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[Jooney]

PD: do you think the people who put Obama back in office want him to address tax reform, which in this congress will at best be the lowering of tax rates in exchange for some loophole closures, job training and possibly UE extension money?

 

[PhoenixDark]

PD: do you think the people who put Obama back in office want him to address tax reform, which in this congress will at best be the lowering of tax rates in exchange for some loophole closures, job training and possibly UE extension money?

If a decent deal could be agreed upon, sure. It's pretty clear that the senate can get some stuff done, the issue is the House.Tax increases, stimulus money, etc are off the table so the question becomes: should we simply let the economy starve, or try to do something? I have no problem with lowering corporate taxes and eliminating some loopholes. I'd love to see some type of unemployment benefits reform, adding more job training, providing community colleges with incentives to participate. I want to see democrats adapt Rick Santorum's one good idea: eliminating corporate taxes on US manufacturers. Granted I don't want to see it slashed to 0 as he advocated, but I'd be very interested in seeing how a significantly lower rate might impact manufacturing job creation.

In short, I'd like to see the economy addressed instead of the idiotic election check box politics going on right now. Not a weak gun control bill, or a pie-in-the-sky Pre K push, or this new "streamlined government" nonsense that they've been talking about for 5 years. I want to see common sense stuff that can actually pass the House.

I've been interested in Eric Cantor's recent behavior. While Boehner flounders about, Cantor seems to be actually discussing doing shit beyond endless Obamacare repeals; I'm interested to see if it's just lip service, or whether he wants to get to work on some stuff. There seems to be this attitude that the only possible way to address the economy is through stimulus

 

[TacticalFox88]

Pro-Clinton Super PAC hires Obama 2012 field organizers.

Hilary with Obama's ground game will be unbeatable.

Hillary with Obama's Ground Game is going to be a stomp of epic proportions. Imagine how Hillary is going to feel when not only is she the first female President, but the the one who put the final nail in the coffin.

 

[Link]

I want to see common sense stuff that can actually pass the House.

Does not compute.

 

[mightynine]

I can't believe that racists who wouldn't vote for a black guy will suddenly be cool with someone named "Piyush."

Maybe in his first run for governor, when some north Louisiana parishes didn't go for him and he lost. Since then, he's won both gubernatorial elections without a run-off (with 54 and 66 percent of the vote, respectively), following three years as a congressman (won with 78 and 88 percent of the vote).

I know it's easy to paint the South with the racist banner, but trust me, Jindal's issues in the state have everything to do with his governing and nothing to do with his race.

 

[JesseEwiak]

Does not compute.

Nothing good can pass the Republican House unless John Boehner decide he's tried of this shit and is OK with being replaced after the midterms.

 

[PhoenixDark]

I can't believe that racists who wouldn't vote for a black guy will suddenly be cool with someone named "Piyush."

So tired of this bullshit. Those are the same racists who were going to vote for Hermain Cain until he imploded. Republicans have shown, especially since 2008, quite an interest in voting for and heavily supporting minority candidates. Alan West is enormously popular on the right for a reason. Most minority republican candidates campaign with the devotion of a former drug addict who found the Lord: where once they were on the Liberal Plantation, now they see the light. White republicans LOVE that shit, and will continue to vote for minority candidates.

Jindal was elected and re-elected quite easily. He is unpopular for reasons discussed: he's a complete idiot who is too far right for Louisiana.

 

[Avon Barksdale]

So tired of this bullshit. Those are the same racists who were going to vote for Hermain Cain until he imploded. Republicans have shown, especially since 2008, quite an interest in voting for and heavily supporting minority candidates. Alan West is enormously popular on the right for a reason. Most minority republican candidates campaign with the devotion of a former drug addict who found the Lord: where once they were on the Liberal Plantation, now they see the light. White republicans LOVE that shit, and will continue to vote for minority candidates.

Jindal was elected and re-elected quite easily. He is unpopular for reasons discussed: he's a complete idiot who is too far right for Louisiana.

