My right winged uncle posted a photo of Detroit that read, "Bankrupt, run by Democrats since 1962" how do I get him back?

He is correct, though.

Post a picture of what a person living on minimum wage can afford.
After paying social security and taxes, take home pay. Is about 250 a week. Now multiply that by 4 weeks. $1000 a month. Now subtract the essentials.
Rent, for a two bedroom on the lowest scale rat nest apartment 400
Food Eating very little. 300
utilities Electricity, water, gas, 200
900 right there.

Now somehow that 100 extra is suppose to provide for medical, transportation, in some cases, drive a car, car insurance or public transportation.
My husbands public transportation is over 250 a month. To drive his car would be much more in gas and parking in a garage.
So minimum wage keeps the poor barely surviving. Can they afford cars? Can they afford homes or a decent place to live? Of course they can all move (if they had the money) but then who would do all the crappy jobs?
Businesses are bankrupt because they nickled and dimed everyone to death and now people don’t have the money to pay them what is owed and they can’t afford purchases.

It is funny how our country is built on commercialism but big businesses are driving the whole country down. They can’t survive on the few who make the money to spend it and keep the whole nation afloat. No. The few who can afford to make purchases, are afraid they are next on the list to bankruptcy and won’t use their money. They just pass the bill down to the guy who can’t afford it.

It’s the republican greed that is driving our nation down. They don’t even see how they are stepping all over each others toes on the way to the top.
US stock market effects everyone. They keep working at crashing it. It won’t matter how many bills they have in the banks if the dollar bill becomes worthless.

It is hard enough to engage in a political debate without worrying about “getting someone back” or “scoring points.”

Marshall your facts. @Pandora has done some of your work for you. So has @Rarebear.
(it’s right wing and not right winged.)

Show a photo of Germany, with the subtitle “Economic superpower. Run by Communists since 1946.”

You really can’t; people tend to be stubborn about politics, often choosing rhetoric over reality.

For instance, many would refute @Pandora‘s claims about rent (thinking that housing is cheaper), and more than a few have steadfastly refused to believe me when I say that someplace like Seattle has high enough housing costs that that $400 is barely enough to get half an apartment.

When they refuse to believe even apartment listing from a local paper, what makes you think that they will listen to anything that challenges their preconceived notions about Democrats being responsible for every bad thing in the history of ever?

@jerv, I did say it was a rat infested home. Basically the slums with the slum lords. But there are states, like West Virginia, where you can get a rusted trailer home for about that much. Of course it would also take you about an hours drive to even find a job that would pay minimum.

He is right.

@Pandora makes some good points, but I haven’t seen any of my right wing friends care about that angle. I do though.

There has been a lot of corruption in Detroit politics from what I understand.

Detroit is not only about dems v rep, but also it is a race issue I would think just like the city I lived near most recently; Memphis. Detroit goes Democrat not only because of the unions, but also because there is a high number of black people living there. I think it is something like 80% black in the city proper, but I am not sure if voting rights extend out beyond those lines.

I don’t think there are a lot of jobs right in Detroit, maybe someone else will know more info. A lot of the car related manufacturing is outside of Detroit in surrounding areas, and people have moved out there for work many years ago. When I live in MI 25 years ago Detroit was already semi abondoned and efforts to revitalize it never worked. I’ve always hoped there would be a rivival. The location is amazing, on the water, right across from Canada, nearby major airport, but the place for the most part is a wreck. Lots of abandoned areas. It was a downward spiral, I don’t think anyone could have stopped it once it started. Anyone who had any money moved for safer and better kept areas in the suburbs. There have been proposals to put in farms in Detroit I heard one to turn a large parcel of land into an apple orchard that would also serve as a park. I liked the idea.

I would bet there are cities around the country that have been run by Republicans that also are a mess. you could probably hold up as a counter example. I wish I had some for you.

Maybe just ask him what he thinks should have been done to save detroit, and see if he has a better solution that what has happened. That way he has to actually think and explain why and how the Republicans would have done better.

