US politics - When the Barr's so low.

[Darth Richard II]

Zorral is a YA villain. Got it.

[Gertrude]

Sorry for the triple post - 

A small bright spot in the news today, Joni Ernst sucks. Her approval is -4 and showed the biggest slip of all senators from last quarter with a nine point dive. The Dem running against her outperformed her in fundraising last quarter too, so here's hoping!

[Zorral]

20 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

Zorral is a YA villain. Got it.

O man, you got me where it really hurts!  I loathe YA stuff.   And comix.  

[sologdin]

Tulsi Gabbard dressing like the villain

i would think her policy preferences are what matters.  some internet person did all of em on political compass, and gabbard's all alone with sanders and the green candidate down in the libertarian/progressive quadrant.  seems like she is plausible for sanders' supporters--more plausible than sanders, if it's time for him to hang it up.

[Jace, Extat]

27 minutes ago, nah said:

Through the end of the year I'm going to stick to half-assed superficial judgements about the candidates while eschewing all other news. Pete Buttigege looks like something that was grown in a lab with Ben Shapiro, and the two escaped half way through their gestation periods, one to sow havoc throughout the world and the other to check the influence of its evil twin.

Excellence.

7 minutes ago, sologdin said:

Tulsi Gabbard dressing like the villain

i would think her policy preferences are what matters.  some internet person did all of em on political compass, and gabbard's all alone with sanders and the green candidate down in the libertarian/progressive quadrant.  seems like she is plausible for sanders' supporters--more plausible than sanders, if it's time for him to hang it up.

She also is anti-interventionist to the point of idiocy. I got nothing against ending imperialist pursuits provided the positing individual is upfront about the reduced national profile which would result, but I draw the line at attacking fellow Democrats on such grounds. We ain't the warmongering party. Democrats don't have the political cache to  appoint judges when holding the executive branch. The plebs are crying out for healthcare, climate, and tax reforms. None of which Democrats have the capability to provide on. And this Rogue cosplaying Army Girl wants to attack Democrats on fucking troop positioning? Gimmie a goddamn break!

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

4 hours ago, Guy Kilmore said:

Booker is the Tom Cruise of politicians.

Sorry, this one went over my head.

1 hour ago, Gertrude said:

Sorry for the triple post - 

Never. Ever. Apologize. For. Triple. Posting!!! Lean into them with the fury of a thousand Jaces. 

[Ormond]

2 hours ago, felice said:

That doesn't sound like middle class to me. Indeed, I'd say "struggling middle class" is an oxymoron. I'd be very unimpressed by any Democrat wanting to raise taxes on the lowest couple of income brackets!

I would bet that the definition of "middle class" in New Zealand is more like that in Australia than in the USA.

In American culture, anyone who is neither on welfare or a multi-millionaire defines themselves as being "middle class." The USA is one of the few places in the world where most people who have assembly line jobs in factories think they are middle class, and when the American media talks about the "struggling middle class" they are usually referring to people without a college education who hold blue collar jobs. 

I have been told by Australian acquaintances that in Australia it's considered "putting on airs" to call yourself "middle class" and that people who are owners of small businesses in Australia usually will call themselves "working class" and do not want to identify with the "middle class" label. That's the opposite of the American attitude. 

[DMC]

5 hours ago, sologdin said:

seems like she is plausible for sanders' supporters--more plausible than sanders, if it's time for him to hang it up.

No.  I'm sick of considering Tulsi Gabbard with anything remotely resembling legitimacy.  She is a joke, a farce, and most importantly - an annoyance.  The Dems will have enough problems with people at the podium blatantly and fragrantly lying once the general election debates happen.  There's no reason to start the idiocy early.  Yet there she is.

[Kalbear]

Tulsi Gabbard went on Fox News and used Project Veritas talking points to back her claims. This is essentially the equivalent of any bullshit artist on Fox News. 

[Guy Kilmore]

6 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Sorry, this one went over my head.

Never. Ever. Apologize. For. Triple. Posting!!! Lean into them with the fury of a thousand Jaces. 

I once heard someone say that Tom Cruise gives the impression that he is an actor playing a Human.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

9 hours ago, felice said:

That doesn't sound like middle class to me. Indeed, I'd say "struggling middle class" is an oxymoron. I'd be very unimpressed by any Democrat wanting to raise taxes on the lowest couple of income brackets!

I shouldn't cheat. My net is closer to 25 percent, my gross closer to 18 percent. But I am middle class according to my meager salary. And if I had to pay 200 more dollars a month in taxes, but zero in premiums (and everything else premiums don't cover), then I'm very clearly saving 400 bucks a month (and a lot more when you factor in all the extra costs of co-pays, deductibles, etc.). And the 200 dollar number is completely arbitrary. I'd imagine someone in my income bracket (who has a master's degree and is working on a PhD) isn't going to gain much tax sympathy. 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

6 hours ago, Ormond said:

I would bet that the definition of "middle class" in New Zealand is more like that in Australia than in the USA.