Allen West is so popular with the right, he wasn't even invited to the RNC last year, which was held in Florida. :jnc

 

[Link]

Allen West is so popular with the right, he wasn't even invited to the RNC last year, which was held in Florida. :jnc

He also lost re-election in a newly gerrymandered, heavily conservative district to a total newcomer.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Allen West is so popular with the right, he wasn't even invited to the RNC last year, which was held in Florida. :jnc

You mean that 2012 RNC where Romney's people were trying to avoid extremists getting on stage?

 

[Aaron]

You mean that 2012 RNC where Romney's people were trying to avoid extremists getting on stage?

You saw a very different 2012 RNC than I did. Was the old guy talking to the chair in yours?

 

[Jooney]

So conservatives like minorities, as long as they are extremist?

 

[Avon Barksdale]

You mean that 2012 RNC where Romney's people were trying to avoid extremists getting on stage?

Like Mia Love?

 

[PhoenixDark]

Like Mia Love?

I wouldn't compare Mia Love to Allen West, but that's just me.

 

[Clevinger]

You saw a very different 2012 RNC than I did. Was the old guy talking to the chair in yours?

That wasn't planned though. No one expected him to do anything like that.

 

[Black Mamba]

I'd vote for this guy over any current Republican

Just sayin'

 

[Mrs. Manky]

They aren't voting for "Piyush". They are voting for "Bobby".

 

[Link]

They aren't voting for "Piyush". They are voting for "Bobby".

How many more votes do you think "Barry" Obama would have gotten?

 

[Matugi]

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/opinion/the-decline-of-north-carolina.html?_r=0

I love my state, but goddamn fuck my state

 

[mightynine]

They aren't voting for "Piyush". They are voting for "Bobby".

How many more votes do you think "Barry" Obama would have gotten?

Probably not that much, because Obama been painted as the Red Menace since day one to conservatives.

Note that I am not saying race isn't a factor with Obama, but it's not what is causing Jindal's popularity to plummet in Louisiana. He has been a pretty worthless head of state, but his resume reads great to a fundraising crowd - as long as you don't get into the details.

 

[User 406]

By all means, let's speak candidly about how racism is still endemic and widespread in our culture, and the huge effects it has on poverty, law enforcement, employment, education, imprisonment, media, the economy, and pretty much every other aspect of our society.

But god forbid we ever acknowledge racism in voting patterns. There must be some other explanation! We can't just go around assuming that the fundamental racist worldview that a lot of whites still have somehow gets expressed through the political mechanism by which people choose just how they'd like to see those thugs and welfare queens punished. That would just be offensive.

I swear, every time Jindal or West or Cain is brought up as a counterexample to the consistently and blatantly RACIST voting behaviors of the South, it's like the political science equivalent of, "Hey, I've got a black friend!" This the exact same kind of blinkered self delusion that fuels a lot of the pretend confusion over why the GOP doesn't distance themselves from racist voters. We have a system where only two big tent political parties are viable, and by necessity one or the other will need to appeal to each sufficiently large demographic group in order to stay competitive. And racist whites are still a really big chunk. But we'd rather dance around the truth because we'd like to pretend it's not that simple and ugly.

 

[Link]

Probably not that much, because Obama been painted as the Red Menace since day one to conservatives.

Note that I am not saying race isn't a factor with Obama, but it's not what is causing Jindal's popularity to plummet in Louisiana. He has been a pretty worthless head of state, but his resume reads great to a fundraising crowd - as long as you don't get into the details.

I was simply being tongue-in-cheek.

 

[gcubed]

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/opinion/the-decline-of-north-carolina.html?_r=0

I love my state, but goddamn fuck my state

i think i've said this before, but i have lost all ability to get upset about states going to shit after electing dimwits (or, maybe people in these states actually want this, and it takes reality to see why some fringe ideas are best left in the trash can)... the best I can hope for as someone who doesn't live in that state is enough people get fed up and move to a state that is more sane... and then that state loses EC and representation

 

[LosDaddie]

So conservatives like minorities, as long as they are extremist?

