U.S. Politics: Who's Cohen Down?

[lokisnow]

Democrats in the senate want to strike down obama era regulations that state non whites cannot be charged higher interest rates because of their nonwhite race:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-auto-loan-discrimination-20180417-story.html

with  friends like these...

[aceluby]

16 minutes ago, lokisnow said:

Democrats in the senate want to strike down obama era regulations that state non whites cannot be charged higher interest rates because of their nonwhite race:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-auto-loan-discrimination-20180417-story.html

with  friends like these...

Seems like it's the GOP that wants to strike this down.  Reporting on this is hard to find how much support there is from Democrats and whether they will filibuster such a vote.  Seems to me that they should fight this tooth and nail if they can.

[Fez]

44 minutes ago, aceluby said:

Seems like it's the GOP that wants to strike this down.  Reporting on this is hard to find how much support there is from Democrats and whether they will filibuster such a vote.  Seems to me that they should fight this tooth and nail if they can.

Its Congressional Review Act votes, which can't be filibustered. Pat Toomey has figured out a loophole to use the CRA against certain regulations from more than 6-months prior to votes.

[Martell Spy]

4 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Honestly, that kind of looks like, well, an older version of me…

Here is a list of other people it could be. I hate to tell you, but Tom Brady and Jaime Lannister are on the list.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/04/stormy-daniels-lawyer-releases-2011-thug-sketch.html

Sketch of “Thug” Who Allegedly Threatened Stormy Daniels Looks Awfully Familiar

 

[Martell Spy]

The Trump Tax Cuts Are Still Unpopular. That’s a Crisis for Conservatives.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/04/the-trump-tax-cuts-unpopularity-is-a-crisis-for-the-gop.html

Quote

 

And then, America met the Trump Tax Cuts. When Congress passed the president’s signature legislation in December, it was the least popular tax bill in modern American history — a measure even less popular than the tax hikes passed under George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

 

 

[Yukle]

2 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

I have to admit, I'm impressed.

Starbucks will shut down more than 8,000 US locations on May 29th to give 175,000 employees a day of racial bias training.

So in the next 40 days they have to write (and they probably have part of it now, but not a complete module) a training module on racial bias, hire the trainers (cuz they don't have 8,000 on staff), train the trainers, and then roll out the training in a coordinated fashion on the 29th. 

Well done. They should do it in Canada.

This is good.

But I'm also unsure why the police complied. Why on earth did they go through with the arrests? Why were fingerprints taken? There was nothing whatsoever to suggest they were in any way threatening.

[Martell Spy]

Quote

So imagine what would happen if, all of a sudden, Saudi and Emirati troops show up on the scene in Syria. “They will be in direct confrontation with IRGC, Hezbollah, and the Syrian regime,” Slim says. That means the “cold war” between the two biggest rivals in the Middle East could become an actual war.

Trump wants Arab nations to send troops into Syria. That’s a spectacularly bad idea.
Let’s just say it could turn a simmering “cold war” into a really hot one.

https://www.vox.com/2018/4/17/17247208/syria-trump-assad-war-arab-force

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Welp.....

Quote

WASHINGTON — The effort to pass legislation to protect Robert Mueller’s job as special counsel appeared to hit a dead end Tuesday as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would not allow the bill to come to the floor for a full Senate vote.

“I’m the one who decides what we take to the floor. That’s my responsibility as majority leader. We’ll not be having this on the floor of the Senate,” the Kentucky Republican said in an interview on Fox News.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/mcconnell-slams-door-mueller-protection-bill-we-ll-not-be-n866856

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

30 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

Here is a list of other people it could be. I hate to tell you, but Tom Brady and Jaime Lannister are on the list.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/04/stormy-daniels-lawyer-releases-2011-thug-sketch.html

Sketch of “Thug” Who Allegedly Threatened Stormy Daniels Looks Awfully Familiar

 

My favorite was:

Quote

 The infamously bad courtroom sketch of Tom Brady

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

3 hours ago, Fez said:

I think it's very difficult to predict the future, and also that people have a habit of thinking that the current political situation is both 1) new and 2) going to last forever. In this case, it sort of is new; polarization has been getting worse for a long time, but we're at level not seen in a hundred years. But I don't think it's going to last forever (but it will last for as long as Trump is President).

