This one is for all the @redstateinsurgents@a.gup.pe
My neighbor bought a new 64K truck (I know because he constantly mentions the cost) had a lift kit installed for 15K (I know because he constantly mentions the cost) has four kids who are bullies (I know because I see and hear them), and constantly complains about gas prices and property taxes, despite the fact that he is one of two houses in the neighborhood with kids.
Most of property taxes go to fund the public schools, which his children attend. Basically the neighborhood is subsidizing his children’s education, but he thinks he deserves to pay less in taxes. I explained this, and he told me I was full of shit, but I think he knew I was right, because he started revving his engine early in the morning the day after that and did it for like two weeks.
Hilariously, he stopped doing it not because I complained – I’m up early anyway – but because his wife came out in pajamas and started screaming at him for waking her up. Quite the metaphor for Republicanism.
I gotta get out of this neighborhood.
But you are so close to the action! Set up a camera and make a documentary!
Sounds like the family in the Intro of “Idiocracy”…
I really need to rewatch that, thanks for reminding me!
I watch it every once in a while… It started off funnier and now it’s almost too close to reality.
Well I will make due with fascinating, like a documentary voiced by David Attenborough but dirty :)
So close it hurts. Even the history revisionary stuff about Nazis is spot on.
I’d watch a Netflix series based on your life, but I’d be concerned that it would get cancelled without proper closure…
I work in a gas station, there is a MAGA regular who is constantly complaining about how broke she is, she buys 2 packs of unfiltered camels a day, that’s $14.60 a pack, over $800 a month just for cigarettes cause she buys the most expensive packs in the store.
at those prices meth is cheaper.
At this point, I actually think the meth is more socially acceptable, too.
its not hard to get a prescription either. Insurance will pay for 60% of it.
Being serious here, but since I moved away from alcohol and started using LSD and MDMA I’m actually saving when going to party. A beer at the club have the same price that an LSD tab!
I saw a lady apolozing to Trump for not donating because she had to pay her medical bills and was living in disability. So she was basically giving her disability check to Trump every month. 😖
If you’d see that in a movie it would be a weird comedy where someone’s head spins around 360° for no reason so the viewer doesn’t know anymore what to believe and what not.
Someone should rerun the Jerry Falwell ad with Trump on the headline
I personally have pity for rank and file Republican voters.
They were simply easy marks our education system intentionally failed to teach critical thinking and reason to because obedient laborers don’t need that, and were then spoonfed sensationalist lies that appealed to their fears and anxieties, the easiest avenues for indoctrination, for the last half century under the guise of being “news” for the private profit of private shareholders and to turn them into useful idiot dependable votes for those same private shareholders to effectively capture their regulators and government that was once meant to protect us from them.
As just one in an ocean of examples, Fox “News” has been telling these poor sad bastards that “man made climate change is a hoax for scientists to sell books!”
So what you’re saying is, you don’t hate the fools, you pity them.
That’s not why.
They are taught that education is bad because the Bible teaches them everything they really need to know, and focusing on their weird version of ‘Christianity’^tm makes them better than all those academic eggheads in their luxurious ivory towers while the people who actually run things make sure no help ever actually gets to them.
And now, in the most (mo)ironic twist ever, they are saying hurricane Helene was intentionally created to lower republican turnout in the election. No, seriously.
I’ve heard shit that it was moved by the left with weather control machines so they could clear out areas to mine lithium
And all this with the dirt cheap gas prices in the US. In comparison to Europe, gas in the US is nearly free…
Sorry to hijack your comment, but seeing that “my grandchildren are in my daughters’ ovaries post” right above this one and your comment made me wonder:
Why is gas so damn cheap in the US while saying “healthcare is expensive” is a giant understatement.
Compared with Europe, where gas prices are regulated (and gas stations still seem to be doing just fine to the point that new ones keep popping up around where I live at an astounding rate) while it’s the healthcare that is subsidised and made availiable to all.
How come? Why aren’t gas companies in the US be as greedy as hospitals and pharma there? Why aren’t European gas stations few and far between, continuing to barely hold on, fail and ultimately closeleaving Europe gasless?
In the EU, fuel is heavily taxed and most people drive smaller fuel efficient automobiles. The fuel prices in Europe never bothered me, but I start laughing at the Americans who complain about $4.00 a gallon and drive gas guzzlers carrying fucking air.
As an American: because gas has to compete. You can’t ask to go to the cheap hospital, they don’t even usually tell you the price before administering medicine. So hospitals charge what they’d like and that’s that. Gas prices are highly competitive and we’re one of the world’s primary oil producers and refiners. Additionally the Biden administration has been using our strategic oil reserves to stabilize gas prices.
