting bad policies in place is not my idea of good governance.

 

[TechBoyJK]

This is the same argument that was used in Hillary vs. Bernie argument: Hillary's ideas may not be as good as Bernie's, and some of her positions are downright horrible, but at least she'll get things done. Sorry, but GJ has too many wacky ideas for my liking. If he could tone down somewhat on balanced budget, education, and taxes then I'd have no problem voting for him, but as it stands, thanks but no. Successfully putting bad policies in place is not my idea of good governance.

What bad policies did he put in place? He fixed their budget and made enough people happy to be elected twice as a republican in a state that's 2:1 democrat.

 

[dank69]

The problem with this is that GJ doesn't follow a strictly libertarian fiscal policy; he's fiscally conservative AND spent 2 terms as governor where is fiscal policies were wildly successful.

So while many of your objections are valid, I think if you're going to make the claim above, doing so in context of Johnson's campaign might be misguided and promptly dismissed in the face of Johnson's successful history.

Because ultimately it sounds like you're saying 'they can't do that, it's not realistic'.. when reality is 'that's not what he wants to do, and what he wants to do he already did it, successfully'.

Seems he isn't as fiscally conservative as he claims. Good news is this is more evidence that government spending can lead to growth.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Seems he isn't as fiscally conservative as he claims. Good news is this is more evidence that government spending can lead to growth.

Author of that page is Karl Denninger

Karl Denninger is an American technology businessman, finance blogger, and political activist, sometimes referred to as a founding member of the Tea Party movement.

next.

 

[TheGardener]

TechBoyJK, you still haven't substantiated the so-called 10-15% of those who will vote, supporting Johnson. It's probably more likely 5% now, and will be 1% to 2% come November.

Neither Trump nor Clinton will want him to share that podium come the debates. And from what I see, nor should he.

 

[dank69]

Author of that page is Karl Denninger



next.

How does saying he is a founding member of the Tea Party automatically make his claims wrong?

Are the numbers in his post wrong?