Giuloiani says that Obama does NOT love America

[cewfa]

All right, I will grant you that according to this http://www.missourieconomy.org/indic...ost_of_living/ that Michigan comes in seventh. However, I used to live in Tennessee and compared to that Michigan is quite expensive. I'll give you a couple of real world examples. The first being car insurance. Michigan has an irritating thing called no-fault insurance. When I moved back to Michigan in some cases my insurance would have quadrupled from what it was in Tennessee. The other example is the rent for an apartment. My mom and I share a 3 bedroom apartment, which after the co-op fees for the water and 40 dollars a month for two pets, our rent is $925 a month. A 3 bedroom apartment in the Knoxville area was around $700-800 a month. Which is 115% at worst of what it costs in Knoxville. As a matter of fact, when I lived in Knoxville I had a 2 bed room apartment for 400 a month.

According to http://www.gasbuddy.com/US Michigan has the 27th lowest gas prices in the nation. OK, so right about the middle of the pack. According to this article http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...st-at-the-pump the gas tax in Michigan would be 44 cents a gallon by 2018. That is my fault, I should have specified that it would be that in 2018.

ETA: I did some checking and you could at the cheapest get a 3 bedroom apartment in Knoxville for $625 according to apartments.com. The lowest three bedroom apartment, that is not student housing, where I live is $786.

[Andara Bledin]

The lowest three bedroom apartment, that is not student housing, where I live is $786.

And where I live, you can't even get into a no-bedroom flat for $786, but at least I understand that where I live is not representative to the rest of the country.

The median rental rate for the entire country from 2013 was over $900, and 3-bedroom apartments outside of city centers currently start at around $800.

Going from what is one of the lowest economic districts in the entire country to somewhere slightly less low and then claiming that since it's so much higher it must be high is divorced from reality.

[cewfa]

Divorced from reality or not, these are the facts of my situation. My dollar went further in Tennessee than it does in Michigan, and on my income $20 difference can be significant.

I remember living in California in 1997-98 and it costing us $75 to go to a movie, between the tickets, going out for lunch, and concessions. I shudder to think what that would be now. California can really skew your perceptions of America. A 115% (at best) increase in rent and possibly a 400% increase in car insurance premiums is quite significant. I would also daresay that groceries are at least 75% more expensive than they were in Tennessee too, with the exception of Wal-Mart.

Michigan is significantly more expensive than Tennessee, even if they are only five spaces apart on the cost of living list. Like I said, California can skew your point of view.

ETA: Nowhere did I say that Michigan has the highest cost of living in America. The words I used was moderate and I said that gas price were some of the highest in the nation. 27th lowest supports that in my book. Please argue what I actually say and not how you interpret what I say.

[Andara Bledin]

You're claiming that "near the bottom" is equal to "moderate" and that "in the middle" is equal to "some of the highest."

I am not even going to try to rebut statements that are so prima facie irrational and self-contradictory.

[cewfa]

OK, I'm done. The facts are that Michigan has the 7th lowest cost of living, and the 27th lowest gas prices in the nation. Happy?

[cewfa]

I thought you might like to know that because of a spike in gas prices, Michigan now has the 37th lowest gas prices in the nation, or the 13th highest gas prices in the Nation. For comparison, Tennessee has the sixth lowest gas prices in the nation.

Am I still an irrationally misinformed country bumpkin now Andara? Yes, I realize you never said I was a "country bumpkin" but you sure gave me that impression that that is what you thought.

[the_std]

Am I still an irrationally misinformed country bumpkin now Andara? Yes, I realize you never said I was a "country bumpkin" but you sure gave me that impression that that is what you thought.

You made statements to support an argument. Andara refuted that argument due to your statements being incorrect. You provided proof that your statements were incorrect, but somehow Andara's the bad guy?

[cewfa]

One more time....I was comparing Michigan to Tennessee, maybe I didn't say that well, but that is what I was doing. Andara said that I didn't know what I was talking about. I granted her (him?) the point that she (he?) was correct in terms of Michigan have a low overall cost of living, but when that was compared to Tennessee's cost of living, Michigan was significantly more expensive. That is when Miss (Mrs, Mr.?) Bledin (sp?) said that I was irrational.

I then provided proof that Michigan had, as I said, "some of the highest gas prices in the nation." That day Michigan had the 27th lowest or the 23rd highest in the nation, being just about right in the middle of the pack. Being that I know Michigan so well, guess what? We had a spike in price (which I can just about time like clockwork, usually anywhere between Tuesday and Thursday depending on the week), which increased our statewide average 10 cents a gallon, which was enough to put Michigan as having the 37th lowest gas prices in the nation, or the 13th highest, which definitely qualifies them as some of the highest in the nation.

I was merely asking if Andara still thought that I was irrationally misinformed as to my statements. After taking insults that I am almost certain straddle the line of being against the terms of service, I thought it was a fair question. However, there I go making the mistake of forgetting that Southern California is the center of the universe again. Oops.

Why yes I am a prick, why do you ask? I halfway expect to be called retarded next.

[Ree]

cewfa, tone it down. If you can't handle the debate, then step away from your keyboard.

Fratching is all about debate. People make a point, and others debate it. Just because a person does not take the same stance as you do, does not mean you are being attacked.
It's not meant to be anything personal.
If you are finding that you feel otherwise, then report the comments and keep the personal comments out of the thread.

[cewfa]

Again, it doesn't matter how one meant something, it is how it is taken.

Why don't you do your job and get after Bledin for their insults?

[Ree]

Why didn't you act like a valued member and report the comments?