US Politics Thread |OT| SAD TRUMP

[agrajag]

So anyways, back to the ACA repeal.

I get that FUD against any source of embarrassing information is pretty much automatic for the GOP, but even so the attacks on the ACA feel goofy.

They're repealing rules which mandate health insurance and slashing funding to subsidize that coverage. That's pretty explicitly designed to push people away from health insurance, no?

One of my biggest annoyances right now is pretty much this very thing.

On the one hand you have Ryan/Trump/GOP claiming if they don't do anything Obamacare will collapse completely. Setting aside the CBO, Kaiser, and numerous other places disputing that, how the fuck does that square with them passing a bill that relies on the functioning of those exchanges to work?

 Since in addition to that, all the complaints they have leveled at the ACA for why it is collapsing or failing, are not actually improved by this bill. In many cases, it makes them worse.

But it will give people choices! CHOICES! And being able to buy insurance across state lines! And the invisible hand of the free market will make healthcare affordable for all, and people will shit rainbows and there will be fountains of gold.

[benjipwns]

We have a couple regulars who know way more and can correct my post but I hope I got the jist of it mostly right for the questions asked. CIA/NSA covers different types of intelligence, CIA has actual goals to where it cooperates with "enemies" depending on them, the NSA more or less has just existed to collect data with no clear end goal. (Either because it never got one, or it's shifted from the Soviets to rogue states to terrorism to who knows.)

I'd say Oliver puts too much faith in the whole "the law says the CIA can't do this!" But then again, I obviously would say that.

[benjipwns]

For the record, since I know you're all wondering, the DIA is the one I trust the least. Either because I expect incompetence (NSA), disinterest (CIA) or legal rigidity (FBI) to protect me and Kara from them.

Also, the DIA seems to do everything the creepiest way they can. The Father Mike of intelligence agencies.

[agrajag]

Seems to me that CIA is the one that tends to bend the rules the most, due to its very nature. Any reading material on the function of all of these agencies?

[Trent Dole]

oh here come the tweetsplainers

 

TIME TO PLAY THE GAME theory.

[Kara]

For the record, since I know you're all wondering, the DIA is the one I trust the least. Either because I expect incompetence (NSA), disinterest (CIA) or legal rigidity (FBI) to protect me and Kara from them.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Too soon?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Well yeah, literally, neither of us are dead.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yet.

[close]

[close]

[close]

[Nola]

So anyways, back to the ACA repeal.

I get that FUD against any source of embarrassing information is pretty much automatic for the GOP, but even so the attacks on the ACA feel goofy.

They're repealing rules which mandate health insurance and slashing funding to subsidize that coverage. That's pretty explicitly designed to push people away from health insurance, no?

One of my biggest annoyances right now is pretty much this very thing.

On the one hand you have Ryan/Trump/GOP claiming if they don't do anything Obamacare will collapse completely. Setting aside the CBO, Kaiser, and numerous other places disputing that, how the fuck does that square with them passing a bill that relies on the functioning of those exchanges to work?

 Since in addition to that, all the complaints they have leveled at the ACA for why it is collapsing or failing, are not actually improved by this bill. In many cases, it makes them worse.

But it will give people choices! CHOICES! And being able to buy insurance across state lines! And the invisible hand of the free market will make healthcare affordable for all, and people will shit rainbows and there will be fountains of gold.

The greatest con Republicans have ever pulled off is convincing their followers, and eventually themselves, that the ideal solution to every market problem is always less government and getting private industry more involved.

[VomKriege]

The latest FP podcast is 

US military efforts creeping up everywhere without any clear indication at whom behest and for which strategy. Rex Tillerson MIA and the State Department out of the loop for the visit of the Mexican Foreign Minister. No real reaction to the recent North Korean outburst. Rumors that President Trump is basically "directing" foreign policy over dinner with the core WH staff...

Also despite Trump documented mistrust of jobs statistics, Spicer would like to please accept them at face value now ?

[benjipwns]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/841966077005463553

[benjipwns]

Fox News presents the World's Shittiest Humble Brag:

[benjipwns]

The "Godfather of Trumpmania," Michael Savage, examines the initial appointments, speeches, tweets and history of Donald Trump and offers his insights and analysis. The man many consider to be the determining factor in driving Trump over the finish line by motivating millions of undecideds and the "Deplorables," who would have otherwise sat out the election, provides a crucial first look at the early direction of the Trump presidency.

