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PoliGAF 2017 |OT3| 13 Treasons Why

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But we're not in 1965 or 1983, are we? If you have the numbers to show how we can grow 8% now, show us your math. The point of the planet money pod was to crunch numbers from now to figure out how to grow just 3%.

That's easy. Robots are coming + massive unemployment = 8% growth over the next decade.
 
@blakehounshell
Spokesman for Trump's lawyer is live tweeting Preet Bharara's interview on ABC

DCCzpWCUAAEgjgU.jpg

That second tweet is something a Trumper would say.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
That whole "Trump won't rule out firing Mueller" thing is something else.
 
If he does fire the independent counsel, what can happen? Is it just dead?

I mean, no deader than it is right now.

Mueller's actual ability to do anything against this admin is minimal; as things stand, they have immunity by majority. All we can hope for is more political weight around their necks, making it easier to take back the House in 2018 and the Senate/WH in 2020. Firing Mueller adds a LOT of weight, possibly more than letting him investigate would do. Especially since you'd probably see a massive wave of leaks like we got from Comey.

We might lose the opportunity to indict Sessions, Flynn et al on whatever shit they got up to, but odds are good Trump just pardons them and then we're back to square 1 where Republicans refuse to perform oversight on a Republican president.
 

Emerson

May contain jokes =>
It's not like I've never said this before but I really do think firing Mueller would have to be the end. The Republicans have basically latched onto him just hoping against hope he doesn't come back with anything serious. But they've already praised to heaven and back his integrity and independence and the importance of him being able to do his job.
 

Kevinroc

Member
It's not like I've never said this before but I really do think firing Mueller would have to be the end. The Republicans have basically latched onto him just hoping against hope he doesn't come back with anything serious. But they've already praised to heaven and back his integrity and independence and the importance of him being able to do his job.

The Republicans still have to strip health insurance from over 20 million Americans and cut taxes on the very rich. So even if Trump fired Mueller tomorrow, I don't think they'll do a damn thing.
 
It's not like I've never said this before but I really do think firing Mueller would have to be the end. The Republicans have basically latched onto him just hoping against hope he doesn't come back with anything serious. But they've already praised to heaven and back his integrity and independence and the importance of him being able to do his job.

Like being massive, stinking hypocrites ever gave them a moment's pause before.
 

Emerson

May contain jokes =>
Like being massive, stinking hypocrites ever gave them a moment's pause before.

I'm not exactly going to stick my neck out to defend the GOP, but let's recall that 2 Republican Congressmen publicly called for Trump's impeachment after he fired Comey. The pressure built up extremely quickly after that and was only relieved due to Mueller's appointment.
 
I'm not exactly going to stick my neck out to defend the GOP, but let's recall that 2 Republican Congressmen publicly called for Trump's impeachment after he fired Comey. The pressure built up extremely quickly after that and was only relieved due to Mueller's appointment.

Oh, 2 of them? Wow.

2 whole Republicans.

Two

T w o

They called for it so as to get political cover by supporting a thing they knew would never happen. Nothing more.
 

KingK

Member
I mean, no deader than it is right now.

Mueller's actual ability to do anything against this admin is minimal; as things stand, they have immunity by majority. All we can hope for is more political weight around their necks, making it easier to take back the House in 2018 and the Senate/WH in 2020. Firing Mueller adds a LOT of weight, possibly more than letting him investigate would do. Especially since you'd probably see a massive wave of leaks like we got from Comey.

We might lose the opportunity to indict Sessions, Flynn et al on whatever shit they got up to, but odds are good Trump just pardons them and then we're back to square 1 where Republicans refuse to perform oversight on a Republican president.
Yeah, this is how I've felt about this whole thing all along. Republicans have no shame, and there is no scenario where they decide turning on Trump is better for their chances than deflection. It's also why I keep trying to convince people not to get their hopes up for impeachment/acting like it's only a matter of time, and instead hope for D majorities across the board in 2020.
 

Emerson

May contain jokes =>
Yeah, this is how I've felt about this whole thing all along. Republicans have no shame, and there is no scenario where they decide turning on Trump is better for their chances than deflection. It's also why I keep trying to convince people not to get their hopes up for impeachment/acting like it's only a matter of time, and instead hope for D majorities across the board in 2020.

No scenario?