If there's a non-remarkable President who oversees an era of steady economic growth and no wars, that will probably cut down on toxicity. (I think things improve under a President Martin O'Malley)

If there's a black swan event that causes a rally-around-the-flag effect that, could cut down toxicity. (One of Bush's biggest failures was squandering the national goodwill he had post-9/11)

If there's a political realignment, that could cut down on toxicity. (Basically, if it's a single very important issue causing people to flip, it means that a lot of people would then have a lot of people on the other side that they know and agree with on other issues)

If there's a change in technology or media consumption, that can cut down toxicity. (e.g. Facebook losing marketshare to some other social media platform where people cannot easily convey political beliefs or argue)

And so on. Of course, maybe none of those ever happen. But they could. Or maybe we just need to wait for everyone currently over age 35 to die; based on present trends there will still be toxicity, but Democrats would have something like an 75%-25% majority so it wouldn't matter as much.

Idk man, I'm not optimistic on the subject, and I don't think those things would have anything other than a short lived effect. I feel like the only immediate thing that could change the trajectory of the current political climate is for a calamity to occur that forces Trump supporters to reevaluate their willingness to defend the man. And considering what they've already tolerated, it would appear that the disaster would have to be especially awful, which no one should want. 

[lokisnow]

38 minutes ago, Fez said:

Its Congressional Review Act votes, which can't be filibustered. Pat Toomey has figured out a loophole to use the CRA against certain regulations from more than 6-months prior to votes.

Quote

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) last year asked the Government Accountability Office whether the CFPB’s auto lending guidance might qualify as a rule for the purposes of the Congressional Review Act and, if so, be possible to roll back. The GAO in December said it did, and so the clock began. The explanation is the CFPB never technically submitted the guidance to Congress as a formal rule under the Administrative Procedure Act for its review, and so lawmakers still have the right to take a look.

That's complete horseshit. I wonder what the supreme court will think of it?

Regardless. it is probably permanent law now that republicans get to repeal anything they want anytime they want. Democrats will never do anything to fight nor curtail this if they ever regain power, nor will they use this weapon against republicans. because democrats like to lose and do not like to win.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/17/17248340/congressional-review-act-auto-loan-discrimination-cfpb

[James Arryn]

6 hours ago, Martell Spy said:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/stormy-daniels-lawyer-reveals-sketch-of-man-who-allegedly-threatened-her?ref=home

Stormy Daniels’ Lawyer Reveals Sketch of Man Who Allegedly Threatened Her

Harry Hamlin was told it was an audition!

edit: I always think people look like other people. 

Also fuck Gorsach! He’s rekindled some vague hope for humanity in me...this won’t end well. 

[Kalbear]

15 minutes ago, lokisnow said:

Regardless. it is probably permanent law now that republicans get to repeal anything they want anytime they want. Democrats will never do anything to fight nor curtail this if they ever regain power, nor will they use this weapon against republicans. because democrats like to lose and do not like to win.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/17/17248340/congressional-review-act-auto-loan-discrimination-cfpb

Democrats can't by themselves do much to fight this; they'd need a 60-senate majority, a POTUS and a friendly house to pass a law to curtail this specific thing. Good luck with that. And no, they're not going to use this against Republicans because Republicans don't have anything to lose. What, Democrats are going to repeal other regulations? Fat chance of that. 

[Fragile Bird]

26 minutes ago, Yukle said:

This is good.

But I'm also unsure why the police complied. Why on earth did they go through with the arrests? Why were fingerprints taken? There was nothing whatsoever to suggest they were in any way threatening.

I think that it's because they were asked to leave and would not, so the worker called the police about trespassers. If a shop does not have their own security personnel, that's what they would do. From the stories I saw on television, when the police arrived they asked the men to leave the shop. When they refused they were arrested. 

The racial bias training will ask the question, who do you refuse service to, who do you ask to leave your store, and why. The fact is they probably would not have asked two white guys waiting for their friends to buy a coffee or leave the shop. 

I regularly meet a friend for lunch, and every now and then one of us could be very late for some reason, like an office emergency of some kind. We've not ordered while we waited, though sometimes I guess one of us has ordered a beer. We've never been asked to leave a restaurant, but, mind you, we go to a regular spot where the staff know us. I don't think the Starbucks people knew these guys, but even so I don't know if that would have made any difference.

