All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!(Part II)

[WestPhillyPunisher]

NB4 "We were just cheering them on and trying to be friendly"

Seriously, if the Nativist wing of the Republicans want to be taken seriously as something other than White Supremacists they need to push for far more conciliation with the actual Natives....

A Nativist wing? Of the Grand Old WHITE Party? That’s like saying there’s an African-American wing of the Ku Klux Klan. I seriously doubt such a thing exists.

[Gray Lensman]

More extortion. Trump ended DACA. Now he's offering to reinstate it for his Wall in exchange for opening the Government which he also shut down. No giving in to thugs.

I'm not opposed to the idea, but....

The Dems need to make sure that they encode that support for DACA into law. Trump's promises are worthless. Also, the release of every hostage needs to be accompanied by removing the ability to take those hostages again.

So, they need to also enclose a law that forces payment to all essential workers - if he tries this again, anyone he calls to duty is required to get a paycheck.

[Tendrin]

The real issue here is, and remains, McConnel.

[Gray Lensman]

The real issue here is, and remains, McQuisling.

I edited for accuracy.

[Tendrin]

I edited for accuracy.

They're good edits, Brent.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I'm not opposed to the idea, but....

The Dems need to make sure that they encode that support for DACA into law. Trump's promises are worthless. Also, the release of every hostage needs to be accompanied by removing the ability to take those hostages again.

The ONLY way to do that is put a law into the books that Congressmen do NOT get paid when the government is shut down.

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Native American Vietnam Veteran Speaks Out After MAGA Hat-Wearing Teens Harass Him

Congresswoman Deb Haaland called the students’ behavior a show of “blatant hate.” Those shitstains need to be expelled, the teachers chaperoning them fired, and the school they attend censored in the WORST way!

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GOP Texas Border Congressman Calls Trump’s Crisis A ‘Myth,’ His Wall Ancient

“Building a wall from sea to shining sea is the most expensive and least effective way to do border security,” says Rep. Will Hurd. More Republicans need to grow a spine like Hurd and decry Trump's ultimate vanity project. Meanwhile....

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Donald Trump Sparks Anger With ‘Send A Brick’ To Nancy Pelosi And Chuck Schumer Campaign

“Inviting people to send a brick to Chuck and Nancy’s offices is likely to end with some nut hurling it through a window.” My thoughts exactly. And there's more than plenty of unhinged Trumpanzees who'd gladly do that very thing.

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Arkansas Eviction Scare Is A Preview Of Shutdown Hell

It might be illegal for landlords to evict tenants because the government hasn’t paid rent subsidies, but they might try it anyway. Sadly, it's only a matter of time before that happens.

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Trump Touts Border Wall In San Antonio, Which Has No Wall And Isn’t On The Border

The city is 150 miles north of Mexico. Clearly Dolt45 has ZERO grasp of geography either.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” posted a profile of John McGee, a former Idaho state senator whose career came to an abrupt halt after over the course of a few weeks back in 2012. You see, after attending a golf tournament where he had about eight drinks too many, he was found passed out in the road drunk behind the wheel of a stolen SUV with a 20 foot trailer blocking the road, and a blood alcohol level of .15. In the months after the incident, McGee was going to have to make a case to the rest of the Idaho State Senate of why he should keep his job, when news also broke that he had sexually harassed a female staffer who he had flashed his junk at and asked for sexual favors. We’ll at least give the guy credit for giving us a story where we don’t even have to look at their voting record.

