US Politics: They're Gunnin' 4 Us

[Larry of the Lawn]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

As long as the primary goal is to punish and not rehabilitate people, things like this will continue to happen.

Right, it's the predictable result of voting for people with that goal.  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

38 minutes ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

The playbook, cut taxes, have the party and stick the unlucky to follow Dem with the bill of either a spiral of debt or inflation. 

How this country has continually fell for it is the joke.

The American public that keeps electing Republicans (in large part because they greedily think they transactionally benefit from not paying for the nuclear subs, paved roads and latest tech combat aircraft they crave) still hasn't done the calculus that a deficit is none other than a hidden tax and worse yet a tax accruing interest. Its a bad deal yet we keep signing up for it.

I think many of them have, it's just that it's a future problem and people don't prioritize those, see the looming climate crisis. The bigger reason why they keep doing this has to do with maintaining the current caste system in the US. No matter how low on it you are it feels good to know there are people lower than you and that's what Republicans are selling to white Christian conservatives. 

11 minutes ago, Larry of the Lake said:

Right, it's the predictable result of voting for people with that goal.  

It's also a byproduct of voting people into these kinds of positions in general and it cuts across ideological lines. 

[Rippounet]

So I'm sure someone posted this here a few days ago and I just missed it:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/03/donald-trump-song-charity-single-january-6-prisoners

This on the other hand is rather new:

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3890426-house-gop-organizing-trip-to-see-jailed-jan-6-defendants-led-by-marjorie-taylor-greene/

Building a mythos around a failed coup attempt is as fascist as it gets.

[Martell Spy]

Republicans take aim at Medicaid as budget talks heat up
Republican House and Senate leadership have been adamant that they will not cut Social Security and Medicare, but have said less about Medicaid.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/08/house-democrats-republicans-medicaid-00086136

Quote

 

Senior Republicans in the House and Senate are proposing deep cuts to Medicaid as talks around reducing the deficit intensify ahead of a budget showdown between President Joe Biden and House leaders.

As outside conservative groups make a case for cuts in closed-door briefings and calls, members point to pledges from party leaders on both sides not to touch Social Security or Medicare as a key reason the health insurance program for low-income Americans is on the chopping block.

Lawmakers, however, remain divided on how they want to bring down the cost of the $700 billion program, with proposals to add work requirements, cap spending and repeal Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion all under consideration.

 

 

[Mlle. Zabzie]

2 hours ago, Rippounet said:

Building a mythos around a failed coup attempt is as fascist as it gets.

I mean, see Cause, Lost 1865-present.  Those mythologies are sneaky mofos but long pre-date the idea of fascism. I would argue certain types of fascism arise from and relate to such mythologies, but do not create the mythologies themselves. (Angels, pins, heads, I get it).  

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

I have to ask… is anyone surprised?  Seriously, anyone?  The woman who pronounced “wanton” as… “wonton” like the Chinese-American food:

 

[Maltaran]

1 hour ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

I have to ask… is anyone surprised?  Seriously, anyone?  The woman who pronounced “wanton” as… “wonton” like the Chinese-American food:

 

This seems a weird thing to criticise someone about. For comparison, Angela Rayner the deputy leader of the UK Labour Party also became a grandmother at 37 - teenage pregnancy is hardly a partisan thing 

[Quijote Light]

18 minutes ago, Maltaran said:

This seems a weird thing to criticise someone about. For comparison, Angela Rayner the deputy leader of the UK Labour Party also became a grandmother at 37 - teenage pregnancy is hardly a partisan thing 

I don’t think anyone is criticizing teen pregnancy. Just pointing out the hypocrisy that the right in the US always displays. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

23 minutes ago, Maltaran said:

This seems a weird thing to criticise someone about. For comparison, Angela Rayner the deputy leader of the UK Labour Party also became a grandmother at 37 - teenage pregnancy is hardly a partisan thing 

Boebert had to drop out of high school because she got pregnant. Since she’s had a public profile she’s railed against all forms of sex education. So yeah, it’s pretty funny that her kid made the exact same mistake. Great parenting!

[DireWolfSpirit]

3 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

I have to ask… is anyone surprised?  Seriously, anyone?  The woman who pronounced “wanton” as… “wonton” like the Chinese-American food:

 

Could the board not add an puking emoji for these MTG, Boebert snippets? Nothing less seems fitting.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

The Turtle tripped and bonked his shell. He'll be hospitalized for a few days with a concussion. 

[James Arryn]

4 hours ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

I mean, see Cause, Lost 1865-present.  Those mythologies are sneaky mofos but long pre-date the idea of fascism. I would argue certain types of fascism arise from and relate to such mythologies, but do not create the mythologies themselves. (Angels, pins, heads, I get it).  

Hitler in many ways openly emulated the US’ reservations/segregation/Jim Crow laws when formulating the form his Third Reich would take. He thought the US got some stuff wrong but in general and with specific reference to race/natives/~slaves he thought they were showing the world the way of the future. 

