US Politics: Let's Discuss US Politics

[Mexal]

47 minutes ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

There was an interesting article in the past 48 hours about his use of basket options as a tax dodge to basically make a mint.  I will try to dig it up.

https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2017-10-27/dispute-over-mercer-hedge-fund-taxes-moves-to-irs-appeals-office

This is one of them from a week ago. He’s dodging $7B in taxes. It’s why he invested so heavily in politics.

[Bonnot OG]

42 minutes ago, Frog Eater said:

criticizing the Israel lobby isnt going full Nazi

You do realize that Israel isnt our "greatest ally" right?

 

39 minutes ago, Week said:

Conflating the Jewish and pro-Israel lobby as a singular, monolithic group is the problem. Not simply criticizing the pro-Israel lobby in and of itself.

Bingo.

[Fragile Bird]

So is the tax bill going to pass?

[TheKitttenGuard]

55 minutes ago, Frog Eater said:

criticizing the Israel lobby isnt going full Nazi

You do realize that Israel isnt our "greatest ally" right?

Did you really not read the article or are you really comfortable with things like "Jewish Lobby" and "Israel Lobby" being interchangable?

[Frog Eater]

so this excerpt from the agreement between Hillary and the DNC:

The agreement—signed by Amy Dacey, the former CEO of the DNC, and Robby Mook with a copy to Marc Elias—specified that in exchange for raising money and investing in the DNC, Hillary would control the party’s finances, strategy, and all the money raised. Her campaign had the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff. The DNC also was required to consult with the campaign about all other staffing, budgeting, data, analytics, and mailings.

means that Hillary's campaign had to greenlight the funding for the Trump dosier. Wont take long for the MSM to start talking about this. 

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

5 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

So is the tax bill going to pass?

With a name like the Cut, Cut, Cut Act, how can it possibly fail? 

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

1 minute ago, Frog Eater said:

so this excerpt from the agreement between Hillary and the DNC:

The agreement—signed by Amy Dacey, the former CEO of the DNC, and Robby Mook with a copy to Marc Elias—specified that in exchange for raising money and investing in the DNC, Hillary would control the party’s finances, strategy, and all the money raised. Her campaign had the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff. The DNC also was required to consult with the campaign about all other staffing, budgeting, data, analytics, and mailings.

means that Hillary's campaign had to greenlight the funding for the Trump dosier. Wont take long for the MSM to start talking about this. 

Who gives a shit? That's oppo research, which is SOP for just about any campaign. The conflation of this as some sort of equivalency to collusion is idiotic. Steele is British Intelligence, not Russkie.  

[Mexal]

11 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

So is the tax bill going to pass?

Unclear at this point. Homeowners and Small Business lobbies are coming out against it and representatives in SALT States don't seem so keen at this point.

1 minute ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

Who gives a shit? That's oppo research, which is SOP for just about any campaign. The conflation of this as some sort of equivalency to collusion is idiotic. Steele is British Intelligence, not Russkie.  

This. Funding opposition research through a company that hires an independent, non-affiliated, contractor, isn't a crime. The Republican line isn't just that the campaign/DNC spent money on it, it's that the dossier itself is completely made up. They attest that Clinton funded a fake dossier, colluded with Russians to make up fake intelligence (not sure how this works given it's made up but whatever) then decided NOT to release it during the election cycle. This whole line of inquiry is idiotic and makes zero logical sense.

In other news, how is this not perjury?

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

She should know about mismanagement, didnt they funnel a bunch of money into big cities so Clinton wouldnt lose the popular vote while winning the EC?

Anyway, my response to all this is a massive shrug. Ms Brazile is probably having some selective memory in her retelling. And I expect both the Clintons to be a bit more shady in their dealings than say Obama.

Oh yeah, I completely agree that Brazile's hands aren't anywhere near spotless. She also leaked at least one debate question to the Clinton campaign during her time as a CNN pundit.

But the revelation that the Clinton campaign had complete control over staffing at the DNC during the entirety of the primary season is a shocking, if ultimately unsurprising, example of the Clinton campaign stacking the deck by essentially owning the DNC.