If overall Republican approval ratings of Trump dropped to 50%, you think they'd still stump for him?

No, they wouldn't. Most of them hate him. They're afraid of being voted out. If/when they feel the math supports it they'll turn against him. They're cowards, they're not Trump diehards.
 
Yeah, this is how I've felt about this whole thing all along. Republicans have no shame, and there is no scenario where they decide turning on Trump is better for their chances than deflection. It's also why I keep trying to convince people not to get their hopes up for impeachment/acting like it's only a matter of time, and instead hope for D majorities across the board in 2020.

Dont you think there's a good chance that Republicans would see a D/D/D wave coming and get rid of him to limit the damage?
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
I mean, no deader than it is right now.

Mueller's actual ability to do anything against this admin is minimal; as things stand, they have immunity by majority. All we can hope for is more political weight around their necks, making it easier to take back the House in 2018 and the Senate/WH in 2020. Firing Mueller adds a LOT of weight, possibly more than letting him investigate would do. Especially since you'd probably see a massive wave of leaks like we got from Comey.

We might lose the opportunity to indict Sessions, Flynn et al on whatever shit they got up to, but odds are good Trump just pardons them and then we're back to square 1 where Republicans refuse to perform oversight on a Republican president.

I don't believe Congress needs to take action if Sessions/Flynn were caught colluding with Russians, no? Isn't that a crime that Congress doesn't have any say in? I thought the only thing Congress could do was start the impeachment.

That said, I have a feeling anything that gets Trump is going to be from Schneiderman in NY. He's investigating the Trump Foundation as well as Eric Trump's charities now, and that would be outside the jurisdiction of Congress.
 

Ogodei

Member
Presumably anyone underneath Trump can be indicted, it's only the President who can't be by the nature of their position on absolute top of the legal heap.
 

KingK

Member
No scenario?

If overall Republican approval ratings of Trump dropped to 50%, you think they'd still stump for him?

No, they wouldn't. Most of them hate him. They're afraid of being voted out. If/when they feel the math supports it they'll turn against him. They're cowards, they're not Trump diehards.
The scenario you described won't happen. That's what I'm saying. The math won't support turning on him because their base are Trump diehards, and they have and continue to encourage that through media demonization. They can't control the monster they created.
Dont you think there's a good chance that Republicans would see a D/D/D wave coming and get rid of him to limit the damage?
It's a lose-lose for them. They may indeed see the wave coming, but getting rid of him doesn't mitigate the damage, it exacerbates it. If they stick with him they at least hold the base and some of them survive. If they turn on him, they loose that base and gain absolutely nothing. They're left with nothing and nobody is safe.
 
I don't believe Congress needs to take action if Sessions/Flynn were caught colluding with Russians, no? Isn't that a crime that Congress doesn't have any say in? I thought the only thing Congress could do was start the impeachment.

That said, I have a feeling anything that gets Trump is going to be from Schneiderman in NY. He's investigating the Trump Foundation as well as Eric Trump's charities now, and that would be outside the jurisdiction of Congress.

Yep. The IC (and NY AG, probably) have set their sights on Flynn. Even if Trump ends Mueller's investigation prematurely, Flynn will still be indicted and charged. Trump may pardon him, but he's gotten in too much shit to make a clean escape. Ditto Sessions, who could also be indicted if the IC has a case against him.

As you say, Schneiderman might very well bring state charges against the sons, Kushner, and even Flynn - charges that Trump can't pardon. Mueller's termination would temporarily delay but certainly wouldn't end the proceedings. Something will happen to someone. I only fear that we'll get more Iran/Contra than Watergate, where the President looks shady but ultimately gets off.
 
No scenario?

If overall Republican approval ratings of Trump dropped to 50%, you think they'd still stump for him?

No, they wouldn't. Most of them hate him. They're afraid of being voted out. If/when they feel the math supports it they'll turn against him. They're cowards, they're not Trump diehards.

Dont you think there's a good chance that Republicans would see a D/D/D wave coming and get rid of him to limit the damage?

Y'all missing a key point here. Trump die-hards make up a huge portion of the Republican primary electorate. Even in the face of a D/D/D wave, they might think that they've got better odds of holding their seats against primary challenges (and thus, the ever-fruitful incumbent advantage) by sticking by Trump than they do trying to woo anti-Trumpers in the general election by moving against him.