Savage has waged a twenty-five year war on the radio to save America's borders, language and culture from a progressive onslaught that is already turning Europe into a socialist, multiculturalist nightmare, where violent gangs of radical Islamic refugees terrorize defenseless citizens on a daily basis.

While most in the chattering classes around the world dismissed Trump's campaign, conservative radio icon Dr. Michael Savage championed Trump's platform and helped him galvanize the support of disaffected middle Americans left behind by the globalist central planners in their distant capitol.

Savage's army of listeners on The Savage Nation was instrumental in electing Donald Trump to take the fight to Washington. But electoral victory was only the beginning. Trump now has an even bigger challenge in delivering on the promises he made to millions of American voters.

He faces relentless opposition from special interests in both parties who stand to lose trillions if Trump's America First policies become the law of the land.

Dr. Michael Savage has been on the front line of this fight for decades and knows what Trump and his administration are up against. He lays out a path to victory for the new, conservative American revolutionaries in Trump's War.

[daemon]

The anti-Trump journos need to hire Kazuhira Miller so they stop being played like a fiddle.

[Phoenix Dark]

Looks like I'll have to stop saying Lane Kiffin is the king of "falling up" and replace him with Paul Ryan. At least Kiffin has accomplished some things (championships, banging coeds).

Lane Kiffin : Al Davis :: Paul Ryan : Donald Trump

This would explain Trump's obsession with Obama, who is 6'2, about 200 pounds and runs at least a 4.20.

[benjipwns]

finally, we're back to real politics:
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/omalley-iowa-2020-236063

O'Malley tests 2020 waters with Iowa poll
By GABRIEL DEBENEDETTI 03/15/17 06:00 AM EDT

Donald Trump is only in his second month in the White House, but already one Democrat is polling his party's Iowa caucus-goers ahead of a possible 2020 run for the presidency.

The leadership PAC of former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley commissioned a Public Policy Polling survey of the first-in-the-nation caucus state earlier this month, according to a copy of the results obtained by POLITICO.

The poll, which shows O’Malley at 18 percent of Democratic caucus-goers in a field of nine potential candidates if the contest were held today, also asked the Iowans about New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker; former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro; New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo; Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg; and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. “Not sure” got 32 percent of the vote.

O’Malley — who ran against Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for the 2016 nomination before dropping out on caucus night after earning less than 1 percent of the vote — was joined at the top of the poll by Booker, who was at 17 percent. Klobuchar, who represents a neighboring state and who's been a frequent visitor to Iowa over the years, got 11 percent. All other candidates were under 10 percent.

[benjipwns]

runs at least a 4.20.

  he can't even lose Joe

[Kara]

Fox News presents the World's Shittiest Humble Brag:
(Image removed from quote.)

THE AMOUNT OF TAX YOU PAY ON YOUR GROSS INCOME ISN'T YOUR TAX RATE

YOUR NET OPERATING LOSS GOES AGAINST YOUR GROSS INCOME ON TOP OF THAT

WHERE ARE MY SEDATIVES

YOU'RE KILLING ME LARRY

[zomgee]

THE AMOUNT OF TAX YOU PAY ON YOUR GROSS INCOME ISN'T YOUR TAX RATE

YOUR NET OPERATING LOSS GOES AGAINST YOUR GROSS INCOME ON TOP OF THAT

WHERE ARE MY SEDATIVES

YOU'RE KILLING ME LARRY

Yeah, but it makes for such an easy Facebook post.

[Stro]

Omg http://wishtv.com/2017/03/15/maddow-people-disappointed-by-trump-story-expected-too-much/


 


It's YOUR fault she didn't have anything to reveal, because you hyped yourself up for nothing. Losers. The claim about "external hype" being to blame instead of them hyping it when they had a countdown clock on screen and hosts before Rachael couldn't contain their excitement over how big it was.


“Because I have information about the president doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily a scandal,” she said. “It doesn’t mean that it’s damning information. If other people leapt to that conclusion without me indicating that it was, that hype is external to what we did.”

As she says after she spent an hour coming up with 30 hypothetical conspiracy theory scandals that could break out of we got his current taxes. If cable news was even slightly less ideological and identity based, this goof would probably sink her career and MSNBC's credibility as a result of her being the face of the network. Instead, the people on her side already think she's a hero who did something brave and integral to journalism today, and the people on the other side think she's a joke anyway, so ultimately nothing will come from this but a few days/weeks of memes.

[agrajag]

lol Maddow

The nothingburger that was Trump's 1040 form from 2005 should've been a five minute segment at most.

[FStop7]

Edward R. Murrow spinning in his grave at the current state of journalism. 