Minorities in the GOP become the conduit to say the craziest shit because they can pull THE RACE CARD when they get criticized for it. Funny, right? This is why morons like Malkin, West, Cruz, etc become so popular.

I wouldn't compare Mia Love to Allen West, but that's just me.

They're about the same. Mia campaigned on destroying the Black Caucus from within.

 

[Averon]

Over the years, I've become less and less sympathetic with voters who willingly elect idiots and extremists into power and then become SHOCKED and DISMAYED when said idiots and extremists go about to do the very things they made no secret they wanted to do.

I know there are innocent people in the cross fire (Dax, Matugi, etc...), but I'm sort of at my wits' end with ignorant voters voting in extremists into power.

Anyone else feels this way?

 

[jamesinclair]

Another nail in the christie coffin

The state Supreme Court ruled today that Gov. Chris Christie is not allowed to scrap an independent state agency charged with building affordable-housing units for New Jersey's poorest residents.

The decision is a major setback for the Republican governor, who has tried for years to eliminate the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) and transfer its duties to his Department of Community Affairs.

Christie's attorney had argued that governors have broad license to reorganize government agencies under a 1969 law called the Executive Reorganization Act. Housing advocates countered that the law doesn't extend to nonpartisan, independent agencies such as COAH -- and the court agreed.

In a 5-2 ruling by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, the court said: "The plain language of the Reorganization Act does not authorize the chief executive to abolish an independent agency like COAH. If the governor and the Legislature wish to abolish COAH, they must take another path."

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ss...lan_to_abolish_affordable-housing_agency.html

Why do republicans love focusing all their effort on illegal things?

 

[The Librarian]

Over the years, I've become less and less sympathetic with voters who willingly elect idiots and extremists into power and then become SHOCKED and DISMAYED when said idiots and extremists go about to do the very things they made no secret they wanted to do.

I know there are innocent people in the cross fire (Dax, Matugi, etc...), but I'm sort of at my wits' end with ignorant voters voting in extremists into power.

Anyone else feels this way?

Huh?

Edit: Oh, wait. Now I get you. Yeah...

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

By all means, let's speak candidly about how racism is still endemic and widespread in our culture, and the huge effects it has on poverty, law enforcement, employment, education, imprisonment, media, the economy, and pretty much every other aspect of our society.

But god forbid we ever acknowledge racism in voting patterns. There must be some other explanation! We can't just go around assuming that the fundamental racist worldview that a lot of whites still have somehow gets expressed through the political mechanism by which people choose just how they'd like to see those thugs and welfare queens punished. That would just be offensive.

I swear, every time Jindal or West or Cain is brought up as a counterexample to the consistently and blatantly RACIST voting behaviors of the South, it's like the political science equivalent of, "Hey, I've got a black friend!" This the exact same kind of blinkered self delusion that fuels a lot of the pretend confusion over why the GOP doesn't distance themselves from racist voters. We have a system where only two big tent political parties are viable, and by necessity one or the other will need to appeal to each sufficiently large demographic group in order to stay competitive. And racist whites are still a really big chunk. But we'd rather dance around the truth because we'd like to pretend it's not that simple and ugly.

Truth bomb.

 

[The Librarian]

So...a couple of links. Brian Beutler thinks immigration reform has no pulse. Eric Cantor insists on the Hastert Rule.

 

[Avon Barksdale]

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/opinion/the-decline-of-north-carolina.html?_r=0

I love my state, but goddamn fuck my state

But, but, both sides are the same!

 

[The Librarian]

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/opinion/the-decline-of-north-carolina.html?_r=0

I love my state, but goddamn fuck my state

Just clicked on this link. Yeah, yeah... Though unlike you I have no love for NC. There are some nice places here and there like Asheville, but overall the state isn't that great. I need to get out of here.