[Jaxom 1974]

5 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

I have to ask… is anyone surprised?  Seriously, anyone?  The woman who pronounced “wanton” as… “wonton” like the Chinese-American food:

 

She's only 36...??!!!??!?  Jeez... would not have guessed that. 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

50 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

She's only 36...??!!!??!?  Jeez... would not have guessed that. 

I just cannot get over her using her 17 year old son impregnating a 15 year old girl… as a flex…

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

I just cannot get over her using her 17 year old son impregnating a 15 year old girl… as a flex…

Never be surprised when a proven idiot does or says idiotic things. Case in point:

 

[Mlle. Zabzie]

Not to distract us from the Boebert soap opera, but the big news in my world is that Silicon Valley Bank suspended trading, after saying it lost nearly $2 billion on selling assets after a “larger than expected” decline in deposits (I.e., a run on the bank) causing them to have to sell assets to cover the deficit.  SVB is looking for a capital infusion.  The losses arise in part because of the rising interest rate environment.

Why is this a BFD?  A lot of start ups bank with SVB.  Some Venture firms are suggesting they withdraw their deposits.  Also, a lot of PE and VC funds have credit lines (basically margin loans against their portfolios) funded in large part by SVB.  

We will see what the fall out looks like, but this feels like a bit of a early warning signal of some rougher weather ahead.

 

 

[Wilbur]

1 hour ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

Not to distract us from the Boebert soap opera, but the big news in my world is that Silicon Valley Bank suspended trading, after saying it lost nearly $2 billion on selling assets after a “larger than expected” decline in deposits (I.e., a run on the bank) causing them to have to sell assets to cover the deficit...

 

 

It is a bit odd that SVB has been asleep at the switch when it comes to their Treasury investments to the point that they had to mark-to-market at a $2 billion loss.

On the other hand, the bank run was started by rumors from PE bros, so who know what they are up to.  In general they are likely to cause a lot of hassle and unnecessary costs to honest semiconductor suppliers and other folks who are just trying to do business, not short financial stocks and spread FUD.

[DMC]

On 3/7/2023 at 11:44 AM, Kalnestk Oblast said:

This is one of those shifts that @DMC likes to point out - at this point the Democratic party is significantly more about individual liberties and foreign policy and budgeted government and are closer on policies to what the Reagan republicans were like in the 80s than the current Republicans are. It's probably not useful other than an exercise in historical value shifts to keep pointing this out.

Well, certainly on immigration at the least, but that's pretty old hat.  The nativist strain within the GOP that Trump exploited has always been there - and always hounded the Bushes.  It did in 1992 when Pat Buchanan challenged H.W. in the primary, and it did in 2007 when they blew up the immigration reform spearheaded by Dubya, John McCain, and Ted Kennedy.

This aspect has always been the key feature in the rise of the far right over the past 30 years.  In Europe it's been identified as opposition to EU integration and..immigration. 

I do think it's an interesting point that the GOP has essentially abandoned all pretense to defending liberties in the process.  That's a compelling argument any reasonable person would have a hard time disagreeing with.  As for "budgeted government," though, that's hopefully a relic of Clinton's triangulation in the 90s that the Democratic party no longer falls into.  Biden's budget proposal yesterday does technically do so, I suppose, but it's bold enough to demonstrate the party isn't worried about that horseshit austerity line anymore.

20 hours ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

I mean, see Cause, Lost 1865-present.  Those mythologies are sneaky mofos but long pre-date the idea of fascism. I would argue certain types of fascism arise from and relate to such mythologies, but do not create the mythologies themselves. (Angels, pins, heads, I get it).  

As you suggest, just because the term fascism didn't originate until Mussolini does not mean the "idea" wasn't around long before that.  This country was founded, in large part, by fascists -- and then, in large part, expressed fascism for a very long time.  And many of those fascist elements remain today, and unfortunately aren't likely to go away any time soon.  I think it's important to recognize that.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Republicans… their hypocrisy knows no bounds and they have absolutely no shame.  

 

[Mlle. Zabzie]

11 hours ago, Wilbur said:

It is a bit odd that SVB has been asleep at the switch when it comes to their Treasury investments to the point that they had to mark-to-market at a $2 billion loss.

On the other hand, the bank run was started by rumors from PE bros, so who know what they are up to.  In general they are likely to cause a lot of hassle and unnecessary costs to honest semiconductor suppliers and other folks who are just trying to do business, not short financial stocks and spread FUD.

There is now more or less officially a run on SVB.  Interestingly, the losses on their balance sheet were not a secret and were well-disclosed.  A lot of other banks have very similar positions (basically treasuries that have a stated rate of like .5% that are now significantly discounted in a higher prevailing rate environment).  However because SVB is much smaller, they don't have the deposits of like a B of A that can absorb those losses.  Since the primary they were trying to sell fell apart overnight, we are basically in "run on the bank" territory.  The ultimate outcome is probably that the bank gets bought by a white knight and the bank holding company files for bankruptcy.  But this sort of thing tends to have ripple effects and there are other smaller banks that may follow and then there could be follow on from that.  Sort of shades of 2008 with Bear Stearns.  Hopefully not, but here we are.