[Boredfrom]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/841966077005463553

lol even when it benefits him...

[Kara]

lol Maddow

The nothingburger that was Trump's 1040 form from 2005 should've been a five minute segment at most.

Well it's not nothing (will try to give a #HotTake on it eventually), but if you were expecting the reporting of Russian bribes on an individual tax return you probably think too much of other people.

[agrajag]

I wasn't expecting anything 

[VomKriege]

Not to exonerate Maddow but there's clearly a sense that some people expect :

- A smoking gun
- With a paper trail
- That would end the administration overnight

[agrajag]

Not to exonerate Maddow but there's clearly a sense that some people expect :

- A smoking gun
- With a paper trail
- That would end the administration overnight

And she totally fed their delusions with her 30 minute "context" build up.

[Mandark]

This seems like the entire conservative wing throwing up their hands and admitting no, they don't have any ideas on how to address healthcare.

There just isn't a solution that stays true to conservative-libertarian beliefs while also making sure people can get health care without being bankrupted.

Even so, it's impressive how badly this has been handled. Specifically, how does the GOP, as reliant on older voters as it is, create something that is so unfavorable to 50-64 year olds and gets the AARP lined up against them? It might still get passed out of desperation to avoid an L, but feels pretty amateurish so far.

[agrajag]

They're in a lose lose situation with the health bill. If it passes, they will seriously fuck shit up for a lot of their constituents. If it doesn't pass, they look like incompetent losers. Actually, if anything, it's better for the GOP if it doesn't pass. That way they can blame Democratic obstructionism and claim that the bill would have worked.

[Great Rumbler]

Second travel ban just got blocked nationwide:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/federal-judge-just-blocked-trumps-revised-travel-ban-nationwide

[TakingBackSunday]

Meanwhile Trump is like three miles away from me and I can smell the sulfur

[Madrun Badrun]

Meanwhile Trump is like three miles away from me and I can smell the sulfur

You making a bomb?  forwarding to FBI...NY office

[Boredfrom]

Second travel ban just got blocked nationwide:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/federal-judge-just-blocked-trumps-revised-travel-ban-nationwide

Bitching about this in his rally will not help his case. Trump is truly a dumbass.

[Joe Molotov]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/842154802058543105

Real recognize real.

[Trent Dole]

Can we basically confirm with the second ban getting sacked that these people have no idea wtf they're doing? I kind of figured the first was a trial balloon for what they could get away with and then the revised one would stick but looks like no.

[PlayDat]

I like Maddow (as a personality, it’s been years since I tuned in regularly).  The way she handled the tax info is typical of her.

Surprised this post-election night gem hasn’t been quoted yet.

"Do you see this tear? It came from my left eye. Now I want you to look at this photo...yes, it's of a movie film reel. Well the film I'm going to talk to you about is not that, exactly. It's called the precorneal film. It covers your eyes and makes you, well, cry. That's what my left eye is doing right now. So the question you're probably asking yourself is, where did this tear come from? I want you to look at this photo. It may look like abstract art but in actuality it is...you guessed it, the Lacrimal apparatus. It's where tears are manufactured, including the one from my left eye. Why does this matter? I'll tell you after the break."

I don’t think she needed to present it that way to hold the audience’s attention.  Her ratings have been through the roof lately.  It was a good idea to devote most of her program to giving context (though I would’ve switched the order so the meat comes first).  A significant portion of her current viewers weren’t paying enough attention to politics over the past 8 years.  People are going back to left-wing cable news and comedy in a big way.  I wish liberals would remain as critical of the federal government in times when Democrats have control.  “Extremist” ideas like racial and economic equality might actually become mainstream.

I do think the little we’ve seen is a bad sign for Trump.  It doesn’t seem farfetched to me to believe he has something to hide whether it relates to Russia or general tax evasive fuckery.  If the rest of his taxes are so innocuous then why not just release them so Democrats have one less thing to hold against him?

[Nola]

Can we basically confirm with the second ban getting sacked that these people have no idea wtf they're doing? I kind of figured the first was a trial balloon for what they could get away with and then the revised one would stick but looks like no.

Oh to be a microwave in The West Wing right about now....

[VomKriege]

Can we basically confirm with the second ban getting sacked that these people have no idea wtf they're doing? I kind of figured the first was a trial balloon for what they could get away with and then the revised one would stick but looks like no.

I think it's safe to say it now, yes. There's no master plan, just a bunch of people unfamiliar and uninterested in governing the proper way at the top with a poor grasp on the institutional balance and interplay. Not to mention driven by some extreme ideas and possibly somewhat in bed with a foreign power.