Isn’t there literally a law that prevents gas stations from being too competitive. Like you can’t lower your prices below a certain threshold lower than a station near you or some shit like that or am I just on crazy pills
I think you’re right. I didn’t know the details, but there is something like that.
Why did four people downvote this? It’s the truth.
Because they saw Biden.
They are greedy, but oil isn’t really found in Europe proper so they have to get it from other countries, which means transport, tariffs, losing money to that country via trade deficit, etc.
That is actually not the issue. The point is that about 80%+ of European gas prices are taxes.
They are greedy
U.S. fossil fuel subsidies stretch across the U.S. tax code, which makes detailing their costs complex. The IMF estimates they stood at $760 billion in 2022, a figure topped only by China.
However, that quote isn’t entirely fair to China.
Also it’s Reuters, so kilo of salt.
My conservative Christian, formerly maga parent recently raised the point and I had to remind them fossil energy is heavily taxpayer subsidized. Again.
" . . . and an RV and a garage full of boats and jet skis."
Oil Industry Guy When Gas Prices Go Up: “Oh no! It costs so much money to drive my big truck and cool my enormous house and afford business class airplane tickets and now I can’t afford my Carnival Cruise to Florida! This is the fault of the Evil Communist Green Party Democrats! Only Republicans can fix it!”
Oil Industry Guy When Gas Prices Go Down: “Oh shit! Oh fuck! I’m unemployed, broke, foreclosed on, and drowning in debt! This is the fault of the Evil Communist Green Party Democrats! Only Republicans can fix it!”
Oil Industry Guy When It’s Time To Form A Union: “Fuck you, you fucking socialists. I don’t need the government to do anything for me. I can pull myself up by my own bootstraps!”
But during all those scenarios…RECORD PROFITS FOR OIL INDUSTRY
Amazing how that happens seemingly no matter what.
…And a large and expensive gun collection, and tons of NASCAR paraphernalia.
Okay the 70k lifted truck is valid. But I don’t think maga people are out there buying 100k watches
Recently Trump was selling $100K gold watches; I’m assuming it was mostly maga folks who bought them
It was almost certainly a way to hide “donations” (bribes), from multimillionaires and billionaires, not random maga poor people
Not the people that can’t afford gas, what the post is about. They don’t have 100k to spend on a watch.
Yeah but they can’t afford gas while Trump is selling expensive jewelry lol
OK, substitute the NFTs and testosterone pills
Obsolete Biden stickers! Lol I hope they have boxes of these dishonest attacks on a candidate who’s not running anymore…
In anglo Canada we have our own version of this that includes at least 1 oversized Canadian flag, at least 1 “FUCK 🍁 TRUDEAU” and 1 “FREEDOM” optionally also on flags or decals, something sloppily painted in white complaining about coronavirus mandates, and getting more common is something insulting Jagmeet Singh.
They have maga and Trump merch as well
It’s very confusing how they can fly a Maple Leaf and not know what country they’re in
Change watch to guns and you nailed it
Man. I stopped on the side of the road the other day to help a guy with a “need gas” sign. I’m not exactly well off myself, but I figured I could give him a ride. “I ain’t got no cash, but thanks for stopping!” Dude’s driving a pristine pavement princess. Priorities, man…
Crazy. Plenty of people on the corners panhandling in my town, but none of them can afford rent much less a gas guzzling truck.
That’s why I stopped, primarily. I don’t have a lot to give, but I can give some time, so I figured I’d help out how I could. Knowing it’s probably just a ploy for money is annoying, especially considering all of the other panhandlers around that do actually need help.
hey! you leave beer and cigs out of this!
Tbf, those are symptoms of despair, in most cases, regardless of income.
ok man. i’ll be over here having a good time.
That’s what a local said, until they ended up needing a lawyer. I’m not blaming the consumers. I’m blaming the economic policies.
what are you even talking about?
Whilst voting against addressing any issues that would improve their situation at every given opportunity.
Even if you drive a small car being forced to pay about 15% of your total income just to get to work is still fucking expensive. And no, public transport or bike isnt a suitable option for everyone.
And no, public transport or bike isnt a suitable option for everyone.
So we need to build infrastructure for it. And more electric cars charged with greener fuel sources.
There’s only so much you can do with infrastructure to make up for the fact that most people want (for multiple good reasons) to live in suburbs.
IMHO we also need to clamp down HARD on landlords/HOAs. A big part of the reason I don’t want to live in an apartment/condo is that there’s a long list of rules I have to strictly obey. No political signs, no letting my cats outside, no string lights outside of Christmas season… Ridiculous.
I’m sorry, but the tagged name at the end is hilarious with the context of your comment. It’s cracking me up.
🤣🤣 I didn’t even notice that! But yeah, my landlord would definitely not let me have cows. 🤣
That’s understandable on his part. They are pretty underrated.
