US Politics: Borrow And Spend Conservatism Marches On

[Martell Spy]

Quote

 

As his White House has become engulfed in controversy over its handling of allegations of spousal abuse leveled against former Staff Secretary Rob Porter, President Donald Trump has privately questioned the credibility of the accusers. In fact, the president has gone as far as to express doubts to aides and friends about the assault allegations, and has asked repeatedly if there are any reasons Porter’s two ex-wives could have to make up such claims, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the conversations.

Trump’s skepticism has been apparent in discussions with confidants and officials, who tell The Daily Beast that, at least in their conversations, he has not expressed sympathy for the ex-wives, Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby, who have gone on the record to allege physical violence.

 

HE TOTALLY DENIES IT
In Private, Donald Trump Voices Doubt About Rob Porter’s Accusers
This isn’t the first time the president has been persuaded by a man’s denial.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/in-private-donald-trump-voices-doubt-about-rob-porters-accusers?ref=home

 

[Martell Spy]

Trump's methods of determining guilt seem to mostly rely on the person having a penus and if they "strongly" deny the accusation. The first part at least is objectively easy to judge. Porter has a penus in fact, and thus there is a good chance he's innocent because of that. Then it all comes down to if Trump in his gut feels Porter has strongly enough denied it.

Now, even if Porter did not do the acts of domestic abuse, If he is not strong enough in his performance of denial, based solely on the judgement of Trump, then he is in fact guilty.

Other variables may come into play, such as if the man is wearing a bad suit, he may be guilty of something.

 

 

 

 

[LongRider]

Lawsuit in Texas by GOP to prevent Dem's from being on the ballot.

Quote

Dallas County Republicans have filed a lawsuit on Friday alleging that the county's Democratic Party leader did not sign the petitions of 128 Democratic primary candidates, placing them in jeopardy of being kicked off the March 6 primary ballot.

Republicans believe Dallas County Democratic Party Chairman Carol Donovan violated state law by not signing the petitions, prior to sending them to the Texas Secretary of State's office, The Dallas Morning News reported. If the lawsuit were to be successful, 128 Democrats would be wiped from the ballots, providing Republicans with ample opportunity to potentially sweep upcoming elections in November.

"The Election Code says the chairman, and nobody else, has to sign them," Elizabeth Alvarez Bingham, a lawyer for the Dallas County Republican Party, told the DMN. "Carol Donovan is the chair. She was supposed to sign them. She didn't do it."

https://www.salon.com/2018/01/22/texas-republicans-are-trying-to-purge-democrats-from-ballots-report/

[LongRider]

More on the Dallas case, the judge is not amused:

Quote

Dallas County Republicans have filed a motion to remove Judge Eric Moyé from overseeing a lawsuit that would remove 127 Democrats from the 2018 general election ballot.

Moyé, a Democrat, has refused to step aside in the case, according to court documents. His decision is unlike one he made in an earlier case about ballot eligibility, when he recused himself.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2018-elections/2018/02/08/democratic-judge-case-toss-127-democratic-candidates-election-ballot-wont-recuse

[Jace, Extat]

Fucking Democrats

[LongRider]

7 minutes ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

Fucking Democrats

And their damn activist judges!  harrumph!  

[aceluby]

13 hours ago, Altherion said:

It would have been, but today's bill gives them a lot of money. It's surprising how little attention it's getting (as I write this, CNN's front page is dominated by a story about some memo or other), but Congress has actually managed to get something done for a change -- and on a bipartisan vote, no less!

That's like going to the bank to get a loan because you need it to live and then planning a bachelor party with it.

But it's not all that surprising, this is what Republicans always do when they get power.  The charge everything on their credit card so the fiscally responsible Democrats can pay it off later.

[Mexal]

46 minutes ago, aceluby said:

That's like going to the bank to get a loan because you need it to live and then planning a bachelor party with it.

But it's not all that surprising, this is what Republicans always do when they get power.  The charge everything on their credit card so the fiscally responsible Democrats can pay it off later.

Then use it against the Democrats in elections. Literally the same thing they do every cycle and the Dems fall right into it every single time.

