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PoliGAF 2013 |OT2| Worth 77% of OT1

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D

dabig2

Member
Rocket Scientist said:
Liberals are disgusting. Short term memory and hard-ons for blonde show hosts, even those that spout bullshit time and time again, galore.
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Meh, I'm too lazy to preference every compliment I give to a Conservative with "too bad they're batshit 99% of the time". Anyways, I don't think she's a true believer. She just gets paid well to regurgitate the shit Fox News sends her. Nothing more and nothing less. She's far less of a troll than Ann Coulter and she's not a legitimate threat to public policy like a Michelle Bachmann.

I really don't have any ill-will towards her, hence why I give her dap when she deserves it. Nothing more to it than that. Now if Sarah Palin or Michelle Malkin had done this, my response would have been quite a bit different...
 
P

Piecake

Member
Interesting

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-29/the-biggest-supreme-court-ruling-you-haven-t-heard-of.html

The Supreme Court has yet to decide this year’s attention-grabbing cases on same-sex marriage, affirmative action and the Voting Rights Act. But last week, a divided court decided Arlington v. FCC, an important victory for Barack Obama’s administration that will long define the relationship between federal agencies and federal courts.

The underlying question was this: If a law is ambiguous, who gets to interpret it? Federal judges or the agency that carries it out? Who interprets the crucial ambiguities in the Affordable Care Act, the Clean Air Act or the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act?

The divisions within the court defied the usual ideological predictions. In a powerful and convincing opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia, the court’s majority ruled that even when the agency is deciding on the scope of its own authority, it has the power to interpret ambiguities in the law. Scalia was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas.
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empty vessel

empty vessel

Member
Zeus Molecules said:
Has Clarence Thomas ever voted against Scalia?
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Yes, although it isn't often.

sc0la said:
The more important question is has Scalia ever voted in favor of federal beauracratic discretion?
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I haven't read the opinion yet, but Scalia and Thomas are the most radical conservatives on the court. They certainly have an ideological reason for ruling this way. But it may be that their radicalism has gotten the better of them. Sometimes you can be so radical that you wind up doing more harm for your cause than good. I'm not saying that's happened here since I haven't read about or given any thought to this issue, but it is a possibility.
 
A

Averon

Member
eBay Huckster said:
Man, this thread has been deader than Newt Gingrich's political career this afternoon
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Not much to talk about. The GOP House and Senate filibusters makes any legislative progress nearly impossible, and what little that do advance goes at a glacial pace. But I'm certain PoliGAF will be much more livelier next year onwards due to mid-terms and preparation for the 2016 elections.
 
G

GaimeGuy

Volunteer Deputy Campaign Director, Obama for America '16
Averon said:
Not much to talk about. The GOP House and Senate filibusters makes any legislative progress nearly impossible, and what little that do advance goes at a glacial pace. But I'm certain PoliGAF will be much more livelier next year onwards due to mid-terms and preparation for the 2016 elections.
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I've been writing letters to Al franken, amy klobuchar, and john kline regularly.


As I'm sure is a surprise to no one, Franken and Klobuchar respond far more frequently and with better responses than Kline does (despite Kline having far, far fewer people to respond to).

Fuck the GOP, and fuck America. :/
 
P

Piecake

Member
GaimeGuy said:
I've been writing letters to Al franken, amy klobuchar, and john kline regularly.


As I'm sure is a surprise to no one, Franken and Klobuchar respond far more frequently and with better responses than Kline does (despite Kline having far, far fewer people to respond to).

Fuck the GOP, and fuck America. :/
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You actually got a non-computer generated response from Franken (or one of his interns)? The one time i emailed him I got some BS thank you for your interest in politics, blah blah, here, we will sign you up for our monthly email newsletter. Gee thanks!

eBay Huckster said:
I'm three weeks into a five-week study-abroad program in Ottawa and I already want to go home.
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who the fuck studies abroad in Canada? Its basically the same place as America!
 
A

Aaron Strife

Banned
GaimeGuy said:
I've been writing letters to Al franken, amy klobuchar, and john kline regularly.


