US Politics: Par, Don, for the Course

[Myshkin]

54 minutes ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

I mean, I thought I was first on this, and people had just misunderstood me. 

Baby, it’s what’s for dinner. 

You can only snatch so many babies from resentful teenagers before you have to figure out what to do with the ones who aren’t cut out for your goblin army. And you know who understands this? John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. Unlike their out of touch Republican opponents, Ossoff and Warnock understand the struggle of working class Goblin Kings and Queens. That’s why on January 5th I’ll be voting for Ossoff and Warnock for Senate. Ossoff and Warnock; good for Georgia, good for America, good for stunningly beautiful baby snatchers.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

15 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

Shutdown averted after Trump signs stimulus package
He had objected to provisions in it before relenting.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/27/congress-stimulus-deal-450380

 

Such a strong leader. He fucked over McConnell and his caucus for what exactly?

Fill in the blank. Winner gets a wink from the Goblin King.

[Zorral]

So while we are happily watching the final episode of Bridgerton, shoggoth signs relief bill to keep open the government and extend unemployment benefits.

Somehow, for some unfathomable reason I expected this as I began episode 7.

But the point of this delay in doing it, especially lacking the 1200 stim payment, escapes my comprehension.

[DMC]

I guess what Trump got was five days of whining to show the GOP Congress are even bigger dicks than him.  Only substantive difference, btw, is the extended unemployment benefits lapsed yesterday.  The bill restores them, but real people will lose at least a week or two of aid there so he could whine.  Great job!

[Varysblackfyre321]

8 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

Regarding that baby blood-

 

Huh, I kinda she was just referring to people giving oral sex.

Though the best way to prevent overpopulation is literally to just give women an education, access to birth control, and job opportunities.

But to the far right all of this is in fact worse than eating babies.

[Varysblackfyre321]

11 hours ago, DMC said:

K.  Yes, candidates that outraise their opponents still often lose.  This is, like, the most banal point ever.  Moreover, the fact campaign spending has diminishing returns has been demonstrated for decades.  Money is necessary but not sufficient, there's a certain plateau where it will only take you so far.  None of this is very noteworthy at all but YMMV.  Anyway, this is why I said "just as an indicator of enthusiasm," which is something to look for in a runoff wherein the outcome is especially dependent on turnout.

True, it’s a banal point, but one that’s always worth remembering. A large problem with other campaigns for senate seats Democrats hoped to capture was not using the cash flow more effectively as they could have in a pandemic.

Hopefully the Democrats learned from their failures.

14 hours ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

Right. Nationalizing this race does no good. It can even turn voters off. 

All David Perdue has to do is run an ad saying “most of their support comes from out of state (shows pictures of AOC, Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi).” And I’ve seen that ad.

That is why it is also deeply counterproductive for out of state people to phone bank and send postcards.

I don’t know about that. The old state tribalism seems to have broken down in recent years. 
The polarization  between Rural and  urban and suburban has only grown.

Speaking anecdotally. I’m from a California suburb and I feel like  have far more in common with the typical Atlantian from Georgia than someone from a  rural area in my own state.

[Zorral]

@DMC some time back requested info re the NYC mayoral candidates -- here's the latest:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/28/nyregion/yang-chang-wiley-mayor-nyc.html?

Yang sure is serious, at least right now.  Sigh.

A lot of aspirants.

 

[Gaston de Foix]

14 hours ago, DMC said:

I guess what Trump got was five days of whining to show the GOP Congress are even bigger dicks than him.  Only substantive difference, btw, is the extended unemployment benefits lapsed yesterday.  The bill restores them, but real people will lose at least a week or two of aid there so he could whine.  Great job!

What he got was attention, which is the number 1 commodity for him.  And the private groveling and the empty promises from Congressional leaders.  It wasn't just Lady G playing intermediary.  I mean this is not news but its really just about ego and narcissistic injury, as well as a straightforward political calculation that giving every citizen $2000 checks is a popular move.   

What is really sad is that the story of the last 20 years, fiscally speaking, is the constant despoilation of the U.S. treasury by right and left alike at the cost of future generations, including many provisions of this latest relief package which are yet further give-aways for billionaires.  Nothing more symbolizes that the U.S. is not a serious country with serious aspirations. There will be a reckoning. 

[DireWolfSpirit]

1 hour ago, Gaston de Foix said:

What he got was attention, which is the number 1 commodity for him.  And the private groveling and the empty promises from Congressional leaders.  It wasn't just Lady G playing intermediary.  I mean this is not news but its really just about ego and narcissistic injury, as well as a straightforward political calculation that giving every citizen $2000 checks is a popular move.   

What is really sad is that the story of the last 20 years, fiscally speaking, is the constant despoilation of the U.S. treasury by right and left alike at the cost of future generations, including many provisions of this latest relief package which are yet further give-aways for billionaires.  Nothing more symbolizes that the U.S. is not a serious country with serious aspirations. There will be a reckoning. 

I fear a reckoning, in the recesses of my imaginations, for the future, over our ever expanding indebtedness. The numbers are unimaginably big to me and I feel limited to whether I'm understanding the gravity correctly.

Can you paint a picture of what the future consequences could be of our apparent lack of frugality? It seems dreadful, or am I over concerning myself?

Eta: I found this out there, most of what I looked at was pre- pandemic, so the numbers are even worse than most of the projections.

