"A black sheriff?!": The Official Topic of Obama and New Era American Politics

[benjipwns]

That's cause you're big into public choice theory, the evo-psych of political science.

Probably, but it's more likely my never-ending heavy cynicism* than any actual formal model. It's an agency set inside an "independent" agency with a big stake funded entirely from that and not appropriations with one person basically with all power who can also be overridden by a council of all the agencies that gave up power to the CFPB. I really can't understand any circumstances in which it could "work" and how it could even come to do so. But that is probably just me.

Still looks like a financial DHS. (And what isn't an evo-psych of poli sci...)

*Thank you Joe D for really feeding it since Flip left.

[Mr. Gundam]

lol WA gov introducing legislation for legalization of gay marriage- religious folks freakin out online. Gonna rule when it PASSES and theyre all butthurt.

I really hope it passes. I can't belive it's not legal in Washington AND Oregon.

[Joe Molotov]

Things always don't go your way but you just have to keep working hard and getting better

Please add this to the news feed

But it's just a wordier version of "please understand".

[TakingBackSunday]

holy fuck reading the GAF Ron Paul thread is fucking irritating.  Especially when you're banned.

Angry Fork is an annoying fucking douchebag.  If I read "Ron Paul is the nuclear option" one more time I'm going to e-fuck him into oblivion.  And that annoying fucking avatar.  Argh!

He might be my least favorite political poster in all of gaf's history, bar Gaborn.  He's fucking awful.

[Mupepe]

Agreed.  Gaborn might be stubborn and stupid, but this guy is absolutely distinguished mentally-challenged.  "If Ron Paul is terrible at least everything will be different!"  Yeah!  Let's destroy what's left of the system and we'll magically start over new and better!  Because that's how geopolitics and economics works (in a Sim City or Civilization game).  Fucking dipshit.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

9 VOTES SEPARATING THEM!!!

Who was our Iowa resident that was gonna caucus?  TEXP right?  I wonder if he caucused for Santorum.

That I did.  I was disappointed to see Romney win.  I think Romney won because Republicans are warming to the reality that only Romney (well, also Huntsman but good luck with that) will put up a halfway decent fight against Obama.  Then again I could be wrong but this is the first proof that people are ditching the "anyone but Romney" angle.

Also lol at Perry's result.  He really hit the airwaves hard and turned out not to amount to shit when it came down to it.

[Phoenix Dark]

The exit polls show Romney was soundless rejected by voters who described themselves as Evangelical and conservative. And he barely got more votes than in 2008 lol

[Oblivion]

Top 20 David Brooks False Equivalencies of 2011

Thought some of y'all might enjoy that. Particularly fond of #12, maself.

edit: #1 and #2 are fantastic as well.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

The exit polls show Romney was soundless rejected by voters who described themselves as Evangelical and conservative. And he barely got more votes than in 2008 lol

Well, Romney won when everyone expected him to be 2nd, 3rd, or 4th.

[Great Rumbler]

The exit polls show Romney was soundless rejected by voters who described themselves as Evangelical and conservative. And he barely got more votes than in 2008 lol

Well, Romney won when everyone expected him to be 2nd, 3rd, or 4th.

He didn't even capture 1/4 of the vote though...

[Phoenix Dark]

I'm not sure coming out ahead by 8 votes constitutes "winning" especially when you spend millions on ads only to virtually tie with a guy who spent less than half a mill on ads

[Human Snorenado]

Meanwhile, my crazy Ron Paul supporter friend (who is a confused anarchist lead singer in a punk band that has convinced himself that RON PAUL is some sort of wonder ointment for what ails America and is obviously wrong about everything) is convinced that since Paul doubled his support from '08 in Iowa this means BIG THINGS AHEAD and is trying to convince all of his friends to vote for Paul in the NC primary, which is... in early May.

Do I

A) tell him Paul won't be in the race by then

B) make the obvious joke that at this rate Paul will win the 2016 Iowa caucus?

[Oblivion]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71096_Page2.html

Sounds like a train wreck.

[Great Rumbler]

[Phoenix Dark]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71096_Page2.html

Sounds like a train wreck.

