All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[Steel Inquisitor]

Wouldn’t there be problems even if he managed to get the changes he wants through Congress?

I know everything is bigger in America...but those tax takes through closing various tax loopholes, taxing off shore income, etc seem enormous.

Those forecast takes can only be guesstimates...and may well be super optimistic...large multinational companies will seek new loopholes as quickly as the old ones and are closed. And at least some American multinationals..faced with offshore profits being taxed..will simply re-incorporate elsewhere.

There would, except it'd get more people on board rather than dying outright before getting to politicians like Manchin. The problem with these plans are that it's a bingo card for What Not To Do To for bills. It ticks off more than one third rail from the word go. The guesstimates by themselves are massive problems given how big the numbers are and who they target, it's putting a red flag in front of influential donors and interests, like the military industrial complex, are daring them to destroy it. They'll have greater control over this than Sanders will, given he has few strong allies in congress. More than half the Justice Democrats could not sign on.

Having said that...closing tax loopholes and raising some taxes to raise money for useful welfare spending is attractive..but it does need to be underpinned by realistic, detailed planned.

Yep. Sanders is no Warren on this front.

[Superbat]

Warren at risk of losing her home state

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/0...husetts-118054

BOSTON — Bernie Sanders is outpacing Elizabeth Warren in polls across the Super Tuesday map. But one state stings more than the others: Massachusetts.

Warren is at risk of losing her home state, the latest indignity in her long slide in the polls in her own backyard. As recently as October, the two-term senator held a 20-percentage point lead over Sanders, according to a WBUR poll. According to the latest public poll, she trails him by one point.

Now, in the run-up to the March 3 primary, Sanders is going all in on his bid to pick off Massachusetts, culminating in a four-day music and canvassing festival in Worcester that begins Friday.

"The trajectory for both Warren and Sanders follows national trends. October was the peak for Warren nationally as well, while Sanders is gaining everywhere lately. Looking inside the numbers, it's young voters who are strong for Sanders in a really unique way. We saw that also in the Iowa and New Hampshire results, where nearly half the voters under age 30 were for Sanders in each state. So I don't think this is unique to Massachusetts," said Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC Polling Group, which conducted the October poll.

"Certainly it will be interpreted differently here because Massachusetts is Sen. Warren's home state. But the underlying dynamics are the same as what we've seen in polls and results elsewhere in recent weeks," Koczela added.

Losing a home state primary doesn’t necessarily spell the end of the campaign for presidential hopefuls. But it’s both a humbling result and a sign of weakness that has caused some candidates — like Republican Marco Rubio in the 2016 GOP primary — to drop out. Others have ended their campaigns before risking a home state defeat and risking damage to their future political prospects.

[aja_christopher]

The Democrats are divided enough, I would like to know why you think making it worse would be good.

Some believe that allowing the Republicans to completely take power would force people to rise up and overthrow the system completely.

It's is an irresponsible risk to take with the lives of others, especially when it could result in Republican authoritarian rule.

Being angry is not a plan.

[Steel Inquisitor]

Some believe that allowing the Republicans to completely take power would force people to rise up and overthrow the system completely.

It's is an irresponsible risk to take with the lives of others, especially when it could result in Republican authoritarian rule.

Being angry is not a plan.

Especially when it's been proven again and again to be a failed strategy, like in '18. Trump's riding high, thanking them for their service.

[PaulBullion]

I remember when Justin Amash was the DAHLINK! of the Democrats in their shitty attempt to impeach Trump.
But look at how he votes...
Can we PLEASE stop believing the GOP has good intentions when it comes to helping people?
Rep. Amash among 4 lawmakers to vote against anti-lynching bill

Literally every time a centrist mentioned his opposition to Trump on this thread, we put the qualifier "let's not forget he is fucking racist Tea Party lunatic though" right next to his name. But ok.

[PaulBullion]

Yes.

The Democrats would rather lose an election than lose the party to leftist insurgents.

Their number one priority is maintaining power.

Wait.
Didn't you tell us Sanders is the true centrist?
Now he's a leftist insurgent?

Could you elaborate on that?

[Theleviathan]

M8, your article says the same thing I did.

Selective reading! How Trumpian again! Yes, he did try that. Do you know why he tried that? Because he was losing by almost 4 million votes and wanted to force a contested convention in which he'd take the nomination despite having significantly less popular support. Now, in 2020, he wants no chance for a contested convention or super delegates because HE is the popular vote leader.

Quit lying. Or being gullible to lying. It does your candidate no favors when rational people see you acting this irrationally.

[Theleviathan]

After reading this, I don't want to hear anyone say that Bernie doesn't have a plan to pay for any of his proposed agenda.

He really doesn't. If you go to other links, including his own website, you'll find the numbers he provides for revenue fall short of the costs. Especially in the immediacy. Most of his funding comes from future projections. I would also note, every candidate floats numbers for revenue streams to pay for their proposals but rarely do those revenue streams actually generate that much revenue. It's best to take thos projections with a grain of salt. They are purposely optimistic.

And even with optimistic numbers, he's still short. All the more reason he's smart to keep dodging that issue. I just don't know how effectively he'll be able to if he's the nominee.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

Wait.
Didn't you tell us Sanders is the true centrist?
Now he's a leftist insurgent?

Could you elaborate on that?

Sanders is center-left, but he has leftists coalescing around him. Kshama Sawant and Cornel West, for example, are some of his biggest supporters.

Sanders is running an anti-establishment campaign, and he's shown that he will campaign for those closer to the left during primaries than support long serving incumbents. Not only is Sanders is sympathetic to leftists, even if he isn't one, but a Sanders victory will signal to leftists that they can mold the party in their image. If they can nab Sanders the nomination, it tells them they can beat these powerful political institutions, and it means the Democrats are no longer in control of their party. All the long-standing Democrats like Pelosi and Schumer won't be determining the future of the party, the people that got Sanders the nomination will.