If the rest of his taxes are so innocuous then why not just release them so Democrats have one less thing to hold against him?

Trump was documented as being super ego-sensitive on the matter of his wealth and his claims of bigly richness are part of his name recognition and thus his brand. I could see why he wouldn't release it regardless of contents (though yeah you'd probably find some dubious tax fuckery if you dug enough, he's a multimillionaire after all).

[benjipwns]

PD he stealin your bits like amy schumer:

[Phoenix Dark]

Second travel ban just got blocked nationwide:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/federal-judge-just-blocked-trumps-revised-travel-ban-nationwide

Bitching about this in his rally will not help his case. Trump is truly a dumbass.

Was it bitching? Seemed more like snitching. Stephen Miller made similar comments recently about the new EO having the same intent as the old old. It's almost like these guys revamped Bush era bravado and made it dumber.

[benjipwns]

You don't have to be a ninth-dimensional chess master to realize that tossing out orders that you know will get swatted down lets you look like you're doing something but being obstructed by those dang activist judges, especially when you can't get anything through Congress. Wouldn't be the first administration. This decade. That's Republican.

[benjipwns]

A real chessmaster plan would be doing it in order to get a circuit split and make the immigration and Supreme Court nomination into one big fight that completely destroys the planet.

[benjipwns]

Then Trump tweets something about how Sotomayor has to recuse herself from the case.

[daemon]

^benji tweeting posts.

Can we basically confirm with the second ban getting sacked that these people have no idea wtf they're doing? I kind of figured the first was a trial balloon for what they could get away with and then the revised one would stick but looks like no.

actually, it could be the opposite, although it's quite probably what you say.

You put your entire wishlist and keep taking out one wish at a time. Eventually it gets through.

PD he stealin your bits like amy schumer:

the handwaving around 0:50 killed me.

I do think the little we’ve seen is a bad sign for Trump.  It doesn’t seem farfetched to me to believe he has something to hide whether it relates to Russia or general tax evasive fuckery. If the rest of his taxes are so innocuous then why not just release them so Democrats have one less thing to hold against him?

Because that way they will spend time finding possibly nothing. It's like saying, in a poker hand, why don't you show your pocket aces? people would believe your all-in. That's the point, you want them to make the call.

[Kara]

If the rest of his taxes are so innocuous then why not just release them so Democrats have one less thing to hold against him?

I don't think he wants anyone to see his Schedules E (for a few reasons).

[toku]

https://twitter.com/MikeGrunwald/status/842366659302199298

[Nola]

Focusing more on space is pretty wise. It shows a lot more foresight and long-term vision then I had come to expect from this administration.

Recognizing, rightly so, that investing in other planets is gonna be more important then ever if we keep electing Trumps all over the world.

[Mandark]

https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/842377879216394240

I'd imagine pretty much every president gets frustrated at how slow things are and how little direct power they have, but man...

[Brehvolution]

Focusing more on space is pretty wise. It shows a lot more foresight and long-term vision then I had come to expect from this administration.

Recognizing, rightly so, that investing in other planets is gonna be more important then ever if we keep electing Trumps all over the world.

The fossil fuel industry needs a new planet to mine. They just don't want to pay for the exploration.

[benjipwns]

SENATE CATFIGHT

[chronovore]

This seems like the entire conservative wing throwing up their hands and admitting no, they don't have any ideas on how to address healthcare.

There just isn't a solution that stays true to conservative-libertarian beliefs while also making sure people can get health care without being bankrupted.

Even so, it's impressive how badly this has been handled. Specifically, how does the GOP, as reliant on older voters as it is, create something that is so unfavorable to 50-64 year olds and gets the AARP lined up against them? It might still get passed out of desperation to avoid an L, but feels pretty amateurish so far.

I think they only practiced being an obstacle for the past 8 years, and have forgotten how to actually create effective legislature, only block it.

[Phoenix Dark]

SENATE CATFIGHT

my recommendations

[Madrun Badrun]

http://www.dancarlin.com/product/common-sense-314-unhealthy-numbers

[I'm a Puppy!]

The healthcare problem is the system. Not who pays.

[benjipwns]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article138743333.html

It was a secret meeting about an existential crisis.

Gathered behind closed doors in a Denver hotel, 30 conservative Democrats plotted a potential path forward for their party – an effort to devise a strategy that might help them avoid total annihilation in red states across America.