As I'm sure is a surprise to no one, Franken and Klobuchar respond far more frequently and with better responses than Kline does (despite Kline having far, far fewer people to respond to).

Fuck the GOP, and fuck America. :/
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Minnesota Republicans are such hacks. Not that it's much different anywhere else.

Klobuchar is truly a senator of the people which is why she enjoys 70%+ approval ratings, and Franken is an outspoken liberal but very considerate and willing to have a civilized discourse even with those who will never agree with him. Which is why he's going to win re-election easily in spite of winning by like, 300 votes in 2008.

The Republicans on the other hand do nothing but shill for the tea party (and earlier, Bush), whether it's batshit crazy Bachmann or even the so-called moderates like Coleman or Pawlenty. I don't think we'll ever have another Arne Carlson.
 
S

speculawyer

Member
Aaron Strife said:
and Franken is an outspoken liberal but very considerate and willing to have a civilized discourse even with those who will never agree with him. Which is why he's going to win re-election easily in spite of winning by like, 300 votes in 2008.
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No one has even stepped up yet to challenge Franken.
 
J

Jooney

Member
I'm coming to America this week, poli-gaf. I'm hoping that while I'm there the SCOTUS delivers a positive verdict on prop 8 so I can join in the festivities / observe bitter conservative tears first-hand.
 
R

RDreamer

Member
Proposal gives Scott Walker administration more power to sell state property

Madison - Gov. Scott Walker's administration would gain broad authority to sell state property - including prisons, highways, heating plants and university dormitories - under a plan legislators will take up Tuesday.

Proceeds would be used to chip away at the state's $8 billion debt, but the state entities that formerly owned the properties might not see any benefit from the sales. So, a dorm built with student fees could potentially be sold to pay down the debt for a highway expansion, or vice versa.

Critics say the plan that's part of the GOP governor's budget proposal could saddle the state with higher day-to-day costs - such as buying power and steam to heat prisons and dorms - after it sells the properties.

Under the governor's plan, the state also could negotiate sales with individual buyers without going through a public bidding process. Any sales would have to go through a "competitive and transparent process," though that process is not defined and includes no explanation of how negotiations with a single buyer could be competitive.

The plan has generated fierce opposition from supporters of the University of Wisconsin System, who say allowing the sale of UW buildings without the approval of the Board of Regents could be detrimental , especially if the buildings were paid for with the help of student fees or private donations. Currently, the regents have a say in the management of all UW buildings.

"I think it's foolish, mindless and will have a very chilling effect on fundraising," said Milwaukee businessman Sheldon Lubar, who donated millions of dollars to help build academic buildings at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee, and served on the UW System Board of Regents from 1991 to 1998.

Lubar said it never occurred to him that campus buildings he supported financially could ever be sold to a third party.

"I really don't think (Walker) thought this through and understands the negative impact this would have on the university," Lubar said.

Student leaders worry that student unions, such as the landmark Memorial Union at UW-Madison, could be sold and no longer controlled by the university. Student unions, built with student fees, are central to student life, as are residence halls that also potentially could be sold under the governor's proposal, said Matt Guidry, communications director for United Council of UW Students.

"Legislators have told us that selling these buildings isn't their intent," Guidry said. "We believe that's their intent today, but the next person down the road may feel differently."
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No inventory yet

Stephanie Marquis, a spokeswoman for the Department of Administration, said the governor sought broad language because the administration has not yet compiled an inventory of all state property. Walker did not want to inadvertently exclude some types of property that officials may determine would be beneficial to sell, she said.

The focus is on shedding properties such as land that was purchased for highway expansions that ultimately wasn't needed, Marquis said in a statement.

"All sales will be logical and practical transitions," her statement said.

Sen. Rob Cowles (R-Allouez) said the Joint Finance Committee should remove the proposal from the budget and deal with it as separate legislation. He said there was no way the state should sell assets such as prisons and highways, and their inclusion in the governor's budget plan showed why it needs more scrutiny.

"That's why these things need to have individual bills, where public hearings will point out the warts," Cowles said.

