U.S. Politics: 5.7 Billion Problems But The House Ain't One

[Trebla]

RW media is leaping on the fact that CNN was there when Stone was arrested as proof that, heh, Mueller/FBI are colluding with CNN. Greta van Susteren got the ball rolling and Infowars and the like followed suit.

She later backtracked, to the rage of the MAGA crowd. 

Which brings us to...

I can't wait for Rudy to weigh in.

[sperry]

Air travel seems to be on the verge of collapse, which I would hope is the breaking point on this whole nonsense. We don't really know how beholden Trump is to business interests, but that's when those business interests start really getting impacted.

[Zorral]

21 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

All legit reasons to stay away from it (and easy to ignore, historically speaking). However Russia issuing a hands off warning isn't one of them. Anyway, the US did not really enter an open wars there. Those were mostly CIA and some special forces messing around in South America. Well, and military advisors propping up very appaling people. And besides, with Brazil the US actually might have an ally in the region already.

Nevertheless the US poured billions of dollars into these efforts -- and, let us not FORGET the CIA raising millions for Reagan's criminal, illegal and secret arming efforts to go against Iran -- creating the crack crisis.  More millions and millions poured down toilets.  Just flushed away.

Do we still make no connections as to why our national transportation, communications, medical and educational infrastructures are all crumbling, starved of money -- not to mention so many other local and federal government agencies -- with decades of pouring these millions and billions into toilets and flushing or else just tossing it all into the wind to blow hither and thither and particularly into the bank accounts of 'private contractors' and the leaders of our national enemies?

Cheney & Co have been talking for decades of drowning the federal government in the bathtub.  This is how they've done it.  They LOVE this.  So does Russia.

You talk about telling Russia hands off?  Russia, like China, already owns a huge amount of Latin America in one way and another.  Russia, through Putin's b*tch, the orange nazi (and probably quite a few others) has done a terrific job defunctionalizing and dividing this nation and all its institutions.  

This stuff is deliberate.  This is what Cheney & Co have wanted.  Why else is McConnell doing nothing, other than aiding and abetting insanity in the WH?  The end of the federal government.  None dare to call it treason, though.  So damned ironic, if not tragic, this turnaround.

[Zorral]

27 minutes ago, Jace, Basilissa said:

Zero requirement to put boots on dirt. Current engagement techniques in Western Asia are the product of antiquated decision makers attempting to recreate the decisive victories of the 1940's.

Nothing flies, nothing sails, heat signatures indicating presence of motor vehicles can be destroyed at the press of a button.

I appreciate that your first instinct will be to respond 'that's unrealistic!' or something similar, but consider the amount of resources that could be brought to bear if the government were able to make even the slightest case that the U.S. itself could be endangered. If a war on this side of the hemisphere were to be fought, the tools used will be adapted to new and more effective warfare methodologies at a mind boggling pace.

I mean it won't. This is all just for funzies.

What government would that be?  This scenario is from ye olden daze as well, you know?  

[Fragile Bird]

Flights have been halted at LaGuardia, due to staffing issues.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

A bit beside the point.

Reagan and his lackeys attacked the state from within. As in, nobody lieks to pay taxes, so vote for me I will cut your taxes. Of course those taxes are a necessity if you are into a funcitoning state. But to campaign on that is way more difficult than pay less taxes

You on't really need to go further than that for an explanaiton for crumbling infrastructure.

However gotta go now (not a lazy excuse to dodge this discussion, but really having to leave now).

[Darth Richard II]

57 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

What drives me crazy is that these are the same people who strive very greedily to accumulate wealth, and justify it by saying ‘God helps those who help themselves’.

Why don’t they leave the Wall up to God as well?

The best part is that’s not a bible quote, it’s from Aesop’s fables.

[TheKitttenGuard]

Was Buzzfeed "Sacrifice" manuver on Mueller's part? I am not mean that Mueller's statement was false but more to get some praise from Trump so when Trump goes back to "Witchhunt" is loses more punch.

[Jace, Extat]

19 minutes ago, Zorral said:

What government would that be?  This scenario is from ye olden daze as well, you know?  

Heh. Nice.

[lokisnow]

1 hour ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

 

If the US really desperately needs a quick military win with very little risk, south America is the place to be. I know it sounds cynical, but that's Realpolitik for you.

I see you failed geography in school. 

and also history.

What a wonderful way to radicalize most of the young men in south and central america and recruit hundreds of thousands into guerilla actions fighting the US. 

But hey, it's a real politik victory, for sure.

[maarsen]

44 minutes ago, Trebla said:

RW media is leaping on the fact that CNN was there when Stone was arrested as proof that, heh, Mueller/FBI are colluding with CNN. Greta van Susteren got the ball rolling and Infowars and the like followed suit.

She later backtracked, to the rage of the MAGA crowd. 

Which brings us to...

I can't wait for Rudy to weigh in.

This shows how pathetic and out of touch right wing "media" are when dealing with the real world. Reputable news organizations don't sit around like lap dogs waiting for crumbs to fall or tidbits to be handed out. They actually gather facts and use those facts to make guesses about the future. 