[Fragile Bird]

Here I go again. Broken record time. I always think Trump can't surprise me anymore.

Two wives and a girlfriend talk about the abuse they received at the hands of Porter, with pictures and a court order, and "lives are being shattered and destroyed by mere allegations"?

And he has the support of 80% of Republicans?

[James Arryn]

The Republicans being the party of tough fiscal responsibility and the Democrats being the solve-everything-by-spending party, coupled with the idea that ‘Democrats start wars, Republicans finish them’ are myths which have been spectacularly inaccurate for a long, long time if they were ever true. But irrespective of fact, they seemed to be etched into the very soul of the American electorate.

Like you’ll even see Democrat supporters who kind of ‘concede’ these points even while thinking the Dems are more reflective of their ideals. It’s weird.

 

edit; sometimes I think it’s unconsciously linked to antiquated gender/parental stereotypes, ie the Democrats are your stay-at-home mom who will mend your cuts, worry about your feelings and bake you pie and your dad will earn the money, teach you how to stand up for yourself and give you tough love when required. Not joking, I kinda think that’s how many Americans unconsciously see it, like a black and white tv show.

[drawkcabi]

1 hour ago, Fragile Bird said:

Here I go again. Broken record time. I always think Trump can't surprise me anymore.

Two wives and a girlfriend talk about the abuse they received at the hands of Porter, with pictures and a court order, and "lives are being shattered and destroyed by mere allegations"?

And he has the support of 80% of Republicans?

Not only that, I've noticed a swell of Pence/Porter '24 mentions online.

[Altherion]

3 hours ago, aceluby said:

That's like going to the bank to get a loan because you need it to live and then planning a bachelor party with it.

But it's not all that surprising, this is what Republicans always do when they get power.  The charge everything on their credit card so the fiscally responsible Democrats can pay it off later.

Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are fiscally responsible. This may not be such a bad thing because, unlike somebody who gets loans at a bank, the government has the power to print money. That said, it's pretty amusing how Republicans suddenly become willing to increase the debt once they are in power.

[Morpheus]

2 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

Here I go again. Broken record time. I always think Trump can't surprise me anymore.

Two wives and a girlfriend talk about the abuse they received at the hands of Porter, with pictures and a court order, and "lives are being shattered and destroyed by mere allegations"?

And he has the support of 80% of Republicans?

Was there any doubt that this was always how he felt about #metoo and the whole cultural moment? Written comments about what the great strides for women always rang hollow. Trump is a bot installed with the personality of 4chan. I have no doubt that he goes on endlessly about “bitches” ruining good men’s lives as he watches TV all day. He doesn’t care about guilt or innocence, there is good (people who support Trump or have something to give him) and bad (people who criticize or oppose him, with special vitriol reserved for women and people of color). If you are good you deserve a pass, loyalty to Trump overcomes all other sins.

[DMC]

3 hours ago, aceluby said:

That's like going to the bank to get a loan because you need it to live and then planning a bachelor party with it.

But it's not all that surprising, this is what Republicans always do when they get power.  The charge everything on their credit card so the fiscally responsible Democrats can pay it off later.

To be fair there's lots to like in this deal from the Democratic perspective.  Sure, they had to tradeoff over-funding the Pentagon, but the boost in discretionary spending under unified GOP government is nothing to sneeze at.  Vox has a good interview that goes into detail on the pros and cons of the deal.

1 hour ago, James Arryn said:

sometimes I think it’s unconsciously linked to antiquated gender/parental stereotypes, ie the Democrats are your stay-at-home mom who will mend your cuts, worry about your feelings and bake you pie and your dad will earn the money, teach you how to stand up for yourself and give you tough love when required. Not joking, I kinda think that’s how many Americans unconsciously see it, like a black and white tv show.

Yes this is literally called the Mommy Problem for Dems.

[aceluby]

46 minutes ago, Altherion said:

Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are fiscally responsible. This may not be such a bad thing because, unlike somebody who gets loans at a bank, the government has the power to print money. That said, it's pretty amusing how Republicans suddenly become willing to increase the debt once they are in power.