UW properties: The university system wouldn't necessarily enjoy any of the benefits of selling its property, under Walker's plan. The administration could sell university buildings and use the money to pay debt belonging to other state agencies. If a campus faced higher costs by having to lease back the property, it wouldn't be able to use any of the money made from the sale of its property.

Athletic revenue and gifts pay for new sports facilities on campuses. Student fees build student unions, food service facilities, residence halls, recreation facilities and student health centers.

Utilities, academic buildings and administrative buildings are primarily taxpayer-financed. But academic buildings often are built with the help of private donations, which may or may not involve naming rights.

All of those buildings, plus private research parks on campus land, agricultural research stations and campus parking facilities, would be up for grabs under the governor's proposal.

"We really don't know the end impact of this," UW System spokesman David Giroux said. "If a residence hall is sold or leased to a third party, we don't know how that would affect students who live there, the rates they pay, and programming that occurs there."

The UW System's physical footprint includes 13 four-year campuses with about 1,900 buildings around the state, spanning 60 million square feet, with a replacement value of $11.5 billion.

Real estate for the two-year campuses is owned by the counties in which they are located.

The transactions could happen without the approval of the Board of Regents. Since the UW System was created through a merger in 1971, the Board of Regents has had explicit authority to hold, purchase, sell or lease any property.

"I don't think there have been any problems or concerns about our management of these buildings that would make this change necessary," said Regents President Brent Smith, adding that the governor's proposal to exclude the regents from the process was unexpected.

"We have tried, with mixed success, to say local campuses should have more control over things on their campuses," Smith said. "This appears to be a big step in the other direction, and we would strongly oppose it."
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P

Piecake

Member
A

Aaron Strife

Banned
B-Dubs said:
There was a pretty big rumor she had done so and was under investigation, so it wouldn't shock me if that's why she made this announcement.
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Considering her reason for retiring (term limits) was a flip-flop, I'm sure there's something else going on here.

It's too bad Graves dropping out makes this race unwinnable barring some extraordinary circumstance, Romney won MN-6 with 56% of the vote. But maybe that will encourage Democrats to go after Paulsen and Kline - Obama won both of their districts in 2012 yet they seem to be impenetrable.
 
P

Piecake

Member
Aaron Strife said:
Considering her reason for retiring (term limits) was a flip-flop, I'm sure there's something else going on here.

It's too bad Graves dropping out makes this race unwinnable barring some extraordinary circumstance, Romney won MN-6 with 56% of the vote. But maybe that will encourage Democrats to go after Paulsen and Kline - Obama won both of their districts in 2012 yet they seem to be impenetrable.
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The only reason why that district was winnable for democrats was because of Bachmann. Without her, its going to go republican so long as they trot out someone at least remotely sane. Graves understood that, and thats why he dropped out.
 
A

Aaron Strife

Banned
Piecake said:
The only reason why that district was winnable for democrats was because of Bachmann. Without her, its going to go republican so long as they trot out someone at least remotely sane. Graves understood that, and thats why he dropped out.
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Yeah, it's a cause and effect. Any Republican who can help putting their foot in their mouth will easily hold it for years and years.

Of course given the electorate it's certainly possible the next congressperson will be a Bachmann clone. MN-6 has the highest rate of teen suicide in any congressional district in the country, if that gives you a clue. Bachmann is very much a product of their culture.
 
B

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
Aaron Strife said:
Yeah, it's a cause and effect. Any Republican who can help putting their foot in their mouth will easily hold it for years and years.

Of course given the electorate it's certainly possible the next congressperson will be a Bachmann clone. MN-6 has the highest rate of teen suicide in any congressional district in the country, if that gives you a clue. Bachmann is very much a product of their culture.
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I remember they Rolling Stone article on it, that shit made me depressed and angry. What a fucked up place to live.
 
Z

Zeus Molecules

illegal immigrants are stealing our air
Piecake said:
LOL Wisconsin

The rate you guys are going, I think i'd take up UW's proposal to end reciprocity because pretty soon its not going to be worth it.

Minnesota and Wisconsin will be an interesting comparison. While we are investing more in education and infrastructure/expansion of the Mayo Clinic, you guys, well, i dont know what the fuck you guys are doing
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he's going to make Wisconsin into a privately owned hell hole like Arizona before he's done....
 
