US Politics: Mail and Managers for Mitch

[Gertrude]

On 1/13/2020 at 3:21 PM, Fez said:

Yang still scores surprisingly high for me, at 14/20, but I do think overall its better calibrated than before. I'm most aligned with Biden at 15/20, and Klobuchar is also at 14/20. And I'm least aligned with Sanders at 6/20 and Warren at 7/20. Bloomberg is also only at 6/20, but that appears to be because he hasn't given a position on half the questions being asked.

Unless Klobuchar has a moment for herself in the next couple months I think I've resigned myself to voting for Biden. I wish he was younger, less gaffe prone, and less stuck in ways about bipartisanship; but I can't ignore how consistently he polls the strongest in general election matchups. I was kinda excited about Buttigeig at first, but he has been a disappointment. And Booker never took off at all and is now out; same goes for the various governors that might've been the strongest general election nominees of all (I can envision a world where Steve Bullock beats Trump in a landslide).

I'm about the same - Yang is highest with Kloubuchar and Buttigeig close behind. Warren and Sanders are near last with Warren edging out Bernie, but while I can see those numbers and see why I got that result, I don't like it. I trust Warren or Sanders to fight harder and actually effect change over any of the others. I don't expect anyone to get their agenda 100% passed, but I prefer their pie in the sky proposals over the status quo.

Medicare for all is also my highest priority, and Sanders is the only one I really trust to fight hard for it. Warren to a lesser degree, and forget the others - I don't think it's a priority for them.

So yeah, theoretically I'm Yang Gang, and I don't hate it, but I'm still debating between Warren or Sanders. Sanders I think will have better energy and fight, Warren I just really like her anti-corruption stuff. (which is my second highest priority, fighting with medicare for supremacy)

[Zorral]

Totally disagree that nuclear will help cool the planet when 

Quote

Most nuclear power (and other thermal) plants with recirculating cooling are cooled by water in a condenser circuit with the hot water then going to a cooling tower. ... The cooling in the tower is by transferring the water's heat to the air, both directly and through evaporation of some of the water.

.

 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

@Ormond

And I was basically agreeing with you.

I am not particularly fond of Nuclear Energy (for the aforementioned reasons). However short term, I don't think the US can just do away with it, while also trying to get its emissions down. And emissions are for now the more current issue, that needs immediate action. Thus another problem for another day.

From the fossils modern Gas Plants are pretty efficient (also in terms of emissions). Which is part of the calculus behind Nord Stream II (the gas pipeline from Russia to Germany the US are so unhappy about).

ALso I suspect for renewables the US in for quite a few follow up investments (or rather upfront payments) into its infrastructure. Namely the electric lines. Let's assume the US sets up some offshore windparks in Louisiana (or whereever you have a better overview over the current discussions). Then you still need to get the energy from there to Chicago.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

27 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Yes, the downside is: there's no real solution for what to do with the nuclear waste, and accidents happen or so people say.

But that's another problem for another day.

*puts one arm around AHNS' shoulders*

*uses other arm to make a sweeping gesture*

What if we fired it? Out of a cannon? Into the sun?

[Larry of the Lawn]

1 hour ago, DMC said:

Politico, and the rest of the media, are going to take their cues from the campaign.  Again, you're right, it could have just been something that got out and Sanders nor his camp did not intend.  In that case you at least give some statement trying to roll it back, instead, politico got this:

And this:

Once you give them a chance to clarify, and they pass, politico is entirely justified rolling with the story that the Sanders campaign is going after Warren (and Biden and Buttigieg) at an escalated rate based on the reported content of that script.

Also, there's this, that was just published:  Sanders camp admits anti-Warren script was deployed in multiple early states:

The memo apparently said:  "people who support her are highly-educated, more affluent people who are going to show up and vote Democratic no matter what."  I think it's fair to summarize/interpret that as saying the Bernie campaign is asserting Warren only appeals to the elite.  The suggestion is clear.

I think it's very naive to assume it's just the media blowing this up when both the candidates have been given ample time to come out with a forceful statement, and neither has done so to my knowledge.  That strongly indicates this is approved by both candidates and they're now playing a (avoid the) blame game.  If not, then they are each running their campaign incompetently.

Lol and that link pretty much trashes what i thought about the source of the memo/script.  Oops.

What's the endgame though for either of them?  Try to get the other progressive out first?  Despite the fact there probabaly isn't that much overlap in 2nd choices playing out for either? (Guessing there are more voters leaning "1st Sanders, 2nd Warren" than "1st Warren, 2nd Sanders." Trying to reinvigorate the hardcore supporters for Iowa and NH?  What's the point of this now, seems kind of sloppy for both of them?  Also kind of hilarious that with all the noise from the mainstream/establishment Dems about being civil and not getting nasty that the left wing of the party teeing off on each other was so tame.  Will be "interesting" (you fucking vampires and ghouls!!! Ghouls!!!) to see what happens tonight.

[Kalbear]

1 hour ago, Zorral said:

Totally disagree that nuclear will help cool the planet when 

.

 

Adding actual heat to the atmosphere in the scope you're talking about is essentially miniscule, and if you're worried about that you should also worry about the heat generated from mirrors used in solar panels and the heat they absorb and then release. 

Plus, ya know, it is still BETTER than a coal plant, which uses fire to heat things up and also releases that heat to the atmosphere. 

I agree with @Ormond that nuclear power can't be the main solution any more, not if we want to hit any reasonable targets. Nuclear plants have a time to come online of an average of 20 years, and even if that's improved it won't be cut in 1/4. Wind and solar by comparison can come online in as little as 3 years, and they cost less per watt, and they are easier to deploy in most places. But if we want to use nuclear as the way to get backup surge power in some capacity (nuclear isn't great at this, but it's not horrible) having those come online later would be good.

