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US Politics: A Game of Chicken (with Constituents lives)


Ser Scot A Ellison

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43 minutes ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

I would prefer Tish James

Yes. As far as preferences go though, mine is for Jumaane Williams.

Also, so far anyway, Hochul hasn't demonstrated any real reason to keep her on.

Not that I suppose anyone in the wreckage that is control of Dem partu politics of Our State, cares anything about what I think. Ha!

:dunno:

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18 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Yes. As far as preferences go though, mine is for Jumaane Williams.

Also, so far anyway, Hochul hasn't demonstrated any real reason to keep her on.

Not that I suppose anyone in the wreckage that is control of Dem partu politics of Our State, cares anything about what I think. Ha!

:dunno:

Eh, I think Hochul is doing as well or better than I expected given the $h!t sandwich she was served.  But, as you say, no one really cares about what I think either (and agree that the party is a disaster and wins because the other alternative is inconceivable).

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Yeah I don't see how De Blasio thinks he has a chance at the governorship..unless he thinks James isn't running.  Then again, there didn't seem to be much point to his presidential run either.

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Somehow de Blasio and his wife manage to notice they are not only not popular, they are unpopular.  Only someone that blind to the world around him could have wandered lonely as a cloud at the Iowa state fair attracting absolutely zero interest from anybody including and particularly the media could think he had a shot at the nomination.

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How is Steve Bannon even freely walking around?

Is it possible for Congress to look any less feckless, toothless, powerless?

JFC are we really going to set by and let Trump claim he can extend his exec. privileges to any of his minions( Bannon ) even post Presidency?

This is an outrageous insult and blatantly, ludicrous to act like there's even any question over Bannon being eligible for privilege protection.

Cuff him, shackle him and chain drag Bannon into custody immediately!

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10 minutes ago, The Great Unwashed said:

Given everything Garland has done at the DOJ, so far, I’d be shocked if he presses charges. He’s shown himself to not be the right person for this job at this time.

It seems the firearms of justice are being loaded.  Garland’s reticence to engage in tit for tat political prosecutions without significant evidence to back up such actions means he’s exactly the right man for the job.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/14/politics/steve-bannon-deposition-deadline/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0DjeThlScAhDJ0qqmqonMgt0iAP6S9cHwPrmXITgsZhnMr_ggobecTQvs

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3 hours ago, Ran said:

Congress doesn't imprison people for seeking legal protection or exercising their rights. This'll go to court, Bannon and Trump willn lose, and things will proceed.

Slowly. Very, very slowly, which is the key. They're probably going to get away with running out the clock due to cowardice from Congressional Democrats, the DoJ and the Courts.  

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15 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Hard to see how being an unpopular mayor translates into a successful gubernatorial campaign.  

His polling seems to be sitting around 40% in NYC; which is bad considering how Democratic the city is. OTOH, 40% of the NYC population is about 17% of the state population. If those 40% really like him, and I have no idea if they do, and if he can pick up just a bit of upstate support, he could slink through if the field is divided enough. If there's 5 or 6 credible candidates, 25% might be all the winner needs.

Granted, if the field is divided enough, I assume Hochul wins just on the strength of folks that don't care/aren't engaged and automatically vote for the incumbent.

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Yikes:

Combine with this story, about how Sinema is not in contact with almost any of her old allies and friends:

I'm thinking there's a low, but non-zero chance, that she flips parties. Especially if Republicans take the majority on their own in 2022.

Granted, 2024 is ways away; and if she gets on board in the end at least some of the current anger will disappear. But still.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/14/business/media/nicholas-kristof-oregon-governor.html?

"Nicholas Kristof Leaves New York Times as He Considers a Political Run
Mr. Kristof, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, is weighing a run for governor of Oregon, the state where he grew up"

One does wonder if Kristof has inquired whether anybody in Oregon has been thinking about him as governor. Why in the world would anyone, particularly himself, think being a newspaper columnist who has so often gotten wrong just about everything, be suitable for governing a state, much less running in an election?