 

[Aaron Strife]

PPP:

PPP's newest Iowa poll finds that Republican recruiting failures in the US Senate race have given Bruce Braley a substantial early advantage. He leads by margins ranging from 9 to 13 points against the potential GOP candidates. It's 43/34 over Matt Whitaker, 45/33 over Joni Ernst, 44/32 over Mark Jacobs, 43/31 over Sam Clovis, and 45/32 over David Young.

 

[jamesinclair]

I assume this is true in the us as well.

----

British public wrong about nearly everything, survey shows


A new survey for the Royal Statistical Society and King's College London shows public opinion is repeatedly off the mark on issues including crime, benefit fraud and immigration.

The research, carried out by Ipsos Mori from a phone survey of 1,015 people aged 16 to 75, lists ten misconceptions held by the British public. Among the biggest misconceptions are:

- Benefit fraud: the public think that £24 of every £100 of benefits is fraudulently claimed. Official estimates are that just 70 pence in every £100 is fraudulent - so the public conception is out by a factor of 34.

- Immigration: some 31 per cent of the population is thought to consist of recent immigrants, when the figure is actually 13 per cent. Even including illegal immigrants, the figure is only about 15 per cent. On the issue of ethnicity, black and Asian people are thought to make up 30 per cent of the population, when the figure is closer to 11 per cent.

- Crime: some 58 per cent of people do not believe crime is falling, when the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that incidents of crime were 19 per cent lower in 2012 than in 2006/07 and 53 per cent lower than in 1995. Some 51 per cent think violent crime is rising, when it has fallen from almost 2.5 million incidents in 2006/07 to under 2 million in 2012.

- Teen pregnancy is thought to be 25 times higher than the official estimates: 15 per cent of of girls under 16 are thought to become pregnant every year, when official figures say the amount is closer to 0.6 per cent.

Among the other surprising figures are that 26 per cent of people think foreign aid is in the top three items the Government spends money on (it actually makes up just 1.1 per cent of expenditure), and that 29 per cent of people think more is spent on Jobseekers' Allowance than pensions.

In fact we spend 15 times more on pensions - £4.9 billion on JSA vs £74.2 billion on pensions.

Hetan Shah, executive director of the Royal Statistical Society, said: "Our data poses real challenges for policymakers. How can you develop good policy when public perceptions can be so out of kilter with the evidence?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...t-nearly-everything-survey-shows-8697821.html

 

[Wilsongt]

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/opinion/the-decline-of-north-carolina.html?_r=0

I love my state, but goddamn fuck my state

Wow. I'd never thought I'd say this but "North Carolina: Making South Carolina look MORE progressive in 2013"

Edit: It's amazing how much the Republicans have been able to fuck up in just as little as six months. What took years to build, they were able to destroy in just a few weeks.

And people wondered why we're still suffering the effects of the Bush Administration.

 

[Jooney]

Given the amount of junk sensationalist news in the UK it's not surprising. Once again people whipped up about welfare and foreign aid. So sad.

Also, that NYT editorial on North Carolina.. Dayum. Articles like this need to be catalogued so whenever people say both parties are the same it can be thrown in their faces.

I've talked to a few people here about politics on my travels (just got to Nashville!) and the apathy from some is disheartening...

 

[Diablos]

So it looks like Texas is all but outlawing abortion for sure.

Holy fuck that this can even happen in 2013 is almost unfathomable.

 

[PhoenixDark]

PPP:

Check their twitter, they're getting slammed by skewers. I've got a few of them riled up haha.

Math.

 

[Wilsongt]

So it looks like Texas is all but outlawing abortion for sure.

Holy fuck that this can even happen in 2013 is almost unfathomable.

The baby boomers. They come from a time of Leave it to Beaver and absolutely chastity.

 

[Avon Barksdale]

Check their twitter, they're getting slammed by skewers. I've got a few of them riled up haha.

Math.

People that still believe in poll skewing after they were proven wrong last year need to reevaluate their life.

 

[TacticalFox88]

So it looks like Texas is all but outlawing abortion for sure.