In American culture, anyone who is neither on welfare or a multi-millionaire defines themselves as being "middle class." The USA is one of the few places in the world where most people who have assembly line jobs in factories think they are middle class, and when the American media talks about the "struggling middle class" they are usually referring to people without a college education who hold blue collar jobs. 

I have been told by Australian acquaintances that in Australia it's considered "putting on airs" to call yourself "middle class" and that people who are owners of small businesses in Australia usually will call themselves "working class" and do not want to identify with the "middle class" label. That's the opposite of the American attitude. 

This is true, except we're not putting on airs. This is just how it's labeled. We if we do not live in poverty we exist somewhere between low and middle income, often referred to as lower-middle class. It's just another way to pretend things are going great over here, when they're not. But to be fair, I have a lot of college education, I am an educator, and I make about 40,000 a year (and I am a single dad with no support from the other parent). I am classified as doing fine.

Here is an article that covers the numbers according to Pew research. My bracket (household size of 2) is counted as middle class. The reason this is problematic is because despite this number flashed around as a sign of success, inflation makes this an impossible amount to live on. 50 percent of my net income goes to rent, and I live in affordable, government rent controlled housing. There is nothing cheaper. I could move to another town, but to find reasonable housing prices, I'd have to move far away from where I am now.

I do not believe I am middle class. I believe I am classified as such to promote the cultural hegemony of this country's rulers.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/21/how-much-money-the-american-middle-class-earns.html

[Gorn]

8 hours ago, sologdin said:

Tulsi Gabbard dressing like the villain

i would think her policy preferences are what matters.  some internet person did all of em on political compass, and gabbard's all alone with sanders and the green candidate down in the libertarian/progressive quadrant.  seems like she is plausible for sanders' supporters--more plausible than sanders, if it's time for him to hang it up.

That's a weird political compass. Mike Gravel and Jay Inslee being further to the right than Donald Trump is just... wrong. 

[felice]

4 hours ago, Simon Steele said:

This is just how it's labeled. We if we do not live in poverty we exist somewhere between low and middle income, often referred to as lower-middle class. It's just another way to pretend things are going great over here, when they're not.

However you label it, there's no need to increase taxes on the lower-middle class at all, even by $200 a month - it's just not enough money to be worth doing. The vast majority of income in the US is earned by people in the top 50% of earners, so that's where tax increases to cover healthcare should come from. Personally I think a better definition of middle class would be the people who earn the middle third of total income - so in the US, the upper class would be about the top 2%, and the middle class would about the next 20% below that.

[DMC]

James Mattis was pretty funny at the Al Smith dinner last night:  "I earned my spurs on the battlefield; Donald Trump earned his spurs from the doctor."

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

On ‎10‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 8:31 PM, Gertrude said:

No shit, it scares me more than Trump because I think he'd be more effective and focused. But the price of a Pence presidency (for hopefully less than a year) is not higher than the price of letting Trump run roughshod over the constitution and the law without repercussion. That's how I see it

I go back and forth on this.  My fear now is more that Pence might be more electable than Trump, especially with the evangelist and with Trump gone, the Dems might slip back into the apathy that got Trump elected to begin with.

[sologdin]

damn. now y'all making me wanna join up with the gabbard campaign.

[mormont]

Re: Pence. Consider this:

- If Trump is gone, as previously noted, something absolutely huge has happened. Something bigger than all the crap that's happened so far. It's not credible that Pence, in that scenario, is unscathed, untainted by any involvement. Politically, he will be damaged goods.

- Following on from that, if Trump is gone, he's going to turn on his former allies, including Pence. It will be vicious and public and he will dish any dirt he has and make up more. 

- And if Trump is gone, depending on timing, Republicans may not meekly turn over the nomination to a weakened Pence. Some may see an opportunity. 

In sum, if Trump is gone, Pence is not going to serenely walk onto the main stage as if nothing has happened. He's going to be neck deep in shit from the start, with significant obstacles to being elected to overcome. 

[sologdin]

think a better definition of middle class

this sort of difficulty haunts definitions derived from weberian and durkheimian concepts.  always comical when the beancounters draw a line between one penny and another--this side of the polemos is poverty, that side is not.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

1 hour ago, DMC said:

James Mattis was pretty funny at the Al Smith dinner last night:  "I earned my spurs on the battlefield; Donald Trump earned his spurs from the doctor."

I liked his Meryl Streep comment.  He helped create this monster though.

2 minutes ago, sologdin said:

think a better definition of middle class

this sort of difficulty haunts definitions derived from weberian and durkheimian concepts.  always comical when the beancounters draw a line between one penny and another--this side of the polemos is poverty, that side is not.

There is a moral dimension that is (perhaps) uniquely American associated with poverty, wealth, and definitions thereof.  It makes the lines both funnier and more understandable.