On this date in 2016, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” posted a Saxby Chambliss, a former U.S. Senator from Georgia who a few months after 9/11, Chambliss told a reporter his plan for security after the terror attacks was to have sheriffs “arrest every Muslim crossing the state line.” After surviving this controversy by having President Bush, still riding on high approval ratings after 9/11, campaigning on his behalf on three separate occasions in the same election cycle. But where things truly got ugly was when Chambliss ran an advertisement that questioned Max Cleland’s commitment to national defense and homeland security, where images of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were juxtaposed against photos of Cleland, as if he was supporting terrorists and dictators. This would have been the same Max Cleland who is a Vietnam veteran, and lost three limbs in the conflict while serving his country. The ad was disgusting enough to get massive criticism even from Chambliss' fellow Republicans, incluing Sen. Chuck Hagel and Sen. John McCain. Meanwhile, as much as a "patriot" as Chambliss liked to pretend to be, he voted against the Zadroga Bill to provide healthcare for 9/11 First Responders. During his career, Chambliss voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, and to attempt to make English the national language and voted for a constitutional amendment to allow government buildings to erect monuments of the Ten Commandments.(both of which the Supreme Court had already voted down as unconstitutional at the time, voted for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton for lying about having an affair with Monica Lewinsky. Chambliss co-sponsored the Iraq War Resolution in 2002, advocated for repealing federal income taxes, and instead, to place a 30% sales tax upon all items purchased in the United States, which. economists called this proposal "foolish", if not "crazy" and even some noted conservative commentators saying, "The national sales tax is crazier, by an order of magnitude, than any other crazy idea I’ve seen at the national level. It’s so crazy that even really crazy right-wingers think it’s pretty crazy." Chambliss also consistently voted to ban same sex marriage, and when asked if he would reconsider his position on the issue, and he offers the bizarre response of, "I’m not gay. So I’m not going to marry one." In June of 2013, during a hearing on sexual assaults occurring within our military against female service members, Sen. Chambliss blamed the phenomenon on "hormones", a disgustingly passé view of things. In August 2014 Chambliss was still willing to go on CBS' "Face the Nation" and defend the use of waterboarding, still insisting that it isn't torture. He retired a few months later.



On this date in both 2017, as well as 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” had its first profile of Missouri State Senator David Sater, whose name suddenly turned up in the press a full decade into his career back in 2014 during discussion of an anti-abortion measure in the Missouri state legislature he was sponsoring (an extension of a waiting period for abortions from 24 to 72 hours) that Sater argued against exceptions for pregnant rape victims getting an abortion, blaming them for not just going and getting the "Plan B" pill the day after their rape. That was only somewhat revolting, but became hypocritically disgusting when it was noted by many that David Sater has spent his entire career as a legislator consistently voting against blocking access to Plan B Contraceptives, including once sponsoring a bill to allow pharmacies to refuse to stock it. A few months later, David Sater was continuing to argue against exceptions against rape for his 72 hour waiting period by arguing that getting an abortion after a rape was akin to "knee surgery" that he himself was waiting on. Democrats in the chamber then asked if he needed 72 hours to rethink his knee getting operated on, and Sater admitted he actually didn't. We want to be thorough, here, the stories about David Sater downplaying rape and abortion as akin to his own elective surgical procedures are not the only examples of his extremism, when you look at his voting record, including unconstitutional attempts to pass legislation to allow public prayer in public schools, to drug test welfare recipients, or to attempt to nullify the Affordable Care Act or the United Nations' Agenda 21 treaty.

David Sater has continued to take aim at the social safety net, submitting SB 562, a bill intending to establish work requirements for Medicaid recipients, the majority of whom are on Medicaid because they are disabled to begin with, and unable to work. He simultaneously also submitted SB 561, which was a work requirement bill for food stamp recipients, however Sater decided that if a parent is unable to work, then not only would they lose their allotted food stamps, but so would their children. Because starving someone’s kids is a “great motivator”, in his inhuman logical mind.

Sater was re-elected to a second four year term in the 2016 to represent District 29 in the Missouri State Senate because... no one bothered to run against him. The only positive note we have on Sater is that this will be his last four-year term in the Missouri state legislature, as he's term-limited in 2020. The end of his career cannot come soon enough.

