Manhole Eunuchsbane Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 2 hours ago, Mexal said: I get the point you guys are making and I agree with it in principle. Just not sure what they end up accomplishing. We'll see. In other news, I still cannot believe this is the man who's leading the country. And then there is this. Melania Trump might not move to the White House at all which costs taxpayers $1 million a day, especially us NYers since the Federal Government is shit at paying us back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swordfish Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 4 minutes ago, lokisnow said: a federal voting rights restriction law will be based on Texas' law. You can only register voters if you attend a class, after which you are only valid to register voters in your county. Your class is only valid until January 1 of the next even numbered year, then you have to take the class again. The class is only offered once a month, in one location in a county only accessible by car. The class has a limited size and no accommodation will be made if there is greater demand than the class' capacity. If you try to register a voter without adhering to these guidelines it will be a felony and you can be imprisoned. This is legal in Texas, it will soon be legal nationally, the media will not even notice it happens since it won't affect one iota voting rights, it only restricts the ability of activists to register voters. Another good argument for auto registration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Pepper Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 3 minutes ago, Martell Spy said: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/susan-collins-betsy-devos-confirmation-234497 DeVos in trouble Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski said they will oppose the education secretary nominee, potentially imperiling her confirmation. Clearly DeVos shouldn't be anywhere near education, though I'm almost scared who the next nominee would be. Trump doesn't give a shit about education, certainly not public education. His advisors want to destroy America and education is as good a thing to destroy as anything else. There's this tiny bit of fear wondering what if DeVos was as good as we could hope for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 13 minutes ago, Robin Of House Hill said: I'm reluctant to empower those whose purpose is to harm others, to select the name they are known by. That's not what I'm doing, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altherion Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 16 minutes ago, Lany Freelove Cassandra said: I feel so strongly because all checks and balances are being erased; because they are ignoring the minority party completely. They have basically taken over complete control, never mind that the other 48% have a right to voice their opinions, questions, concerns and represent half of Americans. I see your concern, but at some point the government has to act to solve problems. They have not taken over complete control, they have been given complete control by the last election. The Democrats had the same power (actually, even more) in 2009, but they hid behind the filibuster and refused to act on the most important problems or acted in a way that exacerbated them. This is how we got Trump in the first place -- imagine what we'll get if the Republicans fail to act now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manhole Eunuchsbane Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 4 minutes ago, Altherion said: I see your concern, but at some point the government has to act to solve problems. They have not taken over complete control, they have been given complete control by the last election. The Democrats had the same power (actually, even more) in 2009, but they hid behind the filibuster and refused to act on the most important problems or acted in a way that exacerbated them. This is how we got Trump in the first place -- imagine what we'll get if the Republicans fail to act now. Yeah, I mean how would we get by without this Travel Ban? I shudder to think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altherion Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 4 minutes ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said: Yeah, I mean how would we get by without this Travel Ban? I shudder to think. The travel ban is a distraction: it's controversial and creates a large amount of noise, but the number of people impacted is relatively small. It is difficult (by design!) to make changes that affect large numbers of people by executive order; to address the problems I mentioned above, the Senate will need to act. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywin et al. Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 50 minutes ago, Dr. Pepper said: Trump tells Senate to go to the nuclear option to get the SCOTUS confirmation. Not surprising at all. 30 minutes ago, lokisnow said: a federal voting rights restriction law will be based on Texas' law. You can only register voters if you attend a class, after which you are only valid to register voters in your county. Your class is only valid until January 1 of the next even numbered year, then you have to take the class again. The class is only offered once a month, in one location in a county only accessible by car. The class has a limited size and no accommodation will be made if there is greater demand than the class' capacity. If you try to register a voter without adhering to these guidelines it will be a felony and you can be imprisoned. This is legal in Texas, it will soon be legal nationally, the media will not even notice it happens since it won't affect one iota voting rights, it only restricts the ability of activists to register voters. They may start with something like that, but I suspect some Republican Senators will find it too extreme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manhole Eunuchsbane Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Just now, Altherion said: The travel ban is a distraction: it's