Liberals in Congress Want to Allow Stores to Set Minimums & Refuse Cards

[BBQ123]

http://www.cspnet.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod...93CD5C4ED7C9205

[DragonFlyer]

Excuse me? Where do you get the idea that "Liberals" are pushing this issue? Or that it's okay to promote politics into this matter on CB?

 

For the record, SHUSTER is a REPUBLICAN:

 

Shuster urged Congress to act quickly to pass the reform legislation, stating, "I believe action is needed to help level the playing field between consumers, small businesses and credit card companies by requiring greater transparency and prohibiting unfair and abusive practices when it comes to interchange fees."

 

I am guessing this thread will be closed in 5...4....3....2....<click>

[Stryker]

Not funny. And you know better.

[Stryker]

Politics do affect many aspects of our lives, and it is a shame that the subject cannot be discussed in a civil manner on this board. However, we found through difficult experience, that it is impossible. We made a decision at that point not to allow political discussions on CB.

 

We will not revisit that decision, as I have said numerous times.

 

Those of you who joined after that debacle will not likely understand, since we have put all those posts in an archived forum, and they are not accessible to the general membership. We have no plans to make those posts available in the future. You will just have to accept what we say. We tried it, it didn't work.

 

We found that many members do enjoy a knock-down-drag-out political fight, so we created a separate politics board, http://www.politicsfirst.com

 

It's fun, essentially unmoderated, mostly not all that serious, but it's a brawl. It is not for the faint of heart.

 

CB enjoys a strong sense of community. The "family" atmosphere, the feeling that one's thoughts and feelings will be accepted without judgment, is central to our success. The political discussions bring out the opposite in those individuals who feel a need to convert others to their political views, and those who feel a need to fight back against such individuals.

 

As a result, CB has not only adopted a "politics neutral" stance, we have established a standing rule that any subject which is political in nature, or leads to a politicallly oriented discussion, may only be discussed on the PF site. That is why these threads will be closed, and the participants redirected.

 

In some cases you may see a thread closed when it borders on political topics, but has not yet taken a turn in that direction. That's because, in our experience, we know it will take that turn in the near future.

 

Occasionally, some members feel a need to test the boundaries (a psychological phenomenon well-known in internet communities), by "baiting" other members into a political discussion. Others innocently post a subject they feel warrants discussion, and inadvertently open Pandora's box. We don't try to decide which is which, we just close the threads. It is not personal. If we had our way, we would be able to debate the subject sensibly. Occasionally, someone brings up the question of the owner's political views. We owners do not all agree on politics. It is not an issue that divides us, however. Our focus here is the board, and the welfare of the board, not our political views.

 

We do not get into debating the merits of a particular thread, if we did, we would be putting ourselves in a very difficult position, and we have more important things to do. So, if your thread gets closed, and the participants directed to PF, there is no point in arguing about it. We've already been there and we're not going back.

 

This rule, and the other hard-and-fast rules we have established over time on CB, have proved to be a strong basis for our success. We will always maintain the sense of community and our emphasis on the things we have in common, rather than the things that divide us.

 

This topic is now closed.