[Tami]

Here’s an alternative to Trump’s extortion

President Trump has been taking hostages for two years. He ordered an end to dreamers' protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, ordered an end to the temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of people, and then forced a shutdown of the government, leaving 800,000 without a paycheck and inflicting financial and emotional pain on them, their families and (often small) businesses. And then he came up with a deal — such a deal! He would give partial relief to the dreamers and TPS people and get $5.7 billion for a wall; then he’d open the government.

Wait, you say. Wasn’t he the one who put DACA and TPS folks at risk, and haven’t the federal courts already given DACA beneficiaries a likely one-year reprieve? Well, yes. A burglar has broken into your home, has taken the silver and is now offering to lease it back to you for three years only — but first, give him a $5.7 billion edifice.

Alas, the press — fresh from a BuzzFeed beating — now presents Trump’s “offer” as serious. It’s not. Here is what would be a serious way to proceed:

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) brings the bill to the floor and allows amendments.
• After the amendment process is finished, the Senate votes.
• The House puts together its own bill: permanent DACA and TPS relief, money for border security (not a wall) and a way to prevent future shutdowns (e.g., an automatic continuing resolution in case funding lapses).
• The House passes its bill.
• As the two bills go to a conference, the government is reopened.
• The House and Senate then negotiate a resolution

.

This does not reward hostage-taking. It allows the parties negotiate on even footing. It does not give McConnell and anti-immigration hard-liners the “out” that they won’t consider something Trump doesn’t want. Trump would be forced to decide at the end of the process either to veto a bill everyone else agrees upon or to sign a compromise measure — and he wouldn’t have the shutdown as a further bargaining chip.

[Tendrin]

The only eviction that ought to come as a result of the shutdown is the one for the guy liviing at 1600 Pensylvania Avenue.

[Tami]

The only eviction that ought to come as a result of the shutdown is the one for the guy liviing at 1600 Pensylvania Avenue.

Currently the majority of the evidence we have against Trump, evidence needed to justify an impeachment, comes from investigative journalism. The Buzzfeed stumble has shown that, using News Media sources alone could backfire on those in Congress seeking to initiate impeachment proceedings.

Congress can't rely solely on what they read in the news, even if most of it is accurate and very well researched. And they can't rely solely on the Mueller investigation, since there is no guarantee that teh DOJ and the WH won't try to suppress his report, or that his report will be detailed enough to provide all the needed evidence.

Congress needs to do their own investigations, however, this Government Shutdown is slowing that process down.

This could take a while.

[jetengine]

At this point its abundantly clear that (much like the Electoral college) the Government shutdown option is both hideously outdated, broken and an easy tool to subvert the government. Both should be scrapped.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Currently the majority of the evidence we have against Trump, evidence needed to justify an impeachment, comes from investigative journalism. The Buzzfeed stumble has shown that, using News Media sources alone could backfire on those in Congress seeking to initiate impeachment proceedings.

Congress can't rely solely on what they read in the news, even if most of it is accurate and very well researched. And they can't rely solely on the Mueller investigation, since there is no guarantee that teh DOJ and the WH won't try to suppress his report, or that his report will be detailed enough to provide all the needed evidence.

Congress needs to do their own investigations, however, this Government Shutdown is slowing that process down.

This could take a while.

News outlets could’ve decided to simply not run the Buzzfeed story, but it was too juicy for them to resist. It wouldn’t surprise me if it turns out that the suits in the boardroom told the producers to run the story, regardless of if it was accurate or not because of the ratings they would’ve gotten.

[Kirby101]

At this point its abundantly clear that (much like the Electoral college) the Government shutdown option is both hideously outdated, broken and an easy tool to subvert the government. Both should be scrapped.

You can't stop Government shut downs. Congress must pass a budget for the Government to run. If they don't they pass a Continuing Resolution to fund the Government until a Budget is passed. Without funding, the Government shuts down. In this case Trump is refusing to sign any CR (even though the last one passed the Senate unanimously). The only way to open the Government over Trump is if the House and Senate passed a CR or Budget by 2/3, overriding any veto. The GOP is too cowardly to do that.
The Elect0oral College could be done away with if all States promised to give their EC votes to the person with the majority in the General. Then there would be no need to try and change the Constitution.