B

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
Aaron Strife said:
I'm a stone's throw away from the district. Very stepford-ish from what i've seen.
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If you haven't read that article you really should, there was a thread on it here when it went up on their site. It literally sounds like one of the worst places to grow up in the country.
 
F

Fox318

Member
Why has the white house not asked for Holders resignation?

Even if everything was in the clear he has become such a lighting rod that I can't imagine it makes things easy.
 
T

Tamanon

Banned
Fox318 said:
Why has the white house not asked for Holders resignation?

Even if everything was in the clear he has become such a lighting rod that I can't imagine it makes things easy.
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Why ask for the resignation? Holder hasn't done anything wrong or really inappropriate.
 
T

TacticalFox88

Banned
The Republican Party has really outdone itself with the Benghazi ‘scandal’ and it has certainly been compelling to watch. They so desperately wanted to use the terrorist attack as a way to bring down the Obama Administration and Hillary Clinton’s – possible – White House run in 2016, that the blame-game was turned into a complete farce. As a matter of fact, the first attack ad of the 2016 election was centered around ‘Benghazi-Gate’ and, of course, Hillary Clinton. Nothing screams desperation louder than releasing an attack ad against a possible candidate three years prior to an election. But that was just one of the many highlights in the scandal that was supposed to rock the White House to its core but didn’t; the scandal that occurred somewhere in the world that 39% of conspiracy theorists can’t even find on a map; the scandal that was built on a foundation of doctored emails.

Recently it seems that the ‘scandal’ had died down and not much more was going on with it….until now.

A new suspect has been named in the scandal that will surely destroy the Democratic party and any credibility they have left. This week Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) told right-wing radio host Frank Gaffney who he thinks is to blame for Benghazi-gate (transcribed below “as-is”)


GAFFNEY: Two episodes that are on our mind, one is Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been in Syria recently hobnobbing with Jihadists about the necessity of the United States of not only continuing to support them in various ways but to fund them and to arm them and basically to start using its military forces to protect them. I’d like to get your thoughts on that sir as well as your current thinking about whether we’re going to get a proper investigation of the Benghazi-Gate scandal, one of the imbroglios that I believe Sen. McCain’s bad advice got us into previously.

REP. GOHMERT: Well exactly and I’m not sure what to think about his trip apparently to Syria. We had seen his tweet about meeting with Qaddafi in Libya at his ranch and then he said “Oh no somebody else must have tweeted from his phone.” But apparently there had been meetings with Qaddafi before yet they came after Qaddafi, he was one of the early ones to sign on to going after Qaddafi.

GAFFNEY: So he was for him before he was against him as they say.

REP. GOHMERT: Yeah and then we know if it had not been for Sen. McCain and President Obama being for what we knew at the time included al-Qaeda in the rebel forces then we would still have a U.S. ambassador and three others alive today because Benghazi would not have happened. But by giving power to the rebel forces that included al Qaeda that brought that whole mess about and helped create problems in Tunisia and Algeria. So I’m not sure what to think about his going to Syria. If history is any lesson the people he met with he wants us to help should be very careful about what Sen. McCain’s support could mean for them.

Wait….wha? John McCain is at fault? But John McCain was one of the leaders of the fight for justice in the Benghazi scandal! He lead the initial smear campaign against U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice that ultimately kept her from becoming Secretary of State. You would think that McCain would be the least likely target in this game by the party using the deaths of four Americans for political gain; however, in the world of the GOP, nobody is really safe from the wrath of stupidity.

Rep. Gohmert believes McCain is to blame because he advocated the U.S. led war in Libya that ultimately led to the ousting and death of Muammar Qaddafi. Who, by the way, ranked right up there with Hitler on the Republican bad guy scale. It’s puzzling why Gohmert would now act as if the war in Libya was a bad thing, but if Benghazi-Gate has shown us anything, it has shown that Republicans really have no clear thought process when it comes to trying to bring down the White House. In the months since the terrorist attack in Benghazi it seems that right-wing nutjobs have never been sure, exactly, why the scandal was a scandal. They have said the stupidest things ever in regards to that conundrum. They have also pointed fingers at just about everyone. Was Rice to blame? Was it Clinton? Obama? The Easter Bunny? It is hilarious that they are now attacking their own. Good job, Republican party! You definitely get the award for most bizarre scandal with the most suspects EVER!