Holy fuck that this can even happen in 2013 is almost unfathomable.

What I find hilarious, is that a lot of Republicans genuinely believe that gun laws won't prevent gun violence, but outlawing abortion will stop abortion.

 

[RoninChaos]

Anybody see this?

http://preview.reuters.com/2013/7/2/wounded-in-battle-stiffed-by-the-pentagon

Pretty interesting preview of a series Reuters is doing on military pay screw ups and the people it effects.

 

[RDreamer]

What I find hilarious, is that a lot of Republicans genuinely believe that gun laws won't prevent gun violence, but outlawing abortion will stop abortion.

I don't think all of them think it'll stop it. I think that their main concern is that if we allow abortion we're morally condoning it. God doesn't take too kindly to that.

 

[Wilsongt]

I don't think all of them think it'll stop it. I think that their main concern is that if we allow abortion we're morally condoning it. God doesn't take too kindly to that.

God doesn't take kindly to a lot of things, but I'm not seeing any laws outlawing divorce.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Check their twitter, they're getting slammed by skewers. I've got a few of them riled up haha.

Math.

Everyone knows Iowa is the reddest state that ever stated.

In other news, ENDA passes Senate HELP Committee on 15-7 vote. 12 Democrats and Mark Kirk, Lisa Murkowski, and... Orrin Hatch?

If you can count on their three votes, Susan Collins (also a cosponsor), Rob Portman (who would support the bill for obvious reasons), Jeff Chiesa (Lautenberg's replacement and a Christie crony, this bill would be a good chance to play moderate), and every Democrat, that brings you up to 60. Seems like it could pass and then be another thing for the House to never bring up because Boehner.

 

[PhoenixDark]

People that still believe in poll skewing after they were proven wrong last year need to reevaluate their life.

I got in a back and forth with some dude, then I checked his feed and noticed this, in response to a MA poll showing Gomez behind (shock).

Suff. poll has Reg. GOP at 11%. Exits from past statewides have GOP Reg. at 15/16%. 5% Reg. Gap? +7% UND+ 4% MOE= ??

https://twitter.com/johnemclaughlin/status/349232281367478273

Shrinking republican voter base in MA? Impossible!

 

[I am Michael Bolton]

So thanks to the Tea Party House, the GOP is about to lose quite a few Presidential elections. Good job good effort GOP.

 

[Aaron Strife]

I got in a back and forth with some dude, then I checked his feed and noticed this, in response to a MA poll showing Gomez behind (shock).

https://twitter.com/johnemclaughlin/status/349232281367478273

Shrinking republican voter base in MA? Impossible!

They must all be moving to Minnesota, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. The holy trio of blue states that should go red any day now.

So thanks to the Tea Party House, the GOP is about to lose quite a few Presidential elections. Good job good effort GOP.

And a few House elections with any luck.

 

[KtSlime]

There were a lot of other dumb Republicans doing the same shit, I'm gonna need more before I replace my null hypothesis that she's sincere in her stupidity!

Do any politically active republicans believe what they say aside from "don't tax the rich"?

 

[PhoenixDark]

Anybody see this?

http://preview.reuters.com/2013/7/2/wounded-in-battle-stiffed-by-the-pentagon

Pretty interesting preview of a series Reuters is doing on military pay screw ups and the people it effects.

Another area where bipartisan work could be done. There's no reason for military and VA payments to be so fucked up. Hiring more people to address claim backlogs and modernizing the system, based on Obama's 2012 campaign metrics, would work wonders. This seems like the type of thing Obama could get W Bush, Clinton, McCain, and others to stand on stage with him on.

But instead we get various campaign focused pet issues that DOA.

 

[Wilsongt]

I wouldn't mind seeing the Republican party absolutely rip itself apart from the inside out, and then break into three factions: Moderate/"Left-Leaning" republicans, True Conversative Republicans, and then Bat Shit Insane. That should be what that third party is call. The BSI party.