If the audience is puzzled by this — crispy good? Is this KFC? — they must have been downright baffled when a Romney staffer takes the stage and says, “White balance. Get your white balance.”

What is this, the white Wire?

[Human Snorenado]

White balance is a photography term.

[Pringo]

[Eric P]

Meanwhile, my crazy Ron Paul supporter friend (who is a confused anarchist lead singer in a punk band that has convinced himself that RON PAUL is some sort of wonder ointment for what ails America and is obviously wrong about everything) is convinced that since Paul doubled his support from '08 in Iowa this means BIG THINGS AHEAD and is trying to convince all of his friends to vote for Paul in the NC primary, which is... in early May.

Do I

A) tell him Paul won't be in the race by then

B) make the obvious joke that at this rate Paul will win the 2016 Iowa caucus?

what band?

[Human Snorenado]

I don't even know, some punk band in the Asheville area.

[Dickie Dee]

New Hampshire GOP Bill Mandates That New Laws Find Their Origin In 1215 English Magna Carta
By Marie Diamond on Jan 4, 2012 at 3:10 pm

New Hampshire Republicans are taking textual originalism to a whole new level: three lawmakers have proposed a bill that requires that all legislation find its origin not in the U.S. constitution, but an English document crafted in 1215.

When the legislature reconvenes this month, Republicans want their colleagues to justify many new bills with a direct quote from the 800-year-old Magna Carta:

House Bill 1580 is the product of such a brainstorming session this summer between three freshman House Republicans: Bob Kingsbury of Laconia, Tim Twombly of Nashua and Lucien Vita of Middleton. The eyebrow-raiser, set to be introduced when the Legislature reconvenes next month, requires legislation to find its origin in an English document crafted in 1215.

“All members of the general court proposing bills and resolutions addressing individual rights or liberties shall include a direct quote from the Magna Carta which sets forth the article from which the individual right or liberty is derived,” is the bill’s one sentence.

The Magna Carta, while famed as the first major declaration of rights under English monarchy, is a bit outdated in its actual prose.

The Magna Carta is indisputably an important historical document, with ideas about liberty that inspired America’s founders. But as the Concord Monitor points out, the substance of the document is fixated on the tedium of feudal times, and has little if any relevance to modern American life.

New Hampshire lawmakers might have trouble applying passages like, “We shall straightway return the son of Llewelin and all the Welsh hostages,” or, “If anyone who has borrowed a sum of money from Jews dies before the debt has been repaid, his heir shall pay no interest on the debt for so long as he remains under age.”

One of the bill’s sponsors admitted that he wasn’t terribly familiar with the actual text, and mainly saw the measure as an homage. New Hampshire Democratic Party spokesman Ray Buckley said he was “mostly speechless” when he heard about the bill. “I appreciate all the hard work the Republican legislators are putting into the effort to make them look like extremists,” he said. “Saves us the trouble.”
Conservatives have long prided themselves on being constitutional “purists” who want to strip government down to the basic form they say was laid out in the country’s founding document. But requiring textual justification from another country’s founding document, which has no legal history or authority in the U.S., is a curious extension of that principle.

As the country’s focus shifts from the Iowa caucus to the more influential New Hampshire primary, it’s worth noting that the state’s Republicans apparently trying to repeal not just the 20th century “welfare state,” or even the 20th century, but the modern era entirely.

[Brehvolution]

“I appreciate all the hard work the Republican legislators are putting into the effort to make them look like extremists,” he said. “Saves us the trouble.”

 

[Great Rumbler]

wat

[Joe Molotov]

All new laws are required to include horse nipples.

[Phoenix Dark]

Jobless claims

Jobless claims trended steadily and significantly lower throughout December with initial claims down 15,000 in the December 31 week to 372,000 (prior week revised 6,000 higher to 387,000). The four-week average shows improvement for the fifth week in a row, down 3,250 to a recovery best of 373,250 which is more than 20,000 lower from month-end November.

Continuing claims have also been coming down, falling 22,000 in data for the December 24 week to 3.595 million. This is also a recovery best as is the four-week average of 3.602 million which is down nearly 70,000 from month-end November. The unemployment rate for insured workers, down one tenth, is back down to a recovery best of 2.8 percent.