Large budget deficits over the next 30 years are projected to drive federal debt held by the public to unprecedented levels—from 78 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 to 144 percent by 2049. That projection incorporates CBO’s central estimates of various factors, such as productivity growth and interest rates on federal debt. CBO’s analysis indicates that even if values for those factors differed from the agency’s projections, debt several decades from now would probably be much higher than it is today.^[59]

[Gaston de Foix]

This is a good analysis: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/04/18/record-government-corporate-debt-risk-tipping-point-after-pandemic-passes/

[DMC]

The House just voted to increase stimulus checks to $2k.  The vote was 275-134.  The roll call isn't up yet, but that means a good amount of Republicans supported it.  Now the House is voting to override Trump's veto of the defense bill..

ETA:  Per politico, 44 Republicans voted yay with 130 against.

[Myshkin]

Adherents to the Church of Scientrumpogy have found a loophole! It appears that as President of the Senate Mike Pence has the authority to single-handedly overturn the election* and declare Trump the victor. The only question now is whether or not Pence has the stones to actually do it.

*how did this loophole escape the notice of Nixon and Gore? Dummies!

[Zorral]

O gosh, you gotta watch this, Joe and Jill on Colbert.  Joe's so likeable, suddenly channeling his 6-year-old Joe.  Look at his face when he talks about making the snow for their Christmas Tree.  Jill's pretty damned warm and likeable herself!

 

[DMC]

25 minutes ago, Myshkin said:

*how did this loophole escape the notice of Nixon and Gore? Dummies!

Fun fact - in 1960 the Hawaii election was so close it went to a recount.  The (Republican) governor first signed a certificate giving their three votes to Nixon, but after the recount was finished another certificate was sent giving the votes to Kennedy.  So, Nixon as presiding officer, had two arguably equally legitimate certificates.  Without objection, he counted the Kennedy certificate and ignored the one giving him the votes.  It wouldn't have changed anything regardless, but still.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Myshkin said:

*how did this loophole escape the notice of Nixon and Gore? Dummies!

Gore actively rejected attempts to do what Republicans are talking about.

[SpaceChampion]

 

[Fragile Bird]

Texas member of Congress Louis Gohmert is suing Mike Pence in a last ditch attempt to overturn the election. He’s suing together with the 11 fake Republican electors from Arizona who would have been the electors had Trump won Arizona. The law suit is asking a Texas federal court, and a Trump appointed judge, to throw out the rules governing how the electors’ votes are tallied by the Vice President. The VP’s role is ceremonial, since the electors already voted, but the lawsuit is claiming the governing legislation, the Electoral Count Act of 1887, is unconstitutional because it clashes with the 12th Amendment and restricts what the VP can do. Pence, the suit claims, should have total authority to choose electoral votes.

You just can’t make this shit up.

@Myshkin this is how they want to do it!

[The Anti-Targ]

6 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

I fear a reckoning, in the recesses of my imaginations, for the future, over our ever expanding indebtedness. The numbers are unimaginably big to me and I feel limited to whether I'm understanding the gravity correctly.

Can you paint a picture of what the future consequences could be of our apparent lack of frugality? It seems dreadful, or am I over concerning myself?

Eta: I found this out there, most of what I looked at was pre- pandemic, so the numbers are even worse than most of the projections.

Large budget deficits over the next 30 years are projected to drive federal debt held by the public to unprecedented levels—from 78 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 to 144 percent by 2049. That projection incorporates CBO’s central estimates of various factors, such as productivity growth and interest rates on federal debt. CBO’s analysis indicates that even if values for those factors differed from the agency’s projections, debt several decades from now would probably be much higher than it is today.^[59]

Deficits don't matter, truly. In fact deficits are good and are the way govts should be operating all the time. Deficits have a stimulating effect on the economy, surpluses have a contracting effect on the economy. No govt with a sovereign currency has ever bounced a cheque, they can always pay their bills no matter what. Govt debt is not like our debt, there isn't a car, or microwave oven that can be repossessed by debt collectors. There isn't a bank or credit card company that's going to say you've reached your limit. There isn't an ATM card that's going to flash up "declined". There isn't a bank account that will show a zero balance. No one can come in and say, right, we'll take Manhattan Island as payment thanks.

Even govt shutdowns that happen from time to time in the USA isn't the govt running out of money. It's the govt failing to come to an agreement on how much money to spend and where to spend it. The money is still there. The USA will never go bankrupt.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

47 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Texas member of Congress Louis Gohmert is suing Mike Pence in a last ditch attempt to overturn the election. He’s suing together with the 11 fake Republican electors from Arizona who would have been the electors had Trump won Arizona. The law suit is asking a Texas federal court, and a Trump appointed judge, to throw out the rules governing how the electors’ votes are tallied by the Vice President. The VP’s role is ceremonial, since the electors already voted, but the lawsuit is claiming the governing legislation, the Electoral Count Act of 1887, is unconstitutional because it clashes with the 12th Amendment and restricts what the VP can do. Pence, the suit claims, should have total authority to choose electoral votes.

You just can’t make this shit up.

@Myshkin this is how they want to do it!

It will always blow my mind that this guy was the class president of his law school.

[Myshkin]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

Gore actively rejected attempts to do what Republicans are talking about.

Don’t come in here with your liberal defenses of Albert Gore Jr.