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U.S. Politics: Contempt and the Courts


Zorral

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My Facebook is inundated with pics and posts about the impending dissolution of Disney's 'special district,' most of them with hundreds, if not thousands of attendant comments.  A couple things stand out to me in this morass, one obvious and expected, the other almost entirely overlooked - for now.

1 - Most conservative posters in those threads are absolutely convinced that Disney will be paying its 'fair share,' and that furthermore the denizens of the special district now get a massive *tax break* instead of the more publicized (and far more likely) 20-25% property tax hike. They tend to remain in denial about this even with repeated, detailed, simplified explanations. A sort of literal mental block.

2 - The obscure point is this: Disney's special district was one of several facing imminent disbandment, which to me raises the possibility that the denizens of those soon-to-be-former districts might also be looking at major property tax increases - having to cover obligations and bonds previously taken care of by other entities. (I admit to knowing *nothing* about these other districts beyond their existence.)

A third point that might throw a snag in the Republican action is this: there has been mention that the state government does not have the authority to dissolve those districts - though that may actually be the case (I find the material confusing.) The claim being that only the districts inhabitants could agree to such dissolution - and they were not even consulted - at all.

Worth mentioning in all this is the continued, massive pushback against conservatives on this and the textbook issues - in some of these threads the 'opposition posts' exceeds fifty percent - and the OP's are all hard conservatives. Lately, I've seen a few of these pics attempting to argue that 'banning textbooks really isn't banning books.' When countered they go straight to accusations of pedophilia and 'grooming.'

All this makes me wonder if DeSantis and Abbot might not be in serious jeopardy come reelection time.

 

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25 minutes ago, ThinkerX said:

My Facebook is inundated with pics and posts about the impending dissolution of Disney's 'special district,' most of them with hundreds, if not thousands of attendant comments.  A couple things stand out to me in this morass, one obvious and expected, the other almost entirely overlooked - for now.

1 - Most conservative posters in those threads are absolutely convinced that Disney will be paying its 'fair share,' and that furthermore the denizens of the special district now get a massive *tax break* instead of the more publicized (and far more likely) 20-25% property tax hike. They tend to remain in denial about this even with repeated, detailed, simplified explanations. A sort of literal mental block.

2 - The obscure point is this: Disney's special district was one of several facing imminent disbandment, which to me raises the possibility that the denizens of those soon-to-be-former districts might also be looking at major property tax increases - having to cover obligations and bonds previously taken care of by other entities. (I admit to knowing *nothing* about these other districts beyond their existence.)

A third point that might throw a snag in the Republican action is this: there has been mention that the state government does not have the authority to dissolve those districts - though that may actually be the case (I find the material confusing.) The claim being that only the districts inhabitants could agree to such dissolution - and they were not even consulted - at all.

Worth mentioning in all this is the continued, massive pushback against conservatives on this and the textbook issues - in some of these threads the 'opposition posts' exceeds fifty percent - and the OP's are all hard conservatives. Lately, I've seen a few of these pics attempting to argue that 'banning textbooks really isn't banning books.' When countered they go straight to accusations of pedophilia and 'grooming.'

All this makes me wonder if DeSantis and Abbot might not be in serious jeopardy come reelection time.

 

If they lose I would be delighted.

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Disney tells investors state can’t dissolve special district without paying debt

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article260783972.html

Quote

.... The statement, posted on the website of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on April 21 by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, is the only public statement Disney has supplied since lawmakers unleashed their fury over the company’s vocal opposition to the “Parental Rights in Education” law, also known as the “don’t say gay” bill. The statement, first reported by WESH 2, quotes the statute which says, in part, that the “State of Florida pledges...it will not limit or alter the rights of the District...until all such bonds together with interest thereon...are fully met and discharged.”

 


 

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9 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Disney tells investors state can’t dissolve special district without paying debt

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article260783972.html

 


 

I'd still bet on them not losing their special status. 

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49 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Disney tells investors state can’t dissolve special district without paying debt

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article260783972.html

 


 

Was just coming to post this...

38 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I'd still bet on them not losing their special status. 

DeSantis may have over extended...be nice if this helps sink him...

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58 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

It won't. They pushed implementation back until after the next election. That wasn't an accident. 

That shouldn't stop the D's from making it a campaign issue along with all the other stuff. 

Plus, I have this suspicion - people like DeSantis tend to think they're above the law and will sometimes do things that would land others in prison as a result. Makes me wonder if DeSantis might not be contending with a serious criminal investigation in the not so distant future. 

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On 4/24/2022 at 12:48 PM, DireWolfSpirit said:

With breathtaking arrogance the U.S. arrests the former Honduran President, while simultaneously refusing to arrest or prosecute its own former President and leader of the gangster crime Trump family.

Honduras extradites former president to the US to face drug trafficking charges

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/21/americas/honduras-juan-orlando-hernandez-extradite-us-intl/index.html

One cannot, not, ask how the former Honduran President is not above the law while Trump is treated to his special above the law status?

THE HEIGHTH OF ARROGANT HYPOCRISY IS BREATHTAKING.

This........ fucking......... guy

Garland pledges 'there will not be interference' in DOJ's probe of Hunter Biden

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/26/politics/merrick-garland-hunter-biden-investigation/index.html

So eager to show us he's gonna be "tuff on Hunter".

How about making a case against the Felonious Trump tough guy?

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18 hours ago, ThinkerX said:

All this makes me wonder if DeSantis and Abbot might not be in serious jeopardy come reelection time.

Surely Abbott will be, after his trick at the border cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of lost business.  Even Texans can't be so dumb as to re-elect him after that.