controversial and creates a large amount of noise, but the number of people impacted is relatively small. It is difficult (by design!) to make changes that affect large numbers of people by executive order; to address the problems I mentioned above, the Senate will need to act. I'm all for action if it's productive. The sort of actions this Senate is likely to implement? Not so sure it will qualify. one can hope, I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altherion Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Rex Tillerson has been confirmed as Secretary of State: Quote The Senate has approved former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as the next secretary of state, filling one more slot on President Donald Trump's national security team. The Senate voted 56 to 43, with all Republican in support and most Democrats voting against him. He was considered one of the less certain nominees, but it looks like McCain and Graham were satisfied and even a few Democrats voted for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywin et al. Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Can you hear the clanging. Time to rattle some sabers!: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-flynn-iran-on-notice-for-missile-test/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swordfish Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 1 minute ago, Tywin et al. said: Can you hear the clanging. Time to rattle some sabers!: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-flynn-iran-on-notice-for-missile-test/ Enforcing the UN ban/Nuclear deal Iran signed is mere saber rattling now? Huh..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormond Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 2 hours ago, Fragile Bird said: There is no such thing as an Evangelical Roman Catholic. Either you're a Catholic and go to mass and your religious leader is the Pope, or you are the follower of another religion. For crying out loud, there is a widely held belief (confirmed both by friends of mine who are evangelicals and by many articles on the internet) among evangelicals that Catholics aren't even Christians. I beg to differ on that one. First, the position of the Roman Catholic church itself is that one is still a Catholic unless one has formally joined another church. And there doesn't seem to be any indication that Pence no longer thinks the Pope is his religious leader. And yes, you can still find internet sites run by right wing Protestants that claim Catholics aren't even Christian, but that is now a definitely minority opinion among evangelical Protestants. Pence specifically labels himself as an Evangelical Catholic. In determining what effect his beliefs might have on his actions or policies as President, it really doesn't matter whether or not other people think that is a designation that makes sense. To him, it makes sense -- and it really has him fit in with millions of other modern Americans who are cheerfully eclectic in their religious beliefs and identifications, without regard to what theologians or official church doctrines might say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manhole Eunuchsbane Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 12 minutes ago, Swordfish said: Enforcing the UN ban/Nuclear deal Iran signed is mere saber rattling now? Huh..... Hasn't Trump said numerous times that he's going to rip up the deal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexal Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 1 hour ago, Altherion said: Why do you feel so strongly about this? The rules are a jumble of historical artifacts that have piled up over the centuries. There is nothing sacred about them and at this point they mainly serve to impede the work of government and give individual Senators powers that the Constitution never authorized for them. In my opinion, all of the obstructionist rules (including even the filibuster) should be eliminated and we should go back to the Senate being controlled by a simple majority except for the topics for which a supermajority is specified by the Constitution. Between the bicameral legislature and the split between the three branches, there are enough checks and balances in the system without turning the Senate into this bizarre domain of arcane self-made rules. The rules promote bipartisanship. With the rules taken away, it benefits only the majority. The minority lacks any power to force a compromise. That's an issue. 1 hour ago, Swordfish said: Another good argument for auto registration. Agreed. It should be done similarly to what is happening in Oregon. The issue is Republicans don't want more people to vote. They'll lose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swordfish Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Just now, Manhole Eunuchsbane said: Hasn't Trump said numerous times that he's going to rip up the deal? I'm not sure, actually. i can't really stand to hear him talk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexal Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Just now, Swordfish said: I'm not sure, actually. i can't really stand to hear him talk. He has. Worst deal in the history of all deals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord of Rhinos Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Man, I thought that was NAFTA. This Trump guy needs to get his story straight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isalie Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Wasn't he gonna enforce the deal rigorously? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manhole Eunuchsbane Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 3 minutes ago, Mikael said: Wasn't he gonna enforce the deal rigorously? It looks like he's flip-flopped a number of times on this. During the campaign, he repeatedly said he'd rip up the deal if elected. Recently one of his advisers said that he wouldn't seek to repeal it, but enforce it rigorously, as Mikael mentioned above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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