ADP Employment Report

ADP is calling for a surge in private payroll growth, to 325,000 for December to double expectations for 160,000 and vs a revised 204,000 in November.



Good news, and I can't wait for republicans to blame the rise in UE (8.6 to 8.7) on Obama while also claiming he doesn't "understand how the economy works" lol

[FoneBone]

“I will go to the NAACP convention, and explain to the African-American community why they should demand paychecks instead of food stamps,” said Gingrich.

[Joe Molotov]

Well, it's not like black people were gonna vote for him anyway, might as well go after the "quit giving our money to them lazy negros" vote instead.

[Phoenix Dark]

CHART: Romney Plan Raises Taxes On Lower-Middle Class, Cuts Taxes On Wealthy

Above that level, Romney’s plan cuts taxes at greater rates for wealthier people. The average millionaire would thus pay $145,568 less in taxes in 2015 than they do today. Taken altogether, that makes the plan a budget buster, meaning greater deficits or deep cuts to federal programs.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/chart-romney-plan-raise-taxes-on-lower-middle-class-cuts-taxes-on-wealthy.php?ref=fpa

wow

[Great Rumbler]

And is anyone REALLY surprised this? Anyone?

[Phoenix Dark]

I shouldn't be surprised but it's still such a tone deaf, oblivious plan - and you'd think it would receive quite a bit of attention once he becomes the nominee. Perhaps Romney is betting on voters tuning out Obama completely, which obviously could happen if things get worse/stagnant. But jeez...

[Oblivion]

But he's also giving a massive capital gains tax cut to people making $50k a year!

[Phoenix Dark]

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/updates/3655


Looks like Nostradarkmas was right after all

[Boogie]

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/updates/3655


Looks like Nostradarkmas was right after all

Are the delegates awarded proportional, or winner-takes-all?

[Phoenix Dark]

proportional, and it looks like Santorum and Romney will get the same amount regardless of who won

[Barry Egan]

This news excites me.  Good work T EXP!  Looks like your time was not spent in vain.

[Phoenix Dark]

[Oblivion]

@ppppolls
PublicPolicyPolling
Mitt up about 10 pts the first night of our South Carolina poll...Gingrich and Santorum close for 2nd.

Looks like it's all over. :/

[Phoenix Dark]

no way Romney wins SC, I'm calling it right now

[Stoney Mason]

I find it hard to believe Mitt Romney will win in South Carolina either but we'll see I guess.

[TakingBackSunday]

you know its an election year when there's a new daily ron paul thread at gaf.  it's just gross.

[benjipwns]

[Brehvolution]

no way Romney wins SC, I'm calling it right now

If 1 vote can count for 20 votes when needed, it's possible.

[Phoenix Dark]

212k jobs in December, UE falls from 8.6 to 8.5. Interestingly the WH's economic team had expected UE to remain in the 9s throughout much of 2012. I wonder if they under-calculated the number of people who have left the work search, which is a big reason why the number is falling.

It's going to tick up as more people get excited about the jobs numbers and start looking for work again, then we'll get more "LOLBAMA" responses.

[Human Snorenado]

If Mitt wins SC convincingly somehow, this thing is fucking over.  Newt and RON PAUL can run around nipping at his heels for months all they like, it won't matter.  Then we can settle down to Mittens vs. Barry.

[Phoenix Dark]

A bunch of religious right folks are planning on coalescing behind one candidate in order to stop Romney in SC and beyond. Probably Santorum I guess. But the longer Gingrich stays in the race, the harder it'll be for him to separate from the pack

Huckabee would have had the nom wrapped up if he had run lol, this is hilarious. I can't wait to see Romney speaking in front of half full rooms come the summer

[Phoenix Dark]

There's a debate tonight, and tomorrow night....both during the start of the playoffs? Jeez, whoever schedules these things sucks

[benjipwns]

Thank god, I was going through debate withdrawal.

If I remember and are around I'll probably watch to see if Newt does go crazy against Romney, and Paul goes after Santorum*, and Perry being a lovable oaf.

