Week Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 6 minutes ago, Karlbear said: Tanden was an obviously poor choice in the sense that there are many other qualified candidates that don't have her baggage. I'm sure she was a political value for the Clinton factions, but it was something of an own goal. It's unfortunate though it's probably unrealistic to think that even the *perfect* set of nominees would all go through. The time this is all taking is really painful - it's frustrating to see "blue slips" will still be honored for judicial nominees without any apparent benefit. Comity, the fuck that matters with insurrectionists in the house. A return to norms with the GOP should extract some benefit out of that compromise. I don't see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mlle. Zabzie Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Fury Resurrected said: I think what @Fragile Bird is missing in the comparisons is in those cases none of the problems were caused by privatizing public infrastructure. The grid went out because it was not prepared for those people to all turn their heat on. That only happened because it was privatized to circumvent the regulation that would have prevented both the outages and the price gouging. This is an issue caused entirely by corporate greed at consumer expense. Why it’s a question of whether to pay out is that whether we pay the individuals or pay the corporation we would be providing a financial windfall for corporate negligence. It would be a better solution to reclaim the grid for the public and build one that wouldn’t do this again Texas’ ERCOT and its power generation in general (and the PUCT in specific) are all kinds of crazy. I always found Cruz’s PG&E bashing a bit too rich because he conveniently forgot the EFH (formerly TXU, now Vistra and Oncor, the latter which is owned by Sempra) debacle. A great place to learn more are the bankruptcy filings for EFH as well as Vistra’s and Sempra’s public filings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimTuesday Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 53 minutes ago, Karlbear said: Tanden was an obviously poor choice in the sense that there are many other qualified candidates that don't have her baggage. I'm sure she was a political value for the Clinton factions, but it was something of an own goal. One interesting thing to think about here that I've heard floated online is maybe there is an upside to Tanden flaming out here. If you think about it, this gives Manchin a win, he gets to go back to his constituents and say he sunk Tanden, and maybe that gives Schumer some ammunition to get him in line on the minimum wage. This is probably just folks looking for a hit of copeium, but hope springs eternal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Jaxom 1974 said: Watching Josh Hawley ask others if they were complicit in the January 6th attacks is gross. I always go back and forth with him and Cruz. Do they know they're trolls and love it, or do they honestly think they're righteous leaders? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 39 minutes ago, Fury Resurrected said: I think what @Fragile Bird is missing in the comparisons is in those cases none of the problems were caused by privatizing public infrastructure. The grid went out because it was not prepared for those people to all turn their heat on. That only happened because it was privatized to circumvent the regulation that would have prevented both the outages and the price gouging. This is an issue caused entirely by corporate greed at consumer expense. Why it’s a question of whether to pay out is that whether we pay the individuals or pay the corporation we would be providing a financial windfall for corporate negligence. It would be a better solution to reclaim the grid for the public and build one that wouldn’t do this again This kind of response honestly frustrates me. That may be your view from Minnesota, and maybe you'd never live in Texas. But states like Texas and Florida and other states that have no or very low income taxes exist because so many Americans devoutly believe capitalism is the answer for everything and no one should ever pay more taxes than are absolutely necessary. The power grid privatized because of the belief that the market, like water, will always find it's level. And another strong American belief that "business will do the right thing because if they do the wrong thing they'll be out of business". And yet another belief, that anything run by the government is bloated, expensive, inefficient and badly run. Texas is not ever going to "reclaim the grid for the public". The public in Texas wants to be independent, that's why they live in Texas. The defenders of the system in in Texas are already saying it was a matter of extreme weather, not the Texas system. In fact, I'm seeing stories that say the fact that the Texas grid did not collapse, no matter how close it was to collapsing, just proves the Texas grid is just fine, thank-you very much. It just needs to be tweaked a little, which will happen after the state does it's investigation. You're trying to impose the way you think in your state on Texas, exactly what Texas doesn't want and the reason why they did not join the two national grids in the US almost a hundred years ago. I gather from articles that there is an "East" grid and a "West" grid. El Paso decided they wanted to be part of the West grid and, because of the independence of the power companies in the state, were