Interesting.....If people who lived in a "worker's paradise" feel uncomfortable with the direction the US seems to be going, well.....

"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Many Russian immigrants to the "red borough" of Staten Island are flocking to the Republican Party, saying that the national Democrats' "socialistic" policies remind them too much of the top-down oligarchy they fled in their native land."

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/12/many_russians_here_aligning_wi.html

Jake,

My GF was the daughter of loyal Communist Party apparatchiks in Leningrad. Oops, make that St. Petersburg (once again). She emigrated with her young daughter in 1991 and after 9/11 they both became US citizens.
She's not wildly GOP yet and simply hates Sarah Palin (she did an excellent Palin Haloween costume in 2008), but she really likes our new Guv, Chris Christie, a union challenging, big govt. enemy Republican.
Give me a few more years.

Side note: She has a much better life here than most of her college classmates do back home, except some guy named Medvedev, who was a couple of years behind her. Things aren't too good in Russia right now for the average citizen.

Thugs are still in charge there, just under a different banner

For all the same reasons Congress should have passed the Dream Act, we need to listen to these Russian immigrants. Their credibility takes a hit, however, when they say "that the national Democrats' 'socialistic' policies remind them too much of the top-down oligarchy they fled in their native land." Their use of the word "socialistic" seems frivolous and indicates that they lack an understanding of how Democratic and Republican policies have moved away from the socialist end of the ideological spectrum over the past 30 years. On the other hand, they probably know more about socialism than we do, so we should consider that part of their comment. Where I completely get off the bus, however, is when they accuse the Democrats of employing a "top-down" governing approach. It's the GOP, not the Democrats, who have tried to give more power to the central governments at the state and federal level. That part of the immigrants' comment reveals a lack of understanding of recent American history, IMHO.

I do agree that the Republicans sound much better than the Democrat pitch, at least to me. However, I am not sure whether the Russians are naive or not. Is there much of a difference between a Republicrat or a Demopublican? That seems to be what we get these days. I understand that they (both sides) do say a lot of nice things but will they act on it?

__________________
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Absolutely.

Karl Rove and GOPers like him depend on people assuming that the Democrats and Republicans are all alike. So long as people make that assumption, people like Rove don't pay a price for lying. When they get caught in a lie, people don't hold hit against them because, the thinking goes, politicians are all the same. That view, however, is not supported by the facts. The entire GOP agenda for the past two years have been based on numerous deceptions, all focused on discrediting Obama. That's why they routinely oppose legislative proposals that they previously sponsored.

I used Rove to illustrate my point even though he appears to have been pushed to the side in recent years. I cite him as my example because he is a particularly brazen practitioner of this deceptive brand of politics. I could have used Mitch McConnell or any number of other GOPers, but I think Rove is the paradigm.

So is it your contention that a Democrat has never lied, is not lying and will never lie? People lie. Both parties are made up by people so how can one party claim to never have lied and never will?

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

I agree. In addition, do any of you realize that you have to be extremely wealthy to live on Staten Island? Of course they're Republicans.

Nope.

I have it on good authority from a reputable source that $50K will be plenty.

If you have a well insulated shipping carton to live in, sure.

Come on now JR. I went to high school there. It's like anywhere else. some nice areas. some not so nice. The median household income in 2008 was 72.5k. Half the folks there get by on less than that. Greenwich CT it's not. Sheet mon, the WTC is buried out there.

Staten Island aka Richmond County.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/36085.html

Therein lies the explanation.

If two people have an income and share the cost of housing, you're in a completely different economic situation.

The discussion was a single person earning $50K. While it might not be impossible to pull off in the outer boroughs, Manhattan is out of the question unless you get a roommate.

Median home price, 360 grand, yup, that's real old fashion middle America, only a measely 23,000 a year higher median income than Houston.

For the most part, living OUTSIDE the forest allows one to see all the trees and therefore, allows the observer the right to call it as they see it.

And, I'm sure that having lived under "socialistic rule" for as long as they have, they'd be more than qualified to know a "socialist" when they see/hear one.



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M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
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“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

In Russian pipeline operations if they are told to deliver 50,000 bbls of oil to a refinery they deliver 50,000 bbls of oil.

If there is a leak in the line and 100,000 bbls go out on the ground while delivering the 50 then that is OK. They must stick to the plan which comes out of the Central Committee.

This has created the largest lake of crude oil in the world since one pipeline has been leaking for about 25 years without repair.

As far as Russians being experts on any economic system it is best to remember an old Russian saying... 'They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work.'