US Politics: 40 Acres and Barack Obama

[Rippounet]

6 hours ago, Jace, Basilissa said:

This is the most damaging piece of news I have ever read in my entire life. There is no future beyond this point! Abandon hope, fool! Cast your wisdom to the earth and stamp out the cinders of faith which may yet smolder in those darkening hearts. For all is yet to be lost anew! 

I think I'd make a pretty fantastic news anchor.

You certainly sound like the green monster from Futurama...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMSHvgaUWc8

 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

12 hours ago, larrytheimp said:

Bolding mine.  

 

But does this change anything? The working class, white or not, was ignored. That just can't happen anymore. This alone makes Biden a better choice (as he'll at least lie to the working class)...if your only goal is to unseat Trump. I think more should be done for the working class--the white ones too.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

On 6/21/2019 at 5:44 PM, DMC said:

Anybody thinking they have the first idea what American politics is gonna look 20 years down the road is kidding themselves.

Oh yeah? Hold my beer.

On 6/21/2019 at 9:28 PM, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

I think you die when you get tired of life.  We will all see in the end.  Not sure I want to end up downloading to a dream world like Neal Stephenson’s latest protagonist.

That’s what political prisons will look like in a hundred years. You’ll be uploaded into some nightmare scenario where you’ll die over and over and over again. We’ll call them Jacelands.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

It’s not mean enough to just keep kids in cages, so now we’re denying them soap and toothbrushes. This is embarrassing.

How the mighty have fallen….

[Martell Spy]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

It’s not mean enough to just keep kids in cages, so now we’re denying them soap and toothbrushes. This is embarrassing.

How the mighty have fallen….

Well the obvious conservative solution is staring us in the face. Simply make them work hard labor at 50 cents/hour and pay for soap and other items. We could also tack on a large debt of some kind due to their criminal offenses, if we could figure out what crimes they committed.

And hopefully we can make sure shareholders  of private prison companies get a sweet slice.

 

Sanders wants to cancel all student loan debt, even for the wealthy

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/24/bernie-sanders-cancel-student-loan-debt-1551617

Quote

 

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday proposed eliminating all of the nearly $1.6 trillion in outstanding student loan debt owed by Americans, raising the stakes on an issue that has increasingly animated the progressive base of the Democratic party.

Sanders is the latest 2020 presidential contender to propose a one-time cancellation program that would forgive large portions of student loan debt, which is owed by some 45 million Americans. His plan follows one released earlier this year by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D-Mass.), who called for forgiving $640 billion of student loan debt.

Sanders’ call for completely eliminating existing student loan debt is sure to rekindle divisions among progressives and Democratic primary voters more broadly over whether sweeping new government benefits should be available to all — or targeted to low- and middle-income families.

“If we could bail out Wall Street, we sure as hell can reduce student debt in this country,” Sanders said at a campaign event Sunday at Clinton College in Rock Hill, S.C.

 

 

[Jace, Extat]

11 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

Well the obvious conservative solution is staring us in the face. Simply make them work hard labor at 50 cents/hour and pay for soap and other items. We could also tack on a large debt of some kind due to their criminal offenses, if we could figure out what crimes they committed.

And hopefully we can make sure shareholders  of private prison companies get a sweet slice.

See, this is what we need. Solutions!

And who knows, letting them work could give one the chance to really pull himself (it'd be a him) up by his cage straps.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

30 minutes ago, Jace, Basilissa said:

See, this is what we need. Solutions!

And who knows, letting them work could give one the chance to really pull himself (it'd be a him) up by his cage straps.

They’re called freedom straps!

[maarsen]

On 6/22/2019 at 5:17 PM, Triskele said:

Is everyone hearing about what's happening in Oregon?  The Dem majority is trying to vote on a cap-and-trade bill and the GOP reps are fleeing the state to avoid the vote while right wing militias (are there any other kind?) are threatening the Capitol building.

Seems like more evidence of the anti-democratic impulses of the right where if they don't win elections they will increasingly not accept the results.  

Don't pay them if they don't show up for work. 

[Larry of the Lawn]

4 hours ago, Mr. Fancy Pants said:

But does this change anything? The working class, white or not, was ignored. That just can't happen anymore. This alone makes Biden a better choice (as he'll at least lie to the working class)...if your only goal is to unseat Trump. I think more should be done for the working class--the white ones too.

Not seeing anything that shows Biden is the working class choice, especially when you have  Sanders, Warren, Castro, even Harris or Booker.  

I don't even disagree with that much in the link, I just thought it was shitty writing.  

I don't see how you can be concerned though that the Democratic party is the party of the elites in one breath and then in another say that Biden is the remedy to that.  

[Martell Spy]

Quote

 

But Democrats argue that with Trump’s approval underwater in battleground states like Colorado, Arizona and Iowa, and a GOP primary brewing in North Carolina, they’re in position to take advantage of a potentially favorable environment.

Democrats are touting this as a fresh approach for 2020. For years they’ve relied on high-profile candidates with previous statewide victories and built-in fundraising networks — only to watch many of them blow winnable races.

Yet their latest recruiting strategy is as much out of necessity as by design. The party has been spurned by a number of coveted, would-be candidates, as it seeks to dislodge a Republican Senate that’s stymied House Democrats’ legislative agenda and installed a raft of Trump’s judicial picks.

“We're at the beginning stages of these races,” said Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “We have until the end of this year to get folks into these Senate races and be formidable and take on these Republican incumbents who are unfavorable in their states. I've never had a concern about it.”