These political moderates had been called together by former Alaska Sen. Mark Begich, and they showed up out of fear that their party is growing more liberal by the day, and less interested in their centrist positions.

Over a packed three-day schedule with a battery of presentations, the U.S. senators, former federal prosecutors, mayors and top Cabinet officials from the Obama administration in attendance talked about faith and religious voters, heard from a radio host about a medium typically reserved for conservatives and considered research suggesting that liberal priorities – like student loan debt – are just not a big deal.

Begich and other Democrats at the forum said they didn’t want to provoke the party’s progressive wing, which has argued vehemently since last year’s election that Democrats need to adopt the type of muscular liberal agenda advocated by former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, an independent Vermont senator. In interview after interview, the party centrists who attended said they could find enough common ground with the party’s left wing to avoid conflict.

The presentations helped the group arrive at four core values that would unite Democrats of all kinds, according to Begich: security, opportunity, compassion and results.

“If you’re an independent Democrat in Alaska, you care about those four issues,” Begich said.

“If you’re a liberal in California, do you care about those four issues? The answer is yes.”

Begich said research he’d seen showed that younger voters didn’t care nearly as much about student debt as some liberals believed. It’s led the party to advocate solutions for problems that people simply don’t care as much about, he said.

“It was shocking to me, honestly shocking,” Begich said. “Because I’m thinking OK, the liberal wing talks about these things, which on the surface are fantastic. But we as Democrats are talking about things where we think people should be, and where the population is is actually a little different.”

[recursivelyenumerable]

This all happened because I finished paying off my student loans in 2015

[benjipwns]

my recommendations

*clicks video out of curosity* "Alright YouTube ... John McLame"

[benjipwns]

Styxhexenhammer666

For years I have created videos on a range of topics; politics, religion (and antireligion), gardening, current events, and philosophy. As an early arrival to Youtube, I have always disliked the concept of ad revenue, but being compensated for the rather massive amount of material I create is now a necessity. These extra funds will provide for better equipment, perhaps a better setup for content creation, and in the future, I hope, additional avenues for content creation altogether- perhaps live shows, and so forth. It will also ensure access to caffeine, which is very important for content creation.

My videos and written works are unrepentant and eclectic- I do not censor my views and never will. In today's somewhat numb world, I believe my video content is of value to everyone.

...

467
patrons

$2,686
per month

[El Babua]

Benji, did you realize your shitposts have value in the current market and you're not exploiting it?

[benjipwns]

he writes pamphlets too...*sets chair under fan...measures out rope*

http://tarlwarwickbooks.blogspot.com/

Against Corporate Media: Now Available!

CLICK TO PURCHASE

The third March manuscript I have constructed; a short tract detailing the evolution of, slow degeneration of, and various vices of, corporate media firms and their chosen platforms- their difficulty with the internet, their corruption and their fiscal and political backers' excuses for their constant propaganda.

Exposing truth is the best way to see that it is perpetuated; I am not satisfied with merely pointing to these things on the internet and decided the best way to further promulgate my ideological case against the MSM was through the use of a physical manifesto of sorts. The case I make here for resisting online censorship, decentralizing information dissemination, and ignoring corporate media is to the best of my ability succinct and complete.

38 pages.

Against Communism: Now Available!

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This short work is a pogrom against communism, as well as its various offshoots and "allies"- anarchism, socialism, and so forth. I could have written a 900 page manifesto against the ideology itself with ease but figured that wasn't prudent.

Communism is best attacked not with vague moral arguments but with an eye to evolution and biology; paired with an observation of its brief and violent history over the last century, communism is just another pile of trash in the garbage heap of non-working systems.

36 pages.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Magic of the Middle Ages: Now Available!



CLICK TO PURCHASE

This work is Rydberg's finest- an academic compilation of subjects ranging from a treatment of the burning times, and of religious philosophy (dualism, specifically) to short passages on some cryptids of note, to various meanderings through the high ritual magick and alchemy of the era spoken of. Clearly hostile to Catholic lore, Rydberg manages to choke back his disdain of that church long enough to give it a fair shake at explaining its constant pogroms through especially the era of King James.

Its third section is a strange sort of quasi-fictional tale involving a group of men time traveling to the dark ages and confronting a sorcerer who is under the belief that he himself conjured them, written partly in the first person.

114 pages.

[close]

[benjipwns]

i was clicking through his archive, he makes like five videos a day but more importantly he sometimes doesn't wear a shirt but keeps the leather jacket



i felt you all needed to know this

[bluemax]

This guy makes $30k a year doing what most Poligaf posters do for free.