EDIT: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-campaign-20120107,0,4461003.story

Reporting from Manchester, N.H.— For the second time in as many days, Rick Santorum waded into the issue of gay marriage, suggesting it was so important for children to have both a father and mother that an imprisoned father was preferable to a same-sex parent.

Citing the work of one anti-poverty expert, Santorum said, "He found that even fathers in jail who had abandoned their kids were still better than no father at all to have in their children's lives."

Allowing gays to marry and raise children, Santorum said, amounts to "robbing children of something they need, they deserve, they have a right to. You may rationalize that that isn't true, but in your own life and in your own heart, you know it's true."

At a private boarding school Friday, the Republican presidential candidate's voice grew emotional as he argued that only a man and woman should be able to marry. "Marriage is not a right," Santorum said. "It's a privilege that is given to society by society for a reason.... We want to encourage what is the best for children."

The audience, half students and half local residents, reacted with snorts and applause. The students at Dublin School, which runs from ninth through 12th grade, were primed for Santorum's visit, said headmaster Brad Bates. He said three students in the audience had gay parents, though they were not among those who asked about the topic.

Santorum's comments once again drew attention away from his efforts to craft a blue-collar economic message. On Thursday he tangled with college students over same-sex marriage. In that encounter, a woman in the audience asked whether the right to happiness was grounds for gay people to marry, and Santorum responded by asking whether she believed more than two people could have that right. "If you're not happy unless you're married to five other people, is that OK?" he asked, prompting boos from the audience.

I thought he was just going to focus on the economy to win over those "socially libertarian" NH voters? I can't believe every political analyst lied to me.

*

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[Oblivion]

Bachmann won't be there.

[Mandark]

EDIT: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-campaign-20120107,0,4461003.story

You may rationalize that that isn't true, but in your own life and in your own heart, you know it's true."

That is just the favorite rhetorical gambit of shitty people and bigots, isn't it?

[Phoenix Dark]

You know you're wrong when you star quoting the Sith

[Barry Egan]

Gingrich is too depressed to effectively lay in to Romney 

[Oblivion]

Ron Paul absolutely eviscerated Newt tonight. That last bit at the end talking about how he joined the army even when he was married and had two kids was magnifique!


Oh, and I'll give George Stephonopolous 'some' credit for being not as useless a moderator as Diane Sawyer was.

[Phoenix Dark]

From the reactions I've seen it sounds like the field has pretty much given up and recognizes Romney is the nominee. They don't want to get on his bad side, except for Gingrich and of course Paul who doesn't give a shit

[benjipwns]

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/287483/do-we-have-ticket-here-kathryn-jean-lopez
 

may I express my gratitude for the liberal media anyway? You can’t help but think there were some gotcha questions there. And the field made America proud. Rick Santorum is not the caricature of him that the media insists he is. Mitt Romney has led on some of these so-called social issues and got to talk about just that. Newt Gingrich was articulate on the scandal of tolerance these days — as those who want to redefine marriage will not be satisfied until we all are forced to approve. Rick Perry expanded the religious-liberty discussion to discuss how this administration is penalizing human-trafficking victims because of its radical ideology. And the candidates made clear that their interest in these issues stemmed from a concern with freedom and who we are as a country — rather than anyone’s bedroom.

[Phoenix Dark]

[Barry Egan]

LITERALLY

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

You know you're wrong when you star quoting the Sith

Didn't realize Santorum was such a piece of shit too. What a crap election this is gonna be.

 :santocry

[recursivelyenumerable]

He is correct, light moves at a different speed in the middle east than the rest of the world - if you and Obama understood the region you would know this.

[Oblivion]

We're worried about Iran getting a bomb when they already have the warp drive?

[Cheebo]

Even when trying to explain away his firing/pink slip comment he somehow makes himself even more disconnected from the middle class/blue collar worker:

"I started at the bottom like other freshly minted MBA's...you wonder if you're gonna hang on to your job."

This of course helps

[Phoenix Dark]

I get the context he made the comment in, but there are so many better ways to say that. It kind of speaks to the person he is, and his background.

Just stupid. I guess his folks will respond by replaying Obama's "lazy Americans" comment smh