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Since the sexual misconduct allegations against Charles Herbster, the frontrunning candidate for the Republican nomination for governor in Nebraska, have been mentioned by others in this thread before, I thought you all might like to see the latest on that:

Nebraska legislators launch support fund for people accusing Herbster of groping them | Politics | omaha.com

Herbster has imitated Trump's penchant for suing people and has sued Julie Slama, the state senator who was his first non-anonymous accuser. The above article describes how the five other Republican women who are state Senators in Nebraska have formed an organization to financially help any woman Herbster sues. 

The Nebraska unicameral state Senate is unique in being both a unicameral legislative body and one where the senators run on nonpartisan ballots. There is an open primary for state senate seats and the top two placers advance to the general election, with party designations never put on the ballot. However, Nebraska does have voter registration by party and so anyone can find out which party any State senator or candidate is registered in. Even though that gets reported in the media, though, the fact that party designations do not appear on the ballot does tend to make Republicans in the Unicameral in Nebraska less Trumpist on average than in other Midwestern states. 

It will be fascinating to see if Herbster wins the primary what will happen in the general election for governor. The Democrats are almost surely going to nominate a woman state senator, Carol Blood, as their candidate. 

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47 minutes ago, Ormond said:

The above article describes how the five other Republican women who are state Senators in Nebraska have formed an organization to financially help any woman Herbster sues. 

That's nice of them showing solidarity.  Did make me wonder why the Democratic female legislators didn't join, which is addressed in the article:

Quote

The four senators are listed online as the fund’s board of directors. They said they were the only four senators at the announcement because of the time it would take to organize the 13 women in the Legislature, and because, as the only five Republican women in the body (including Slama), they're “a team” that often works together.

Saw that Herbster has launched an attack ad against Slama's claims (without naming her) opened by citing Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh as similar "victims."  Slama also counter-sued Herbster on Monday, and served notice for Herbster to provide a deposition on May 6 - the Friday before the primary.

The only public poll I can find conducted after the news broke is this one, showing a three way tie between Brett Lindstrom (28%), Herbster (26%), and Jim Pillen (24%).  16 percent remain undecided.  Should be an interesting primary!

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3 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Surely Abbott will be, after his trick at the border cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of lost business.  Even Texans can't be so dumb as to re-elect him after that.

Oh you sweet summer child...

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Lots of states have recently passed laws against partisan gerrymanders, although how they attempt to reduce the gerrymander varied state by state.  But the result this cycle is pretty clear.  In places where Democrats are drawing the lines aggressively (MD, NY) these maps are getting thrown out.  In places where Republicans are doing the same thing (FL, OH, WI) the courts either let the maps slide or will require a redraw after the 2022 cycle. 

I love the idea of limiting gerrymandering, but this unilateral disarmament is really frustrating.  Republicans have already stacked the deck so hard.

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3 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Surely Abbott will be, after his trick at the border cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of lost business.  Even Texans can't be so dumb as to re-elect him after that.

Sure they will, because if they let a Democrat win, illegal trans Mexicans will stream over the border to groom their children into becoming Muslims. And then they'll rape and kill them. Or something like that.

Face it, the Republican party as a whole has lost its mind. They're no longer tethered to reality and are basically just being driven by hate, fear and greed. Ya know, just as Jesus preached. 

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7 minutes ago, Maithanet said:
I love the idea of limiting gerrymandering, but this unilateral disarmament is really frustrating.  Republicans have already stacked the deck so hard.

Democrats will never wake up to the fact they're bring a spoon to a shootout. 

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28 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

But the result this cycle is pretty clear.  In places where Democrats are drawing the lines aggressively (MD, NY) these maps are getting thrown out.  In places where Republicans are doing the same thing (FL, OH, WI) the courts either let the maps slide or will require a redraw after the 2022 cycle. 

I love the idea of limiting gerrymandering, but this unilateral disarmament is really frustrating.  Republicans have already stacked the deck so hard.

The New York decision is surprising and disappointing, but this is a horribly inaccurate portrayal of the process this cycle.  You're not counting Illinois, where the Dems aggressively gerrymandered to pick up two seats (and take away two GOP seats).  There's also North Carolina, where the courts struck down the GOP legislature's map which would have gained them two seats (and cost the Dems two seats) and replaced it with a map where the Dems gain a seat and the GOP loses a seat.  Now, that may be temporary, but obviously so are Ohio's and Florida's.

The only reason Florida's map is likely to be used this cycle is because they just passed it.  And even the Ohio map they're using this cycle - while shitty - isn't a net change from their old map (both parties lose a seat with one more competitive seat).  There's no change in the Wisconsin map either, and if we're counting that one we should also point out Oregon's, where the Dems added two seats at the expense of one competitive seat (the state got one more seat this cycle).  Finally, the Maryland change wasn't much - it shifted one Dem seat to competitive.  That could be evened out by the Kansas map which is still being litigated.

Anyway, all that's not to understate how much of a blow the NY decision is.  New York was the Dems' key state just as Florida is the GOP's.  Still, we'll see what the special master's map looks like.  All the judges on the NY Court of Appeals were appointed by either Cuomo or Hochul, so it stands to reason the person they appoint may still have an inherent Democratic bias.

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5 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Surely Abbott will be, after his trick at the border cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of lost business.  Even Texans can't be so dumb as to re-elect him after that.

When are you all going to get it, that being being wrong, being stupid, not being smart, not knowing anything, lying about everything, being criminal, destroying everything, being a jerkoff, wasting taxpayers' money, being a rapist, being a pedophile, stealing money, wasting money -- nothing means anything as long as the ideology is the right ideology?

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