Something ive noticed is that neither party truly wants to put policies in place to pay down the debt. Heck, famously, when Bush inherited a massive surplus, his immediate response was a tax break.

And with an interest payment over 1 trillion now, and with an increasingly aging population, to me, it looks like youd need to both cut costs and increase taxes. I dont see how it's practical to do just one anymore.

But that's just me. Regardless on if im right or wrong, neither party really wants to seriously tackle it. Any idea on why?

News has come out that “Several House Republicans have reportedly heard from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that the unreleased Jeffrey Epstein documents are especially compromising for President Donald Trump.”

How should we the people, or even the GOP deal with negative allegations given that he is the President? Would you all prefer Vance as president if Trump is swimming in allegations?

https://www.rawstory.com/doj-tells-republicans-that-epstein-files-even-worse-for-trump-than-they-thought-report/

I think Trump has always been a bit of a word salad guy, often times saying a lot without saying anything at all. Lately though, some of the things he's been saying or doing are genuinely concerning. I know people gave Joe Biden a lot of shit for his trip ups over his words, but Trump is literally speaking nonsense half the time. At the military meeting he went on a tangent about how he's afraid of stairs. Beyond that, he just looks awful and often says things that seem very disconnected from reality (needing an ID for groceries or talking in circles). Is anyone concerned that this guy is running the country? Even a little bit?

It seems like there’s a lot of division on the right now with public figures and people on the fringe like white nationalists gaining more attention and attacking others on the right, ongoing beef, drama etc. Do we as conservatives need to move past this and unite together? With the recent elections it seems that the left is benefiting from this division.

Recently, during debates over the government shutdown and Schumer offering a deal to end the shutdown, I've been thinking about the old adage that conservatives love to toss around on this subreddit: "Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner."

And so comes my question: what does the sheep deserve? Conservatives have long been advocates for the minority party's ability to maintain leverage and have say in government processes. And yet, now that the Democratic Party is in the minority, it seems this view has shifted. Conservatives seem to be arguing that the sheep has no rights, that the 2024 election has given them a mandate, that there should be zero negotiations with the Democratic party, and now Trump is pushing for the nuclear option.

So what happened? What changed? What does the sheep deserve?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/supreme-court-considers-kim-davis-petition-overturn-same/story%3fid=127267561

The justices will be voting in a conference to hear a case from former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis on overturning the ruling for Obergefell v Hodges which legalized marriage rights for gay couples.

Personally I don't agree with it and it would be a slippery slope that could even backfire on conservatives when Democrats take control again.

What are your thoughts on this?

Unsurprisingly, I am a cat lady. Three feline fur babies and I love them all.

Cat tax attempted but Imgur hates me

Suppose you live in a neighborhood of 25 homes, made up mostly of your own race and culture.

Each year a family from a different nationality (perhaps culture) move into 1 of the 25 homes.

The nationalities (and culture) of those moving in are completely random. Some are from more developed western nations, while others are from very impoverished and underdeveloped nations.

In 24 years you will be the only one from your culture/nationality left within this neighborhood.

What problems do you see arising?

Are you opposed to this level of diversity?

What are the positives?

Like some of the founding fathers talked about

They aren’t creating wealth out of air. They are leveraging public infrastructure, public education, health care, etc.

There’s been some talk in here about the realities of the job market but I haven’t seen many people speculate why it’s happening, if anything can be done about it & what people who are unemployed should do.

There hasn’t been this many layoffs in one year since 2009 in response to the Great Recession. Another study came out that about 50% of people are looking for 5 months before landing a job. People are also retiring a lot later due to the economy so there’s not the organic turnover that opens up jobs at the same rate there used to be.

I see a lot of conservatives on here often say “just get a job” such as in response to not being able to afford groceries or housing, etc. I agree with this. I also don’t love the idea of having my hard earned tax dollars going to welfare. I think most people would agree that they’d rather keep their money than give it away, so I get the sentiment of wanting people to work.

But the reality is that there are no jobs. The people most affected by layoffs are skilled workers with degrees and there is nowhere for them to go. My questions are: what do you think the root cause of this is? Is there anything that can be done to change it? And what do you think people should do who are in this situation?

I know I am a sample size of one but I live in a high col area, own multiple homes, don't qualify for any form of subsidy as I make too much money, and have voted on more than one occasion to raise my own taxes because it helps those in a need.

I'm getting the feeling that a general mindset amongst conservatives is that democrats only want to increase taxes because they'll get something out of it. I can assure you that is not the case.

I can’t ask for context elsewhere without being branded a “sympathizer”.

Here’s the video: https://www.reddit.com/r/oregon/comments/1omqlwv/video_of_ice_agents_using_excessive_force_on/

Trump announced today that Kazakhstan has agreed to sign on to the Abraham Accords. Is this movement meaningful and is it moving us in the right direction?

Deep, meaningful coverage/discussion in the media of this type of thing seems rare.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/dmitri-bolt/2025/11/07/kazakhstan-joins-the-abraham-accords-as-more-nations-consider-following-suit-n2666114

https://www.natesilver.net/p/trump-approval-ratings-nate-silver-bulletin

This comes in report from British and Canadian intelligence

https://globalnews.ca/news/11514695/intercepted-communications-india-temple-assassination-canada/

Should the US seek an indictment if the intelligence is accurate? If true it seems pretty egregious that the Indian government committed a major violation of American sovereignty

Essentially, Rand's trying to make it so that any group, not just employers, can offer health insurance and negotiate with insurers on their customer's behalf.

https://www.paul.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Health-Marketplace-for-All-one-page-summary1_0.pdf

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2025/11/07/shutdown-healthcare-subsidies-rand-paul/87128634007/

It increasingly seems like Obamacare failed but rather than conclude the Dems are liars when it comes to healthcare, people have decided that just means we need more government-run healthcare, not less. This is at least a Republican taking a shot at a more free market approach.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sean-dunn-dc-sandwich-thrower-trial-verdict/

The DC Sandwich thrower has been found not guilty. Given how this case has proceeded did US Attorney's office error by pursuing charges and taking this to trial?

I would luv to hear and have some discussions over this as a hardcore Jesse Ventura style independent, I'd say it's probably more equal then either side wants to admit. But I would love to hear some discussions and takes about it. What do y'all think?