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1 hour ago, Fez said:

His polling seems to be sitting around 40% in NYC; which is bad considering how Democratic the city is. OTOH, 40% of the NYC population is about 17% of the state population. If those 40% really like him, and I have no idea if they do, and if he can pick up just a bit of upstate support, he could slink through if the field is divided enough. If there's 5 or 6 credible candidates, 25% might be all the winner needs.

Granted, if the field is divided enough, I assume Hochul wins just on the strength of folks that don't care/aren't engaged and automatically vote for the incumbent.

I just can’t see it. I saw his polling numbers at a little lower than 40% right now, and I doubt that support is super strong. He may have enough of a base to launch a campaign that’s not a joke, but it likely won’t have any legs.

And regarding Sinema, I heard an interesting point the other day. She’s been in office since 2005, but this term is her first experience with being in the majority and having real power. That combined with her love of the spotlight appears to be sinking her.

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5 minutes ago, The Great Unwashed said:

Haven’t seen any discussion on this yet, so apologies if I missed it:

Democrats propose plan to track nearly all bank accounts in the U.S.

This is a fucking joke. How exactly is this supposed to enforce compliance from billionaires? No, this will be used to crack down even further on poor people receiving benefits, as well as Scot’s small business owner. This fucking this should be strangled in infancy.

I’m very confused by all the push back on this (mainly from the right, but also from the left).  This could be a fabulous idea, though it should be coupled with a significant investment in a good AI to manage and use the data.  Of course, the latter ain’t happening, so I think it will be a largely symbolic and useless exercise.  But if it were done correctly it would be very, very effective.

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4 minutes ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

I’m very confused by all the push back on this (mainly from the right, but also from the left).  This could be a fabulous idea, though it should be coupled with a significant investment in a good AI to manage and use the data.  Of course, the latter ain’t happening, so I think it will be a largely symbolic and useless exercise.  But if it were done correctly it would be very, very effective.

Agreed, this, along with a significant (as in several fold) expansion of the IRS audit team seems like a no-brainer to me.  If folks are going to try and evade taxes, lets at least make it hard on them. 

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2 minutes ago, horangi said:

Agreed, this, along with a significant (as in several fold) expansion of the IRS audit team seems like a no-brainer to me.  If folks are going to try and evade taxes, lets at least make it hard on them. 

Exactly.  Actually you could start with better training for existing audit teams, and better targeted individual campaigns.  The US, along with every other OECD country, is putting a lot of eggs in the ‘transfer pricing’ basket for corporate audits, which, whatever, but maybe that actually rationalizes if pillar 2 actually really really happens. We shall see.

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Here's a question I saw being asked the other day, why has the House still not voted on the Endless Frontiers Act/the United States Innovation and Competition Act?

It passed the Senate 68-32 back in May and provides $250 billion in new funding for various research, development, and technology expansion initiatives. Sure Republicans watered it down from the original vision, but it still does a lot anyway. And I've never heard about it being tied to the reconciliation bill or the BIF at all. This was always talked about as a separate piece of legislation.

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3 hours ago, The Great Unwashed said:

House will probably pursue a charge of contempt; I’ll be shocked if Garland pursues it. He’s an committed institutionalist at a time when our institutions are all but done - I doubt he has the imagination to see that.

What would you have the Attorney General do that he isn’t doing?

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2 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

What would you have the Attorney General do that he isn’t doing?

Bring charges against Trump. Fuck the norms, it's time to go all in; he committed crimes and needs to be brought to justice before he can do further damage.

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9 minutes ago, Fez said:

Bring charges against Trump. Fuck the norms, it's time to go all in; he committed crimes and needs to be brought to justice before he can do further damage.

How will the Republicans react if Garland does that?  If you blow up the building it’s very hard to rebuild it from the rubbble that remains.  

I hope Trump sees the inside of a prison cell.  I really do, but if the DOJ goes after him it allows the Republicans to weaponize the DOJ (as Trump wanted) the next time they hold the White House.

I’m as angry any anyone about Trump and his bullshit but if we start rebuilding by destroying any existing norms…doing what Trump wanted to do there is no coming back from that.  It’s done.  

Garland is a professional and is doing his job to the best of his ability.  Destroying existing norms or following Trump’s lead is absolutely the worst path.

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