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Syphon6645 OP t1_j9tln3h wrote

Reply to comment by maiios in weren't we just about a year ago talking about needing to fund alternate programs to help our youth instead of just pumping money into the police force? the new governor is increasing a police force? by Syphon6645

Completely, the East Palestine train derailment is a perfect example and could absolutely happen in Baltimore. Government officials let corporations escape necessary protections to prevent an incident like that from happening. In addition, Government officials stepped in to get rail workers back to work without getting the basic benefits. So the rail company raked in record profits while not equipping the cars with proper brakes and understaffed and overworked train crews.

Corporations, Big Pharma, and others are manipulating us and our government on both sides while we argue over trans rights, race relations, and abortion rights. Oh and UFOs...

Let's not talk about our military supplies and funds being sent over to Ukrane to pay for everything in their country. Or the trillions of dollars missing from the pentagon. Or the millions our government officials get from insider trading. Or the backdoor deals Biden and his family has put forth. Or the backdoor deals Trump has benefited the Saudi prince. There's more going on if you just pay attention.

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lucasbelite t1_j9u7ysn wrote

But it's not a perfect example. It's very easy to say both parties are the same. Because both parties are captured by the rich. But they are captured by different billionaires in different industries, so it's more nuanced. And have very different priorities and issue capture because they have very different voting blocks. And even though a common denominator is labor rights that they hesitate on, one Party still leans on the side of supporting workers.

So in this particular example when it comes to regulating safety in manufacturing or transporting hazards, there is a clear difference. Because deregulation did occur in rail when Republicans had control.

Or even in the case of labor in rail, look no further than Biden immediately telling congress to pass legislation to adopt a labor agreement with a 24% pay raise and healthcare benefits. After a stern warning, 137 Republicans voted against it, only 8 Democrats. 96% of democrats supported. 37% Republicans. That's a huge difference.

And when democrats pushed for a provision to increase increase sickpay days from one to seven, it passed along party lines, with only 3 Republicans supporting it. That would never pass today now that the house has switched control. How is that not a difference?

I'm all for admitting similarities where they exist, but it drives me crazy when people pretend there is no difference when their are so many.

There's a reason why the right rails against tech billionaires and the left rails against oil billionaires. Because despite the rich supporting both parties, they also fight their own battles along party lines and voting blocks. And the mere nature of having to depend on voters to win elections creates pressure to support certain issues.

So there is a clear difference in regulating manufacturing, transporting hazards, and labor benefits. A quite obvious difference when you consider who benefits and the voting block that supports them.

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maiios t1_j9uu27o wrote

If the democrats supported unions, then they would have let the collective bargaining process work out instead of basically forcing the workers to accept the owner's proposal. The pay bump was agreed on, but the workers wanted more time off, and they really didn't get that. But the politicians and news media played it as a win win.

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Syphon6645 OP t1_j9uak8l wrote

There are differences in that regard but still the same. They cater to the corporations that gets them reelected.

The dems just hide it better saying that they can relate to working class. But keep in mind who is always taking the beating. It's never the rich. The ones making the laws are the rich.

They aren't going to pass a law they can't loophole through or around.

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lucasbelite t1_j9ujula wrote

You responded to the only point I capitulated on. That there's a lot of money in our politics and it obviously influences decision making. But it influences in different ways, and I explicitly said labor is an issue that has less difference, because of that reason, however, voting blocks still create a small one.

Otherwise, feel free to explain this. I work in Montgomery County. Sick leave is mandated and minimum wage is $15.65/hr. State minimum wage will rise to $15.00/hr by 2025 Statewide.

A short drive to PA right over the border where democrats don't have a trifecta of control in Goverment and haven't in quite sometime, the minimum wage is $7.25/hr. I'm soooo sure it's just a coincidence. Drive 30 minutes North of Baltimore and cross state lines and the minimum wage drops in half, for one simple reason. The difference in Party.

You can pretend all you want that there's no difference. But it's pretty obvious, especially when you look at who is obstructing what, when things don't get passed. Because it only takes one chamber or an executive to block progress. But when you actually look at proportions of roll call votes and the stark difference on how different areas that have a trifecta of control by either party and where they focus their priorities and it's pretty damn obvious.

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Inevitable_Sherbet42 t1_j9v9a2o wrote

>Let's not talk about our military supplies and funds being sent over to Ukrane to pay for everything in their country.

You mean all that old equipment from 40-30 years ago that we just kept in warehouses collecting dust?

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Syphon6645 OP t1_j9vbclv wrote

Please let me know your source.

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Inevitable_Sherbet42 t1_j9via5i wrote

The source is the equipment they're being given.

The Abrams they're getting? They're not the modern variant, they're the OG variant that is still being tooled down before its sent overseas.

HIMARS? Cold War tech.

M117 APCs? 90s.

Javilens and Stingers? Cold War.

RAAM systems? Cold War.

Switchblade Drones? They're modern tech, but they're single use, and they only got 700.

TOW missiles? Cold War.

Bradley's? Cold War.

HARM missiles? Cold War.

HMMWVs? Cold War.

M113 APCs? EARLY Cold War.

https://www.state.gov/u-s-security-cooperation-with-ukraine/

I could go on, but it's pretty clear the vast majority of the weapons systems we've sent to Ukraine are very outdated to anyone with even a passing knowledge of them.

What source do you have that they've been getting primarily cutting-edge edge tech? Cause if we're dragging our feet to give them F-16s I find the idea that they're getting the best of our newer equipment a tad silly.

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6flightsup t1_j9vjmts wrote

FiM 92 Stinger: entered service in 1981 HIMARS: entered service 20+ years ago BGM71 TOW: entered service in the 1970s Just three bigger ticket examples. Old.

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