perfectly free to do so. I gather there were areas in the north of the state that were hooked into Oklahoma and got through just fine as well. It is also part of another issue in the US I always see (and in Canada as well), that people want everything as cheap as possible. That's why your tvs and your Tylenol come from China. In my reading on the subject I was reminded that California deregulated as well, which resulted in a lot of price gouging and made the state make modifications to their system. The same is probably going to happen in Texas. I didn't see any mention about what California did about the outrageous power bills that resulted. I assume there was forced forgiveness, but maybe someone in California knows and can tell us. I was flabbergasted to find out, reading these stories, that the Texas legislature only meets every two years. 140 days every two years to be exact. When you live in a state that has that kind of mindset, the way the power system is organized shouldn't be a surprise. Hell, didn't surveys just show that 50% of the population would like to secede? Now that there's been a disaster, of course, they want federal money, which goes back to my original point that Americans should be upset about the way that money might be spent. If they're such capitalists, the companies should have to act that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 4 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said: I always go back and forth with him and Cruz. Do they know they're trolls and love it, or do they honestly think they're righteous leaders? I think it’s one of each. I think Hawley knows he's a troll and he's leaning into it. Seriously, until the last couple months, I'd never really heard much of him. Cruz, on the other hand, thinks he's the real deal. His absolute tail-between-the-legs routine after Cancun was one of the worst attempts as contrition maybe ever. The flailing once he knew he was expected to actually act like a leader, not jet set about the tropics was stunning. The images of him "helping" afterward were the worst. I saw some of them and thought he was singing, "Never gonna be President now..." in his head...but then he tries to climb back by coming out "swinging" today... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindwalker Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 I think they're both trolls. And does anyone truly believe that voters will remember the Cancun incident in 2024? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 40 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said: ...I was flabbergasted to find out, reading these stories, that the Texas legislature only meets every two years. 140 days every two years to be exact. When you live in a state that has that kind of mindset, the way the power system is organized shouldn't be a surprise... Texas is definitely special, and not just in that it mostly doesn't participate in the rest of the US power grid. The Texas capital is gigantic - as large as or larger than the US capitol, and yet it stands empty most of the time. It is pretty easy to tour around inside, as nothing it happening the majority of the time except janitors chasing out grackles. And this is because without income taxes, there just isn't much to do, frankly. Texas governors, for instance, have very limited executive action because the state doesn't have all that much in the way of government machinery to operate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindwalker Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-22/vaccine-access-codes-for-hard-hit-communities-of-color-circulate-widely-in-affluent-l-a A California program intended to improve COVID-19 vaccine availability to people in hard-hit communities of color is being misused by outsiders who are grabbing appointments reserved for residents of underserved Black and Latino areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 44 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said: I was flabbergasted to find out, reading these stories, that the Texas legislature only meets every two years. 140 days every two years to be exact. When you live in a state that has that kind of mindset, the way the power system is organized shouldn't be a surprise. Texas is a weird state. Not only does the state government not do much, but a lot of what the government does do is run outside the usual branches of government. The Texas General Land Commissioner, Texas Agriculture Commissioner, and the three members of the Railroad Commission of Texas are all directly elected by voters and are extremely powerful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 35 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said: I always go back and forth with him and Cruz. Do they know they're trolls and love it, or do they honestly think they're righteous leaders? They are trolling, and they know it. I mean Cruz is a shameless self-promoter. His entire political gig was, both parites are corrupt vote for me, I am the only true conservative, and not part of either party. I am an indepedent trapped inside a Republican. It's all an act. He will happily throw anybody, including his fellow GOP senators (and infact has done so in the past) under the bus, if he thinks it will benefit him personally. That's why the senate republicans consider him a backstabber and loathe him so much. Of course, getting loathed by GOP Senators isn't exactly disqualifying, but like a broken clock, they are rights once a day. Ted Cruz is just that. Everything about him is a calculated act. If he wasn't so loathsome, you'd almost feel sorry, how all his carefully calculated machinations ultimately backfire on him. Hawley is something of a Cruz clone politically. The difference is, that the rat faced junior senator from Missouri just doesn't look like Pepe the Frog after being run over by schoolbus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 4 hours ago, Jaxom 1974 said: Wisconsin really needs to do better than Ron Johnson...ugh... Been looking at the potential candidates lately for 2022, and it seems like Mandela Barnes and Sarah Godlewski are the best options (unless Ron Kind runs, which I don't think he will). I'd go with Barnes. 