Republicans scoff at the Democratic optimism. They argue Democrats’ early recruiting misses forced them to back little-known candidates who will face competitive primaries that drain resources and damage their eventual nominees.

 

Democrats mimic 2018 House takeover strategy in bid to capture Senate
After being spurned by more prominent names, Democrats are counting on lesser-known figures to topple GOP senators.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/24/democrats-senate-takeover-strategy-2020-1376414

[Maithanet]

2 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

Democrats mimic 2018 House takeover strategy in bid to capture Senate
After being spurned by more prominent names, Democrats are counting on lesser-known figures to topple GOP senators.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/24/democrats-senate-takeover-strategy-2020-1376414

I'm not really sure that high profile recruits are really all that important.  The biggest stars for Democrats this past cycle were virtually unknown in 2016.  To me the main advantage of a big name recruit is just that you know you aren't getting a complete dud - like someone with either crippling baggage (Roy Moore) or terrible campaigning (Martha Coakley).  But beyond that guaranteed minimal performance, there really isn't much benefit of a proven recruit vs a low profile upstart. 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

1 hour ago, larrytheimp said:

Not seeing anything that shows Biden is the working class choice, especially when you have  Sanders, Warren, Castro, even Harris or Booker.  

I don't even disagree with that much in the link, I just thought it was shitty writing.  

I don't see how you can be concerned though that the Democratic party is the party of the elites in one breath and then in another say that Biden is the remedy to that.  

I'm sorry, I don't think I was very clear. I was thinking of Biden and Hillary as elites, but where Hillary ignored the working class outright (in a number of states), Biden is the "remedy" in that he will pay lip service to those that feel ignored. I do agree he is an elite, and his lip service doesn't mean anything. It's a remedy if the only goal is to beat Trump (and you believe Biden can convince working class people he is for them), not to present real changes from the issues voting groups have with 2016.

Sanders and Warren are the real solution, for sure. I don't know enough about the other three. 

I'll just say, unequivocally, Biden is a terrible choice, and I don't believe he can convince working class voters he is for them. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Mr. Fancy Pants said:

Sanders and Warren are the real solution, for sure. 

Eh, I'd have to disagree for Sanders. His policies are fairly unworkable and have no chance of becoming law. Warren's probably don't either, but at least she has strongly studied the issues. Sanders, OTOH, is just an old man screaming at clouds. 

[The Anti-Targ]

A 2020 presidential map prediction video:

Lots of toss up states, but a prediction that WI, MI and PA will probably go Democratic suggests that even with a number of toss up states still on the map the Democrat will win. Trump would have lost without those states, so I imagine they will get a lot of campaign attention from both sides. 

[Zorral]

Mueller Report to be a graphic novel:

https://www.idwpublishing.com/you-havent-read-the-mueller-report-because-this-graphic-novel-isnt-out-yet/

Plus the live readings, broadcast and otherwise:

 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

I thought this article was going the other way when I started it. I'm glad I finished it. As someone who is crushed under student loan debt (I too started at close to 35,000 a year when I got out of college about ten years ago like the author did in the 1980s--except as he notes, due to inflation, he made MUCH more than me). Now, had I stuck with public education, I might be making closer to 45,000 a year right now (instead of just under 40,000), but at these numbers, the difference is negligible when I owe so much in loans.

[Zorral]

11 hours ago, Triskele said:

Hard to disagree with some of the points that Michelle Goldberg makes in this column on Biden (NYT in case anyone is carefully hoarding their free column clicks).  He is not off to a great start, and I don't just mean on issues like a quick turnaround on the Hyde Amendment.  He's really looking out of step, and he looks fairly clueless.  

I just read that, and was coming to provide a link, so now don't have to.

 

 

[Maithanet]

11 hours ago, Triskele said:

I did see something quite encouraging on PBS tonight though where a reporter from South Carolina was saying that they're seeing lots of voters saying a version of "I might have a favorite, but I'm going to back the Dem winner no matter what."  I think it's crucial that this sentiment win out, and while I'm probably just now getting to the most anti-Biden place I've been so far in terms of who I'll vote for in my primary I'm still as resolute as ever with this sentiment of backing anyone against Trump.  

I do think that the people on this forum (where Biden is not at all popular) lose sight of just how much better Biden is that Trump.  He is vastly better on every single issue.  Biden might not be pushing on every issue you care about, but he is pushing in the right direction on at least some things, as opposed to actively destroying and selling the country. 

That said, I am still doubtful that Biden will end up being the nominee.  He is just the wrong candidate for the moment in a lot of ways. 

[Zorral]

The NY Times today also has a long profile of the early Elizabeth Warren, which is an interesting read for reasons beyond elections and politics.  It's a terrific description of the kinds of conflicting expectations (white) women of her transitional generation couldn't escape -- be the smartest, be the best, get the highest grades, always be ambitious -- but be sexy, attractive to men -- but be sure to stay a virgin -- and do nothing with those high school / college achievements except get married and raise a family.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/24/us/politics/elizabeth-warren-republican-conservative-democrat.html?

Thus it is a particularly interesting contrast with this profile of Biden and what made his '88 campaign for the Nom a disaster -- none of those problems with him as candidate and record have changed -- there are only more of them.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/us/politics/biden-1988-presidential-campaign.html?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

23 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

That said, I am still doubtful that Biden will end up being the nominee.  He is just the wrong candidate for the moment in a lot of ways. 

I agree, and on top of that, while gaffes won’t hurt him in the general, they will during the primaries. I also think Sanders won’t win it, because a Biden collapse likely won’t affect Sanders in any meaningfully positive way. Bet on Harris or Warren being the last one standing absent any major change of events.