I don't know the history of all the shut downs, but I would think this is over the most shallow and false reason. And that includes Newt's hissy fit.

[Tami]

News outlets could’ve decided to simply not run the Buzzfeed story, but it was too juicy for them to resist. It wouldn’t surprise me if it turns out that the suits in the boardroom told the producers to run the story, regardless of if it was accurate or not because of the ratings they would’ve gotten.

I think they handled it as well as they could. The story was out there, they reported it but added that ot had not bee verified or collaborated by any other news service. To have ignored it wouldn't have worked either since the Buzfeed report would still be out there. The best they, the other news outlets and media, could do is to report it a unconfirmed and then to send their own reporters out to see if they could find anything that backs it up or shoots it down.

The Mueller Team's commentary both helps and doesn't. It mostly just creates more confusion. Are they shooting down the entire Buzzfeed report? or do they just has issues with some aspect of it? Does what the Mueller Team know m ore about this that would imply that there needs to be a more nuanced approach to it? Or is the report incomplete? Obviously the Mueller Team can't divulge everything they know, but their comment on it may imply that the Buzzfeed report, while not entirely accurate, might be touching on a critical nerve in the Investigation. Might be getting too close to something. Or, the Mueller Team might have felt that the Buzzfeed report could place the investigation at risk.

Would the Mueller Team have issued a statement simply to protect Donald Trump? Were they afraid that the Report, uncorroborated as it was, would be enough to send everyone into an Impeachment Tailspin? It's possible, but if so it's rather cynical. There have been many news stories out there already that could have been used as justification for Impeachment. And House Democrats are well aware that they can't just yell Impeach without enough evidence to support it. House Democratic Leadership knows that, unless they can force Senate Republicans to acknowledge that something really bad is happening, their attempts at impeachment would fall flat.

I could be wrong, but I do think that the Buzzfeed article hit too close to the Mueller investigation. Close enough that they had to respond.

[Mister Mets]

You can't stop Government shut downs. Congress must pass a budget for the Government to run. If they don't they pass a Continuing Resolution to fund the Government until a Budget is passed. Without funding, the Government shuts down. In this case Trump is refusing to sign any CR (even though the last one passed the Senate unanimously). The only way to open the Government over Trump is if the House and Senate passed a CR or Budget by 2/3, overriding any veto. The GOP is too cowardly to do that.
The Elect0oral College could be done away with if all States promised to give their EC votes to the person with the majority in the General. Then there would be no need to try and change the Constitution.

I don't know the history of all the shut downs, but I would think this is over the most shallow and false reason. And that includes Newt's hissy fit.

Congress could pass an automatic-continuing-resolution provision, which would take away the option of government shutdowns.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...tdowns/579331/

As for the Electoral College, there is a plan called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact that would give the electoral votes of states who agree to participate to the winner of the national popular vote. The popular college compact doesn't require every state's buy-in. It needs every state with a total of 270 electoral votes. So far it's been approved by 11 states and Washington DC with a total of 172 electoral votes.

https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/

There are two problems with it.

Reliably Democratic states have supported it because their constituencies want it, and they think it favors the Democratic party. Swing states aren't voting for it, because they think it will lower their power. Reliably Republican states also aren't voting for it, because they don't see any advantage to it.

If it were to happen, there is the potential for a legal fight in the event that it becomes useful, and the winner of the traditional electoral college vote differs from the winner of the popular vote. Until it's adjudicated, campaigns might not be tempted to go whole-hog in embracing it. You might also have a situation in which one party is clearly favored, and the other decides to compete in the electoral college, since their best bet would be an argument against the legality of the National Popular Vote compact.