Link him to this TED Talk. Or this video about Wealth Inequality in America.

Detroit is an economic discussion, not necessarily a political one. Your argument about restricting free competition is not helping you. Detroit’s problem – they made crappy cars for a long time – that’s what let foreign car makers take hold here. When gas was no longer cheap and US gas guzzling cars failed to evolve MPG it left the door open for competition,

Detroit car makers stuck their head in the sand that was the beginning of the end. Even now US car manufacturers lack creativity in car design – look at how many 1950/1960 retro cars are out there now, again a testament to US car manufacturers lack of innovation.

Ford seems to have gotten the message and was the only manufacturer avoiding the need for a bailout. But this issue was failure of an industry to evolve and compete effectively. .

This has nothing to do with government regulation – Democrat or otherwise.

Or, you could just reply, “Detroit, going downhill since George Romney was Governor.”

I understand what everyone is saying above, I just get tired of dealing with ass-hats.

@bosM I absolutely agree with your assessment of the car industry. It was not only stuck their head in the sand, but having lived there in the late 80’s I would say they actually were completely ignorant to the mindset of the population along the coasts of America. Not to mention some ridiculous expenditures in my opinion on salaries, wages, and benefits at every level.

Here’s the thing, people were already moving out of Detroit even when the industry was still doing ok there. Many cities around the country saw a fierce migration to the suburbs in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

It would have happened sooner if the CEO of GM made 87 million a year and the employees 8 dollars a hour (see McDonalds). Luckily it isn’t that bad but it is getting there.

“General Motors boosted Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson’s pay package by 44 percent last year, as the value of his stock awards significantly increased due to a change in the way the automaker paid out the shares.*

*Akerson, 64, earned $11.1 million in salary and stock awards last year, compared with $7.7 million in 2011. His annual salary remained steady at $1.7 million but his stock awards rose to $9.3 million from $5.9 million in 2011. The numbers were revealed in GM’s annual proxy statement filed Thursday with regulators.”

Yes, the problems are the Unions. Not that CEO pay is 600X what the average workers is. It was under 10X in 1962.

GM closed their Detroit plant in 1987, in the height of Reaganomics.

@Pandora Let me check the listings again, but from what I’ve seen around here, those run around $550 for a 1-bedroom. Someplace moderately nice (no rats) like where I am runs closer to $950–1200 for a 2-bedroom.

Here is my thoughts on unions. A lot of blood was spilled for the right to form them and they are why we had a booming middle-class for a while. Reagen vilified them. CEO wages skyrocketed and the middle was destroyed.

My hunch is that the only people that hate unions don’t belong to them. And they are a bit jealous. Instead of fighting for the rights others have they fight for the removal of others rights. It is idiotic.

I found this article today in Salon. It should provide you with something to fire back with. Make a point of mentioning that Michigan’s governor is Republican.

How to get him back? Why? he has a right to his views as you yours.
Best way is to say nothing, ignore his views IF you want to avoid an all
out war of words with him and others.
Of course If that is what you are after then go ahead, but you take the conaequences.

@jerv My daughter paid 900 dollars a month for a 1 bedroom rat infested place in Alexandria, and it wasn’t quite a slum place. Just had plenty of people in it who apparently couldn’t afford to spend money on cleaning. But trailer parks and private homes, renting their basement or a room can sometimes go for about 400 a month.
Look at this craigslist link. I love the apartment style bedroom without a kitchen or a bath for $375. But people can afford slightly better if they have roommates to split rent on.

@Pandora Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Seattle is a bit pricier. Then again, few places in the US are affordable on a single income anyways unless that single income is pretty hefty.

@Inspired_2write It’s nothing serious, believe me. (Not sure if you can relate but imagine that guy who served in the military since the 80s and everything was supposed to be rainbows and spaceships by now but Democrats were in power) Yea he’s that guy. We go back and forth a lot. My goodness you should’ve seen him with the whole gun control controversy.

Throw Bush’s warmongering, abortion is wrong, and the Bible is trash at him. It’ll work, trust me.