The real problem is that electrical generation is not remotely the biggest issue, and even if we converted 100% of our electricity production to carbon-neutral, we'd still not be hitting our carbon targets.

[DMC]

19 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

What's the point of this now, seems kind of sloppy for both of them?

I think it's just time - the last debate before voting starts.  I know I recently complained about the invective going on in the media attacking the Dem candidates, but the campaigns themselves have been very tame so far.  And really, these criticisms aren't exactly throwing fire.  As you suggested, Bernie's camp is at least somewhat valid in all of the criticisms of the other nominees.  Like I said, I'm fine with the campaign getting more heated at this point, I just think it's silly to get involved in this "which side is being meaner and/or started it" debate unless/until we get some legit mudslinging.  Like, not saying it has to be this bad, but McCain South Carolina 2000 stuff.

[Guest]

There WILL be witnesses.

Quote

The House Intelligence Committee quietly released a new batch of impeachment inquiry evidence Tuesday evening: documents provided by Rudy Giuliani’s fixer for Ukraine, Lev Parnas.

And boy, are they ugly.

The documents, which include Parnas’s handwritten notes, copies of text messages, and other correspondence, reveal some new information — including that Giuliani claimed to be acting with President Trump’s “knowledge and consent” in his communications with the Ukrainian government.

 

[Mudguard]

If Sanders and Warren end up splitting the progressive vote through a significant portion of the primary elections, we might get a brokered convention.  Top three candidates have all been holding strong for a while now and are all well funded to stay in the race to well past Super Tuesday.

I'm curious to see how well Bloomberg's strategy will work.  If he spends over a billion dollars in advertising in the big electoral states that vote on Super Tuesday, can he actually win any of them?  I'm skeptical right now, but I'm not writing him off yet.  Steyer's numbers in Nevada and South Carolina really jumped after heavy spending in those two states, and Bloomberg can dwarf Steyer's spending by over 10 times (net worth of Bloomberg is around $60 billion and Steyer is under 2 billion).  I think it's a mistake for him to skip the debates entirely when he easily could have accepted token $1 donations and qualified for the debates.  It's a strange strategy, but I assume that he has a huge team that has done a lot of polling and analysis about his potential path to victory.  Maybe he figured that he was planning on establishing a nationwide campaign infrastructure anyway to defeat trump, so he might as well try and run, but if he loses, he just uses it as a superpac, which was the original plan. 

[Guest]

Okay, I don't get this. Pelosi hasn't sent the articles of impeachment over to the Senate, so what's stopping the House from adding and/or amending the articles, calling more witnesses, etc.?

Yeah, besides the election, which, IMO, isn't important enough to forego conducting a full inquiry. 

[KingintheNorth4]

Did Wolf Blitzer just set up a question by telling Bernie he agrees with the Ayatollah on removing troops from the Middle East? Jesus fucking Christ.

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, Kalbear said:

Adding actual heat to the atmosphere in the scope you're talking about is essentially miniscule, and if you're worried about that you should also worry about the heat generated from mirrors used in solar panels and the heat they absorb and then release. 

 

Like cows and pigs and our own food waste release methane into the atmosphere so thus we must, They Say, stop eating meat (and eat bugs instead). Miniscule changes make large impacts, which is proved over and over and over.

MOREOVER solar panels and mirrors don't provide at all the meltdown overheating disasters that nuclear energy has proven it does.

[Guest]

Klobuchar was killing it...and then the governor of Kansas brought her down.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

At this point, if Bernie doesn't get the nom, I won't be voting in the general. All you moderates made me realize this was okay. I'll write him in during the general.

[Martell Spy]

Best part of the debate? The Ron Reagan atheist advertisement.

Elizabeth Warren Says She’ll Cancel Student Loan Debt With or Without Congress’ Permission

https://slate.com/business/2020/01/warren-student-loan-debt-forgiveness-day-one.html

Quote

 

Elizabeth Warren said on Tuesday that, if elected president, on day one in office she would direct the Department of Education to begin canceling the bulk of America’s student debt without waiting for legislation from Congress, a dramatic promise that could thrust loan forgiveness into the center of the Democratic primary’s policy debates.

Warren previously released a plan to cancel up to $50,000 of student loan debt for households that make $100,000 or less, and smaller amounts for higher earners, as part of a broader effort to reform higher education that would also eliminate tuition at public colleges. That proposal was silent on whether she would wait for congressional authority, and it has always been doubtful whether moderate Democratic lawmakers in Washington would go along with either idea. In a blog post published Tuesday, she said her administration would act on its own to reduce what borrowers owe. “The Department of Education already has broad legal authority to cancel student debt, and we can’t afford to wait for Congress to act,” she wrote. “So I will start to use existing laws on day one of my presidency to implement my student 

 

 

[Freshwater Spartan]

7 minutes ago, Simon Steele said:

At this point, if Bernie doesn't get the nom, I won't be voting in the general. All you moderates made me realize this was okay. I'll write him in during the general.

That would make Donald and Mitch happy.

[Fragile Bird]

So.

Can a woman beat Donald Trump?

[Guest]

I am so fucking tired of the fucking debate moderators using fucking Republican talking points as their debate question prep.

[Maithanet]

12 minutes ago, The Great Unwashed said:

I am so fucking tired of the fucking debate moderators using fucking Republican talking points as their debate question prep.

I agree, it is pretty ridiculous tonight.

[DMC]

18 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Can a woman beat Donald Trump?

Pretty sure all women that can should be allowed to beat Donald Trump.