Here’s the audio of the interview:

Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/06/01/gop-congressman-says-mccain-is-to-blame-for-benghazi-audio/#ixzz2V5DEjdTs
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They're blaming McCAIN now?!
KuGsj.gif


Politics is truly the gift that keeps on giving. Holy shit!
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
So I read something amusing today. Avik Roy, the disingenuous, Romney flack whose expertise was supposed to be health care policy, didn't like the news of insurance premiums going down in Cali, so he did a bit of "research" and it turned out that premiums are actually going UP. How'd he get to this conclusion? He went to eInsurance.com and saw whatever the lowest rate was and used that as his baseline. Ezra Klein explains why that's kind of a douchey thing to do:

Imagine you went to Best Buy and found a great deal on a plasma television set. I want to be clear here: You didn’t find a great television set. This television set is actually a bit crummy. The picture is fuzzy. Consumer Reports says it breaks down a lot and it’s expensive to fix. But it’s really cheap. The price tag reads $109.

When you take it to the counter, the saleswoman tells you that the set will actually cost you $199. And count yourself lucky, she confides in a conspiratorial whisper. There are customers whom Best Buy won’t sell it to at any price. You ask her which customers those are. The ones who need the TV most, she replies.

So here’s the question: Does that television really cost $109?

Best Buy, of course, would never do this to you. If they say you can buy a television set for $109, you can buy it for $109. Plus, they’re handsome, and their customer service is great, and I hope they advertise in The Washington Post forevermore, amen.

But this is actually how the individual health-insurance market works. And understanding why is crucial to understanding a lot of what you’re going to read about health reform in the next year.

...

According to HealthCare.gov, 14 percent of people who try to buy that plan are turned away outright. Another 12 percent are told they’ll have to pay more than $109. So a quarter of the people who try to buy this insurance product for $109 a month are told they can’t. Those are the people who need insurance most — they are sick, or were sick, or are likely to get sick. So, again, is $109 really the price of this plan?

Comparing the pre-underwriting price of this plan to those in Obamacare’s exchanges is ridiculous. The plans in Obamacare’s exchanges have to include those people. They can’t turn anyone away or jack up rates because of a history of arthritis or heart disease.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...ng-truth-about-obamacares-rate-shock/?hpid=z3

More evisceration at the link.
 
P

PhoenixDark

Banned
Given the amazing insurance news from California a couple weeks ago, it was only a matter of time before the right would settle on a hit piece. I must say this one was pretty damn weak though.

By this time next year we'll have a far better idea who was right and who was wrong. I'm sure there will be plenty of Obamacare horror stories across the country that republicans will focus on, but ultimately polls will be able to tell us a lot more about the law next year than they currently due.
 
S

speculawyer

Member
PhoenixPause said:
Well if that's true it's a bombshell. So far one employee is saying it.
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No, it still doesn't mean much. It is not proven and even it is, they are just saying from the IRS in Washington, not from the White House. In these days of phones and email, it is not like geographical proximity means anything.
 
P

PhoenixDark

Banned
herp a derp, Drudge front page
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/gets_hill_bullied_EjhPAdD8Ati7RRkMlNqHbM

The book was widely discredited when it came out, now the paperback is out with more bullshit. I certainly believe Bill Clinton holds some level of dislike towards Obama, hell he probably doesn't like him at all. But he is too smart to advocate Hillary usurping the presidency from him with a primary; that's the stupidest idea ever. Can you imagine the outrage within the black community? Hell, I'd imagine many Hispanics wouldn't be pleased about that either. And in the unlikely event that Hillary managed to beat Obama in a primary, she'd lose to Romney due to turning off large portions of the democrat base.

I can't possibly imagine a modern sitting president endorsing during a primary; Obama will stay on the side lines, especially if this turns into Biden v Hillary. I suppose the spin will be that Obama "renigged" on the deal.
 
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