When Trump does his perp walk, I can only hope scads of media are there to see it.

[Jace, Extat]

6 minutes ago, lokisnow said:

I see you failed geography in school. 

and also history.

What a wonderful way to radicalize most of the young men in south and central america and recruit hundreds of thousands into guerilla actions fighting the US. 

But hey, it's a real politik victory, for sure.

If I could assume to speak for our Horsey friend, any attempt by a European, Asian, African, Australian, or Antarctic power to use any South American state as a staging area/puppet from which to maintain regional directive would fail.

Categorically.

Yes, getting involved in a ground war would be a fucking disaster. But the Carribean is not the Atlantic, and South America is not Western Asia. All of the logistical and strategic problems that inhibit the (criminal, do not mistake my analysis of American military capabilities as support for them) projection of force in Iraq and Afghanistan not only get removed, they become advantages in the defensive consideration.

These outdated concepts of 'occupation' and 'regime change' won't survive the next conflict between major states.

[Fragile Bird]

54 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

The best part is that’s not a bible quote, it’s from Aesop’s fables.

<geek break>

Had to look that up. It was a concept used by many Greek authors and illustrated in two of Aesop’s fables, and may therefore have been a common proverb. And the concept (but not the words) is in many Bible books, including Proverbs and Deuteronomy, and in the Quran. Mohammed supposedly once saw a man leave his camel untied, and when asked why he did that, the man said he trusted in God. Mohammed said ‘Trust in God but tie your camel’.

But the actual words were first written by Algernon Sydney (d. 1687) who is considered to have greatly inspired the American revolution through his book Discourses Concerning Government.

According to Wikipedia, though, the vast majority (up to 81% in one survey) of Americans think it comes from the Bible and is in fact a central concept of the Bible. That would explain a hell of a lot, concerning the lack of charity towards others displayed by many Christians in the US. They don’t actually read the Bible.

<end of geek break>

[Mlle. Zabzie]

9 hours ago, OldGimletEye said:

Maybe you haven't heard, but there is deep liquid market for equity securities in the United States. So I'm having a hard time understanding your argument.

Think the bigger issue is the constitution and whether this would be a "direct" tax not permitted because 16th amendment only covers income tax.  National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius probably helps here as it finds that the ACA tax was not an direct tax because not everyone had to pay it and that it was not imposed on property (that it was triggered by circumstances), but a wealth tax is basically a personal property tax, which is thought of as a direct tax.  So basically I think you'd need a constitutional amendment.  The estate tax, in contrast, is tied to an identifiable (though inevitable) event which causes property to change hands, so is different, I believe.  Constitutional scholars please weigh in here if you disagree.

[OldGimletEye]

1 minute ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

Think the bigger issue is the constitution and whether this would be a "direct" tax not permitted because 16th amendment only covers income tax.  National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius probably helps here as it finds that the ACA tax was not an direct tax because not everyone had to pay it and that it was not imposed on property (that it was triggered by circumstances), but a wealth tax is basically a personal property tax, which is thought of as a direct tax.  So basically I think you'd need a constitutional amendment.  The estate tax, in contrast, is tied to an identifiable (though inevitable) event which causes property to change hands, so is different, I believe.  Constitutional scholars please weigh in here if you disagree.

That's a good point, and may well stop Warren's idea in its tracks.

[Martell Spy]

Awesome, I heard Roger Stone talking on the radio and he was getting treated with Lock Him Up chants.

[Kalbear]

2 hours ago, sperry said:

I've seen the approval numbers mentioned several times in this thread, but i doesn't seem like anything is jumping out. They are within the bands that Trump has fluctuated in the entire time. His base doesn't seem to care at all about this, which is not unexpected.

This doesn't appear to be accurate. Per this report last week, his numbers are off about 10-20% across the board with his base. And while he's still within his lowest margin, we are seeing record lows so far. 

[Kalbear]

15 minutes ago, OldGimletEye said:

That's a good point, and may well stop Warren's idea in its tracks.

Easy way to get around that would be to simply tax only certain kinds of assets, no? Like, say, stocks and bonds. Since not everyone has to own stocks and bonds it isn't a direct tax, it's a tax on the specific wealth type. 

[Maithanet]

Trump is about to make a statement from the WH.  It is believed he'll announce his willingness to sign a 3 week govt funding bill (without the wall).  Rumor is that he may also include something about invoking a national emergency after 3 weeks if he doesn't get his way. 

 

[Mlle. Zabzie]

13 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

Easy way to get around that would be to simply tax only certain kinds of assets, no? Like, say, stocks and bonds. Since not everyone has to own stocks and bonds it isn't a direct tax, it's a tax on the specific wealth type. 

No, I believe that would be a direct tax.  Just like everyone doesn't own real property but the federal government would not be permitted to impose a real property tax (that, I think, was one of the main reasons for the prohibition in the Constitution).  Direct tax is imposed in rem/or per capita, rather than an indirect tax, which is imposed on a transaction.  I think that the important part of Sebelius is that the court found that it was neither a capitation tax nor a tax on property.