[PaulBullion]

Sanders is center-left, but he has leftists coalescing around him. Kshama Sawant and Cornel West, for example, are some of his biggest supporters.

Sanders is running an anti-establishment campaign, and he's shown that he will campaign for those closer to the left during primaries than support long serving incumbents. Not only is Sanders is sympathetic to leftists, even if he isn't one, but a Sanders victory will signal to leftists that they can mold the party in their image. If they can nab Sanders the nomination, it tells them they can beat these powerful political institutions, and it means the Democrats are no longer in control of their party. All the long-standing Democrats like Pelosi and Schumer won't be determining the future of the party, the people that got Sanders the nomination will.

He is to the right of everybody else running (and pretty much everybody who dropped out) on gun control, though. Maybe the left-right spectrum is not that helpful after all in its oversimplification?

[PaulBullion]

About 45 minutes after opening, the DJI is already nearly 1000 points down again. This will be the worst week since 2008 under Bush.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

He is to the right of everybody else running (and pretty much everybody who dropped out) on gun control, though. Maybe the left-right spectrum is not that helpful after all in its oversimplification?

Gun control is one issue, and it isn't something that falls so easily into either the right or the left, as both sides have greatly different reasons for opposing it.

Still, one or two issues aside, Sanders is closer to the left than any of the other candidates.

[JCAll]

He is to the right of everybody else running (and pretty much everybody who dropped out) on gun control, though. Maybe the left-right spectrum is not that helpful after all in its oversimplification?

The D&D alignment style charts I sometimes see people make aren't a lot better.

[kidfresh512]

I know it's early, but this shaping up to be George W. Bush and Katrina all over again, perhaps worse as the aftermath of the disaster in New Orleans was the result of gross incompetence, Trump and coronavirus is willful negligence backed up by gaslighting and hiding information from the public. Meanwhile....

Investment Advisors Worry U.S. Response To Coronavirus Is Too Little Too Late

California Monitoring 8,400 People For Coronavirus, But Needs More Test Kits

What Would Happen If U.S. Schools Close Because Of Coronavirus?

Anderson Cooper Hits Donald Trump With Stark Reality Check About The Coronavirus

New Yorker Slaps Donald Trump With Sarcastic Coronavirus Cover



====================

In non-coronavirus news....

Joe Biden Bets Big On South Carolina, But Super Tuesday Could Be A Problem

The former vice president clearly has momentum in the Palmetto State. But his campaign is paying little attention elsewhere in the country.

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Bloomberg On Ex-Felon Voting Rights In 2018: ‘They’re Not Going To Vote Anyway’

The Democratic presidential hopeful now has a plan to restore voting rights for felons, but he didn’t seem to care much about the issue two years ago.

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Jesus Would Be Maligned As ‘Radical’ By Today’s Congress

The New York lawmaker invoked her Christian faith in a passionate defense of the dignity and rights of LGBTQ Americans.

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Tribal Leader Blasts Border Wall Construction On Sacred Burial Land In Powerful Testimony

“These sites are not only sacred to the Nation; they are a part of our shared cultural heritage as United States citizens.”

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Report: U.S. Right-Wing Extremists Killed 330 People In Last Decade

A new Anti-Defamation League report also finds that an anti-Latino massacre at a Walmart made 2019 the sixth-deadliest for extremist-related violence since 1970.

Media Covering Coronavirus to ‘Bring Down the President,’ Mulvaney Claims

OXON HILL, Md. — Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, on Friday blamed the media for exaggerating the seriousness of coronavirus because “they think this will bring down the president, that’s what this is all about.”

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual gathering of conservative activists, Mr. Mulvaney played down concerns about the virus that is spreading around the globe and panicking investors.

Mr. Mulvaney said the administration took “extraordinary steps four or five weeks ago,” to prevent the spread of the virus when it declared a rare public health emergency and barred entry by most foreign nationals who had recently visited China.

“Why didn’t you hear about it?” Mr. Mulvaney said of travel restrictions that were widely covered in the news media. “What was still going on four or five weeks ago? Impeachment, that’s all the press wanted to talk about.”

This **** is so dangerous. These wild aspersions of being victimized by reporting on a worldwide virus because they don't want to be "blamed" for the poor response so far and lack of planning. And the connections to having cut the CDC budgets etc and prioritizing a racist do nothing wall over making sure we are ready for these things.

There are millions of people that easily buy into these conspiracies. And will disregard or not do basic things to protect themselves. That would be fine if their believing in conspiracies only effected them.

But just like anti vaxxers decisions we ALL have to live around these people and not believing science or warnings from doctors, or trusting reporting matters.

Its dangerous and supremely selfish and irresponsible

[Robotman]

Media Covering Coronavirus to ‘Bring Down the President,’ Mulvaney Claims

This **** is so dangerous. These wild aspersions of being victimized by reporting on a worldwide virus because they don't want to be "blamed" for the poor response so far and lack of planning. And the connections to having cut the CDC budgets etc and prioritizing a racist do nothing wall over making sure we are ready for these things.

There are millions of people that easily buy into these conspiracies. And will disregard or not do basic things to protect themselves. That would be fine if their believing in conspiracies only effected them.

But just like anti vaxxers decisions we ALL have to live around these people and not believing science or warnings from doctors, or trusting reporting matters.

Its dangerous and supremely selfish and irresponsible

Lying, denying facts, and touting conspiracy theories have been the foundation of the Trump administration (and the modern GOP), why would they stop now during a true global crisis? People are dying and they’re playing the victim and their base is eating it up.