You might find that name hilarious (as do I), but Devan Nunes would seething with anger at that. Especially since he just lost his job at Trump’s money laund- err, ‘social media’ company.
Oh the horrors of an HOA wanting to preserve wildlife from the destruction of irresponsible pet owners. Theirs plenty of reasons to hate on HOAs and I wouldn’t live under one unless I didn’t have any other options but that’s a stupid reason.
Keeping cats indoors 24/7 is not healthy for them.
Sure. Let them out so they can fight stray cats, get preggo, get flees and ticks, and all of that fun stuff…
Sure. Let them out so they can fight stray cats, get preggo, get flees and ticks, and all of that fun stuff…
Mine’s spayed and wears a seresto collar (which is easily the most effective flea/tick control I’ve seen - they’re pricey for flea collars but being good for 8 months helps mitigate that. Both dogs and the cat wear them.). Now, she does occasionally get into fights with other cats in the neighborhood but that’s largely unavoidable. If it’s not going well she runs inside to her dog for comfort.
She was supposed to be an inside cat, but we put in a dog door for the dogs and she figured it out from them. It’s a pretty basic one without the bells and whistles and electronic lock controls and triple the price. If it were it wouldn’t slow her down much, she’d just come and go under the taller dog.
They can’t get pregnant if they’re spayed. They can be made resistant to fleas and ticks. And how are they going to fight stray cats, when they’re not in a stray cat’s territory?
Would you also just let your dog out like that?
At least you’re a principled shit pet owner I guess
K. I want you to look at somewhere like rural WV and imagine what public transit infrastructure or bike infrastructure that would actually be useful would look like. Preferably that wouldn’t cost more than the entire state budget to run and would be useful for people to use to get to work and to at least one major grocery store and one place to get appliances or furniture.
Say, Powelton, WV. Or Dry Branch, WV. Or Webster Springs, WV. Or Amma, WV. And these aren’t even the hardest examples in the state, but they’re ones I know well enough to likely be able to comment on your answers.
It’s not that difficult? I’m over here in rural Washington along long beach, raymond, Aberdeen and Pacific Transit is quite viable for getting to work grocery stores and whatever else you need. I know because I’m a driver for them, I’m currently doing from Ilwaco to Aberdeen.
From my first stop to my second stop is a half hour, then an hour to the next stop, then a couple quick stops in town, then another half hour to Aberdeen. And yet I still service about 30 people a day, people rely on me to get to work, to do shopping, to go see the doctor. We also have a service where people can call upon us for very specific needs that aren’t covered by our routes. Three of them actually
We have a Dial-A-Ride service where you can request that we pick you up and drop you off at specific places or the nearest other bus stop in smaller shuttle buses (prioritizes ada passengers if demand is high)
We have a shopper shuttle service that literally just runs between a big pile of different stores and restaurants that people like to go to and they make connections with most of our other routes
And then we have the veteran connect service where we help make sure that veterans are able to get to their medical appointments as far out as Chehalis and Vancouver as there is unfortunately no VA hospitals near us.
Almost every furniture store in existence can deliver straight to your house now, even if you manage to find one that can’t just go rent a U-Haul for the day it’s not expensive. There’s no reason for your daily driver to be a massive truck because you might need something big at some point doesn’t matter whether your rural or not.
I definitely know what it’s like to put some mileage on a car as I currently Drive a total round trip mileage of 160 miles per day for getting to/from work. But thankfully for my wallet I’m driving a smart fortwo which gets on average 43 miles to the gallon so that definitely helps. And the only reason I need to do that is because I’m the one driving the bus so I can’t exactly take the bus to drive the bus unfortunately as much as I wish they would let me just take it home
I think the difference in geography makes a, well, difference. It’s just a lot of people stuck in tiny towns that are several miles long in one direction and around 150 yards in the other, most of them up different hollows or branches of hollows. Mass transit that’s actually workable would be difficult. Hell, I used to date a woman who was a social worker who did in home adult education and more than a few of her clients had directions to get to them that involved things like turning off the road to drive several miles up a creek bed, because neither federal, state, nor county considered it a place worth running a road to.
I kinda think running a ferry line that went up and down river and across, with each line going from one set of locks to the next with a shuttle to take you from one side of the locks to the other and local busing could work, but only for the places on the Kanawha. But even then going from where I used to live to Charleston would look something like bus->ferry->shuttle->ferry->bus. Going to be hard to make that look attractive compared to a 20 min drive.
And mind you I actually like mass transit. The times I’ve been to Boston I literally just grab a 7-day pass for the T and take it everywhere, but something like it just doesn’t seem practical given the geography and population distribution here.
But they already have plenty of gas.