I don't believe Congress needs to take action if Sessions/Flynn were caught colluding with Russians, no? Isn't that a crime that Congress doesn't have any say in? I thought the only thing Congress could do was start the impeachment.

That said, I have a feeling anything that gets Trump is going to be from Schneiderman in NY. He's investigating the Trump Foundation as well as Eric Trump's charities now, and that would be outside the jurisdiction of Congress.

If Trump pardons Sessions, Flynn, etc. then the only real remedy is impeachment.
 

Emerson

May contain jokes =>
The scenario you described won't happen. That's what I'm saying. The math won't support turning on him because their base are Trump diehards, and they have and continue to encourage that through media demonization. They can't control the monster they created.

It's a lose-lose for them. They may indeed see the wave coming, but getting rid of him doesn't mitigate the damage, it exacerbates it. If they stick with him they at least hold the base and some of them survive. If they turn on him, they loose that base and gain absolutely nothing. They're left with nothing and nobody is safe.

Y'all missing a key point here. Trump die-hards make up a huge portion of the Republican primary electorate. Even in the face of a D/D/D wave, they might think that they've got better odds of holding their seats against primary challenges (and thus, the ever-fruitful incumbent advantage) by sticking by Trump than they do trying to woo anti-Trumpers in the general election by moving against him.

Based on the primary math I'm gonna say Trump's base comprises no more than 50% of the Republican voting pool, so it's pretty in line with what I said.
 
Turnout apparently also way down in France at 48%. Was 57% in 2012.

So Macron's legislature will have won somewhere in the teens percentage wise of the French electorate but have a huge majority.
 
It's all runoffs though, no?
sure, but any system where the preferred party of only 32% of the country is projected to get at its lowest 67% of the seats is absurd and far more broken than even our system, where the candidate receiving 2% less of the vote is the winner.

People can talk about the death of the left here but Macron's only getting 12 more points than PS/Melenchon's parties combined but is getting approximately 11x their combined representation.

I mean FPTP is not a super great system but underneath it Corbyn got about 40% of the vote and 40% of the seats.
 
sure, but any system where the preferred party of only 32% of the country is projected to get at its lowest 67% of the seats is absurd and far more broken than even our system, where the candidate receiving 2% less of the vote is the winner.

People can talk about the death of the left here but Macron's only getting 12 more points than PS/Melenchon's parties combined but is getting approximately 11x their combined representation.

I mean FPTP is not a super great system but underneath it Corbyn got about 40% of the vote and 40% of the seats.

I don't see a real problem here. Every single member of the national assembly will have been elected with an absolute majority due to the runoff next Sunday. I agree that it is still a bit of an odd system for a legislative election (single-round proportional representation for the win), but it's still infinitely better than the archaic FPTP system of the US and the UK.
 

KingK

Member
I'm not sure why we should all be cheering the death of the left in France. Macron and his party aren't even center-left, they're well to the right of Clinton AFAIK. I mean, obviously I'm glad they won rather than the far right, but it still doesn't exactly feel like an outright victory.

Based on the primary math I'm gonna say Trump's base comprises no more than 50% of the Republican voting pool, so it's pretty in line with what I said.
I believe he grew his base within the party after securing the nomination. Weren't the evangelicals the faction propping up Cruz, for example, and now are among the most ardent Trump supporters? In a perceived fight between the democrats and "mainstream media" against their own president, even most republicans who didn't vote for Trump in the primary will defend him. They don't live in the realm of facts or reality, so it doesn't really matter what comes out.
 
how did France create a system more broken than the electoral college
It's not broken, those candidates have to break 50% in their constituencies. If they don't, they head to runoff next week. French system is better than ours for exactly this reason: it allows for both multiple parties and needing a hard majority.
 
I don't see a real problem here. Every single member of the national assembly will have been elected with an absolute majority due to the runoff next Sunday. I agree that it is still a bit of an odd system for a legislative election (single-round proportional representation for the win), but it's still infinitely better than the archaic FPTP system of the US and the UK.
only ~32% of French voters in a low turnout election have their first preference as Macron's party, but they will receive an incredible majority of seats that will give them total control over the government. The two left parties will only receive a combined 12% less than Macron's party but will receive about 1/11th the legislative power. That's far more broken than FPTP.
 
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