2 hours ago, Karlbear said: Tanden was an obviously poor choice in the sense that there are many other qualified candidates that don't have her baggage. I'm sure she was a political value for the Clinton factions, but it was something of an own goal. Tanden's political value was as the highest profile Asian American nominee. I also suspect she was chosen due to longterm familiarity with Biden, which he clearly highly valued in making his selections. 2 hours ago, GrimTuesday said: and maybe that gives Schumer some ammunition to get him in line on the minimum wage. Manchin just met with the West Virginia PPC and told them no to their face. I think the notion this was some kind of horse trade and/or is going to make him more amenable on the stimulus or just minimum wage is counter intuitive. What I do hope is this was own political calculus to "excuse" supporting the Haaland and Becerra nominations. The GOP is going to go after him for those votes as well - particularly Haaland's as he's the chair of the relevant committee. Still, the fact GOP members regurgitated the same complaints about Haaland being mean to them in her hearing today gives me pause, not to mention generally pissing me off that Manchin's reinforced - and demonstrated - this absurd double standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 So Romney and Cotton's minimum wage proposal is to raise it to $10 by 2025. Tying it to E-Verify is a great way to continue obstructing on both issues while pretending to look like you're trying to do something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Jaxom 1974 said: I think it’s one of each. I think Hawley knows he's a troll and he's leaning into it. Seriously, until the last couple months, I'd never really heard much of him. 1 hour ago, A Horse Named Stranger said: They are trolling, and they know it. They could also be doing both at the same. And given this article, Cruz is in his troll feelz right now. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/23/ted-cruz-press-cancun-trip-texas-freeze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Mindwalker said: I think they're both trolls. And does anyone truly believe that voters will remember the Cancun incident in 2024? Many Texans will not have forgotten, you can bet on that. Not to mention climate change means there are many more devastating events that the state will have experienced by 2024, like all of us not filthy rich*, doubtless, to a degree or another. * Among Cruz's many failures is not recognizing he's not filthy rich and thus not automatically entitled to behave like them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 1 hour ago, Zorral said: * Among Cruz's many failures is not recognizing he's not filthy rich and thus not automatically entitled to behave like them. He may not have fuck you money, but he's still made decent bank since law school and I suspect his wife has made significantly more than him over the years. She's worked for Sachs for over a decade and a half, and is/was a regional head of the Investment Management Division in Houston, which is a large market. Unrelated, with earmarks likely coming back, here is a sold podcast explaining their history, risk of corruption and reforms that could make them a positive again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 1 hour ago, DMC said: So Romney and Cotton's minimum wage proposal is to raise it to $10 by 2025. Tying it to E-Verify is a great way to continue obstructing on both issues while pretending to look like you're trying to do something. Just when you think they couldn't do anything else to remind you that even the 'reasonable' and 'moderate' Republicans absolutely hate poor people and want a strong and stratified caste system, they get ya! They get ya! ***how the fuck is someone supposed to live on that, with food, a roof over their head, and basic utilities?*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 17 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said: Unrelated, with earmarks likely coming back, here is a sold podcast explaining their history, risk of corruption and reforms that could make them a positive again. Karl, you must be thrilled! You've been lamenting the demise of pork since I joined this board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 12 minutes ago, larrytheimp said: ***how the fuck is someone supposed to live on that, with food, a roof over their head, and basic utilities?*** I can. But I live in Louisiana, with a low cost of living. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 1 minute ago, A True Kaniggit said: I can. But I live in Louisiana, with a low cost of living. you could live on $1600 a month, until something happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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