[James Arryn]

2 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

I think that it's because they were asked to leave and would not, so the worker called the police about trespassers. If a shop does not have their own security personnel, that's what they would do. From the stories I saw on television, when the police arrived they asked the men to leave the shop. When they refused they were arrested. 

The racial bias training will ask the question, who do you refuse service to, who do you ask to leave your store, and why. The fact is they probably would not have asked two white guys waiting for their friends to buy a coffee or leave the shop. 

I regularly meet a friend for lunch, and every now and then one of us could be very late for some reason, like an office emergency of some kind. We've not ordered while we waited, though sometimes I guess one of us has ordered a beer. We've never been asked to leave a restaurant, but, mind you, we go to a regular spot where the staff know us. I don't think the Starbucks people knew these guys, but even so I don't know if that would have made any difference.

When travelling, I often go into Starbucks or restaurants or w/e just to use wifi. Never once been asked to move; worst i’ve ever gotten would be told ‘customers only’ when asking to use washroom, and that’s really really rare. Only way I don’t put this down to prejudice is either if they were being disruptive or the place was packed and actual paying customers were waiting for seats. Even if the latter, you’d start by asking if they are going to order rather than asking them to leave. 

[Fragile Bird]

10 minutes ago, James Arryn said:

When travelling, I often go into Starbucks or restaurants or w/e just to use wifi. Never once been asked to move; worst i’ve ever gotten would be told ‘customers only’ when asking to use washroom, and that’s really really rare. Only way I don’t put this down to prejudice is either if they were being disruptive or the place was packed and actual paying customers were waiting for seats. Even if the latter, you’d start by asking if they are going to order rather than asking them to leave. 

I believe they were asked to buy something, and they said they were waiting for a friend. Then they asked to use the washroom and were told it was for customers only. Then they were asked to leave, and they refused. Then the police were called. The store manager said they didn't expect them to be arrested. While all of it has offended many people, the calling the police part has upset folks the most. If I were asked to leave a shop, I would, but that's easy to say because it's been a long time since that ever happened, probably when  was a kid and lots of kids were in a variety store and the shopkeeper (justifiably, I think) believed light fingers were going to be at work, and cleared most of the kids out. I have noticed signs on variety stores saying only a certain number of people were allowed in the store at the same time, and I don't think it had anything to do with color, just shoplifting by teens.

I have been told once or twice by shop staff that the washrooms were for customers only, and many shops have signs to that effect. If I've gone to a coffee shop to use the bathroom, I've then bought a coffee, because I understand that it costs money to stock a bathroom and keep it clean.

[HoodedCrow]

You might want to cut down the ageism. I’m genx/boomer but I would never vote Republican, and I was a progressive in Canada, which makes me off the charts in the US. I was really  shocked at the racism here, the misogyny, and the lack of knowledge about the political system.

That 40% of the people don’t care about lying, and will vote to perpetuate a horrible medical system, which can impoverish anyone but a US Senator, is astonishing. I can’t help but think there are religions here which encourage people not to question outrageously silly thinking, and that actually teach rich means right. Zeig Heil

[Fragile Bird]

RIP Barbara Bush. 92 years old. But the number that astonishes me is married for 73 years.

73 years. Just think of that. No matter what you think of their politics, they loved each other for 73 years.

[Shryke]

12 hours ago, OldGimletEye said:

New Deal liberalism

Was it primarily about just pandering to the concerns of the white working class?

Or was it about, takin’ names, thrashin’ conservative clowns, and doing identity politics.

The case it was more the latter.

https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2018/4/16/17242748/identity-politics-racial-justice-democratic-party-lilla-traub-trump

I can't find myself buying his argument here. Primarily because at no point does he talk about voters.

[LongRider]

4 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

I have to admit, I'm impressed.

Starbucks will shut down more than 8,000 US locations on May 29th to give 175,000 employees a day of racial bias training.

So in the next 40 days they have to write (and they probably have part of it now, but not a complete module) a training module on racial bias, hire the trainers (cuz they don't have 8,000 on staff), train the trainers, and then roll out the training in a coordinated fashion on the 29th. 

Well done. They should do it in Canada.

They can hire consultants, they don't have to reinvent the wheel here.