Historically, Democrats are fiscally responsible.  But I know you've got to 'both sides' everything, so why not something that is factually verifiable.

[Altherion]

9 minutes ago, Triskele said:

It's just the stunning hypocrisy of the GOP that bothers me and how they railed against spending during the Obama years when we arguably needed it more than now.

It's not surprising that they would do this: it makes perfect sense to block spending until you are in power so that you can allocate the money to your causes. What's surprising is that the Democrats are not only willing to play along, but, at the highest levels, they don't even emphasize this hypocrisy.

[OldGimletEye]

On 2/10/2018 at 1:27 PM, James Arryn said:

The Republicans being the party of tough fiscal responsibility and the Democrats being the solve-everything-by-spending party, coupled with the idea that ‘Democrats start wars, Republicans finish them’ are myths which have been spectacularly inaccurate for a long, long time if they were ever true. 

As Dirty Harry might say, The Republican Party is a real legend in its own mind. And in the mind of Republicans.

Dubya's invasion of Iraq shouldn't have ended the myth of Republican Party military competence. Even if you thought the invasion of Iraq was wise, which it was not, it was very poorly planned and executed.

And of course, Republican fiscal rectitude is a joke.

Other than being very good bullshit artist, the Republican Party is frickin incompetent. It would be amazing if they could walk and chew bubble gum at the same time, without falling down and hurting themselves.

[Shryke]

2 hours ago, Triskele said:

I do wonder though if the GOP doen't have them in a bit of a trap with this vicious cycle.  Put another way, I'm not sure what the best solution is.  I know that I get frustrated, perhaps a lot of you do too, with how little the Dems seem to even attempt to point this dynamic out.  If they don't even try I'm not sure that it couldn't help.  The media also of course sucks in that they are afraid that pointing this out would make them look biased, so the GOP wins again by getting away with doing this without being called on it.

Yeah, I'm not sure how Democrats fall for it so much as they are just stuck with it. The narrative on right-wingers being fiscally responsible is endemic and incredibly hard to budge despite it having zero basis in fact.

Of course, the Republicans plan has always been simple, at least on the part of the establishment wing: cut taxes, increase spending on shit they like, run up deficits and then use those deficits as an excuse to gut the social safety net.

They were openly talking about this being the plan while the Donor Relief Act passed in December.

But you won't find it gaining any traction with the media or the electorate.

[Shryke]

Oh, speaking of slashing benefits:

Quote

 

The Trump administration is working on new rules that would allow the government to keep immigrants from settling in the US, or even keep them from extending their stays, if their families had used a broad swath of local, state, or federal social services to which they’re legally entitled — even enrolling their US-born children in Head Start or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

A draft of the new regulation, posted first by Vox, can be found at the bottom of this article or on DocumentCloud. (If the DocumentCloud link does not work for you, here is a direct link to the PDF.) Reuters originally reported on the existence of the draft regulation Thursday.

The rule wouldn’t make it illegal for immigrants to use public services that are open to everyone regardless of immigration status, or that are available to their US-born children. But it would make it possible for the government to deny their applications for a new type of visa, or a green card, if they’d used those services. In other words, it could force them to choose between taking advantage of available social services, and their family’s future ability to stay in the United States permanently.

If approved and finalized, the regulation would vastly expand the federal government’s power to bar an immigrant from entering the United States, obtaining a new visa, or becoming a lawful permanent resident (green-card holder) by labeling the immigrant a likely “public charge.”

 

https://www.vox.com/2018/2/8/16993172/trump-regulation-immigrants-benefits-public-charge

ie - the Trump Admins push for white supremacy to fight the "white genocide" continues apace

[OldGimletEye]

23 hours ago, aceluby said:

Historically, Democrats are fiscally responsible.  But I know you've got to 'both sides' everything, so why not something that is factually verifiable.

Yep. Barack Obama was the first Democratic President since Harry Truman, where the debt/GDP ratio didn't not fall. Of course for most of Obama's presidency worrying about fiscal deficits wasn't a wise choice, and was more likely self defeating.

The Republican Party: Doing everything back asswards. They don't know when you are supposed to run deficits and when you're not.