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Joe Rico

Rochester, Minnesota
Commenter for
51 weeks 4 days

Recent Comments

Posted on 03/05/13 at 07:20 pm in response to Ellison spars with Sean Hannity

I very much enjoyed watching Ellison tear him apart. If Republicans could actually focus on their core beliefs rather than drawing a hitler stach on Obama and maximizing corporate profits we might actually see something good happen for the American people.

Posted on 02/26/13 at 11:57 am in response to Those who say both sides are to blame are to blame?

The CBO estimates that the American Tax Relief Act passed in January will raise an additional $364 Billion per year. If the sequestration is only decreasing funding by $110 Billion / year, why are we suprised the GOP doesn't want to give ground on the issue. That's still a 3:1 tax increase to deficit reduction ratio.

Posted on 02/23/13 at 11:24 am in response to People carrying assault weapons pose a clear and present danger to others

Because many of our laws are based off of irrational reactions to fear...

Posted on 02/23/13 at 02:10 pm in response to People carrying assault weapons pose a clear and present danger to others

I don't quite follow the logic of this article. It's illegal to yell fire in a theater because people can get hurt if you do. The freedom of speech is limited in cases were speaking can cause people harm.

It's illegal to use a firearm to hurt someone, that's always been in the case. To say that we should restrict firearms because they could be used to hurt someone, is like saying we should restrict free speech because it can be used to hurt people.

To say that a gun should be...

Posted on 02/21/13 at 07:30 am in response to Republicans' factional duality on bright display at U of M panel

While a lot of people's experience with Ron Paul supporters is limited solely to they're experiences with Paulbots, I'm a little distressed at being painted as "extremists". Sure there are those elements in this group, just as there are in any other, but the extremist marking is due mostly to prejudice from the mainstream republican party and the media. There is a lot more common ground between democrats and libertarians than democrats and the mainstream Republican party. Libertarians were...

Posted on 02/21/13 at 06:33 am in response to Legislative search for consensus on gun laws looks tricky

I'm sure people felt safe living close to Mt. St. Helen too. Just because we haven't had a tyrannical government since 1776 doesn't mean we won't have an attempt at another one. I don't see it happening in 10 or 20 years, but that doesn't mean it won't. And you're ridiculous ad hominem attacks set you in the good company of every crazy Republican I've had to argue with...

Posted on 09/16/12 at 07:56 am in response to Bachmann: Middle East protests the 'direct consequence' of Obama policies

I agree with you on Bush / Cheney. But Clinton dropped quite a few bombs in his day, and Obama has mastered the back room kill lists / predator drone strike process. The only difference between the Dems and Reps is rhetoric when it comes to foreign policy. I would really love to see someone in office who could just say "Hey, we've been in your business for more than half a century, maybe we'll just leave you alone." But that will never happen...

Posted on 07/23/12 at 10:06 pm in response to Poll shows Obama leads in Minnesota, Klobuchar up big and marriage amendment with strong support

Only 37% of Minnesotans plan to vote against the marriage amendment? 36% of Republicans at the state convention voted to strike all language concerning gay marriage from the party platform. I have a hard time believing anti-amendment has that little support.

Posted on 07/07/12 at 09:05 am in response to What Kurt Bills wants to do to Obamacare (viewer discretion advised)

and I still don't like the law. The problem with the quiz is it's filled up with intentions rather than results. The current healthcare system is overwhelmed with issues that make it inefficient and over-priced. The ACA fixed zero of that, and most likely will make it worse. Fundamentally we have a problem with irresponsibility. Why are forced to support people who will not take responsibility for their own health? This is only going to get worse under ACA. My wife spends all day working...

Posted on 06/14/12 at 08:27 am in response to What if we dumped the Fed and returned to the gold standard?

People can blame this recession on de-regulation, which was certainly partly to blame. The government had it's role as well with a huge moral hazard which allowed the banks to take the risks they did, and individual people to take the risks they did. This corporate-government relationship which allows corporations to distance themselves from risk was a specific criticism of Friedman. If we wouldn't have been trying to make housing "cheap", we wouldn't have had the bubble in the first place...