The information about DWS' total incompetence and toadying nature towards the Clinton camp is probably a bit of Brazile distancing herself from any negative news that might soon break about the DNC (iirc, she was Vice-Chair in 2011, so I don't quite buy that she had no knowledge whatsoever of the DNC's financial woes), but the fact that DWS mismanaged the DNC into near bankruptcy, combined with Clinton bailing out the DNC solely for the purpose of turning it into a personal political machine designed to crown her with the nomination at all costs, is a level of corruption that exceeds even my cynical view of the DNC.

[all swedes are racist]

1 hour ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

She should know about mismanagement, didnt they funnel a bunch of money into big cities so Clinton wouldnt lose the popular vote while winning the EC?

Anyway, my response to all this is a massive shrug. Ms Brazile is probably having some selective memory in her retelling. And I expect both the Clintons to be a bit more shady in their dealings than say Obama.

i think you are missing the bigger implication here, in that a dnc party careerist seems to believe believe the the clinton/obama/center wing is toast and probably that sanders is likely to run again (further implication is she thinks he's got a good chance too)

[maarsen]

19 minutes ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

Who gives a shit? That's oppo research, which is SOP for just about any campaign. The conflation of this as some sort of equivalency to collusion is idiotic. Steele is British Intelligence, not Russkie.  

I have to agree with Manhole here. Not only was it not collusion, but rumours about Trump's finances and behaviour had been floating around while he was serially bankrupting his businesses. Do you think he could not get a loan at any North American or European bank because of his politics? The man was truly incompetent and proof of this was not hard to find. He also left a trail of sexual misbehaviour behind him. All that was missing was pictures and video.

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

16 minutes ago, Mexal said:

U

This. Funding opposition research through a company that hires an independent, non-affiliated, contractor, isn't a crime. The Republican line isn't just that the campaign/DNC spent money on it, it's that the dossier itself is completely made up. They attest that Clinton funded a fake dossier, colluded with Russians to make up fake intelligence (not sure how this works given it's made up but whatever) then decided NOT to release it during the election cycle. This whole line of inquiry is idiotic and makes zero logical sense.

4 minutes ago, maarsen said:

I have to agree with Manhole here. Not only was it not collusion, but rumours about Trump's finances and behaviour had been floating around while he was serially bankrupting his businesses. Do you think he could not get a loan at any North American or European bank because of his politics? The man was truly incompetent and proof of this was not hard to find. He also left a trail of sexual misbehaviour behind him. All that was missing was pictures and video.

 

Yeah, this is the weakest misdirection play ever conceived. Totally meaningless and besides the point. 

[denstorebog]

Rep. Lamar Smith is not running for re-election, citing Bland Reasons™.

He won his last election by over 20 points, so probably not much of a pickup opportunity, but still - how many before we can declare the exodus real?

[Kalbear]

12 minutes ago, denstorebog said:

Rep. Lamar Smith is not running for re-election, citing Bland Reasons™.

He won his last election by over 20 points, so probably not much of a pickup opportunity, but still - how many before we can declare the exodus real?

It's certainly real. The better question is whether or not it matters.

[Inigima]

I still don't really understood why there are zero consequences for perjury. Sessions perjured himself under oath, Kushner has repeatedly submitted false documentation under penalty of perjury, nothing happens. It's a fucking crime.

[Kalbear]

3 minutes ago, Inigima said:

I still don't really understood why there are zero consequences for perjury. Sessions perjured himself under oath, Kushner has repeatedly submitted false documentation under penalty of perjury, nothing happens. It's a fucking crime.

Who would be prosecuting the head of the Department of Justice? That would be...the POTUS. 

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

18 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

It's certainly real. The better question is whether or not it matters.

Yeah, that's my take as well. It's going to be interesting to see how many nutbag replacements Bannon can seat vs how many Dems (or Independents even) might steal these seats.

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

10 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

Who would be prosecuting the head of the Department of Justice? That would be...the POTUS. 

Congress could do it as well, seeing as how he lied to them directly, but that's almost as equally as unlikely to occur, I suppose.

 

/Edited to add: From what I've been reading, it appears Mueller could also indict him for this, should he choose.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Fragile Bird said:

So is the tax bill going to pass?

Probably, assuming it can meet all of the parliamentarian requirements. They’re desperate for a victory of any kind, and more importantly, their donors are telling them to do it, consequences be damned.

[Guest]

More hidden goodies in the tax plan: the plan repeals the Johnson Amendment, which will allow churches and other religious entities to officially endorse specific candidates while retaining their tax-exempt status.