All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[Theleviathan]

A man in Iowa asks Joe Biden to stop supporting the building of new pipelines. Joe Biden tells him to go vote for someone else and then starts accusing him of voting for Bernie Sanders. Actually, the man says, he's voting for Tom Steyer. Very awkward.
https://twitter.com/ZaidJilani/statu...58335342366721[video]

I don't like the way Biden handled that, but he basically just said he isn't changing his mind and the guy should vote elsewhere if he doesn't like it either. Isn't that kind of cranky, no compromise exactly what Bernie does? I'm pretty sure if you asked Bernie if he liked pumpkin pie he could find a way to talk about Medicare for All.

Not a graceful handling of that situation. I don't think we have to crucify him though.

[numberthirty]

I don't like the way Biden handled that, but he basically just said he isn't changing his mind and the guy should vote elsewhere if he doesn't like it either. Isn't that kind of cranky, no compromise exactly what Bernie does? I'm pretty sure if you asked Bernie if he liked pumpkin pie he could find a way to talk about Medicare for All.

Not a graceful handling of that situation. I don't think we have to crucify him though.

Sure.

That said, it feels like it is becoming a pattern that doesn't lead to anywhere you would want to go.

Edit:

On what's in green...

Having watched it a couple of times now, I'm having a tough time coming up with the "Bernie Sanders..." version of pipeline construction would be.

It's not like that's something that only a handful of Democratic/"Left" voters have an issue with.

If you are anyone who has doubts about how Biden has come down on "Money" versus "Voters" so far, this didn't do anything to ease those concerns.

[aja_christopher]

I think you are wrong on Bush Sr. IIRC, he inherited his recession from Reagan and manages to turn it around in the latter part of his presidency, except that the recovery was in slow motion. The public didn't start to feel the effects until after he was gone.

And if I recall correctly, he had to go against his own party and raise taxes just to dig us out of the hole they had dug us into.

Now they just let the Democrats do it and then accuse them of "taxing and spending" until they can take power again.

Edit: Mainly this just means that Reagan should be added to the list as well, while Bush Sr deserves some credit for acknowledging one of the primary faults of his party (fiscal irresponsibility) and taking steps to correct them.

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"As they battled for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination, Bush accused Reagan of "voodoo economics" for insisting he could balance the budget while cutting taxes and boosting defense spending. Events proved Bush right, and Reagan handed his vice president a larger deficit than he inherited from Jimmy Carter.

The S&L cleanup made those deficits worse. The mid-1990 recession darkened the fiscal outlook further.

In his own 1988 campaign, Bush had pledged to resist any tax increases. That pleased his party's ascendant, anti-government conservatives, who favored shrinking taxes and spending in tandem. Yet keeping that pledge would have precluded action on deficits. Congressional Democrats, determined to protect government services and benefits their party created during the New Deal and Great Society, opposed relying exclusively on spending cuts.

So Bush announced he wouldn't keep his promise. That enraged conservatives but produced a bipartisan deal. The president accepted several tax increases, most notably an increase in the top personal tax rate to 31 percent from Reagan's 28 percent. Democrats accepted spending cuts twice as large in dollar value.

Their deal, followed by another one three years later during Bill Clinton's presidency, paid long-term dividends. The 1990s ended with the economy booming and the federal budget in surplus. The fallout reshaped the Republican Party. No national GOP leader since has accepted that preserving the government services Americans want requires higher taxes.

Instead, the party has treated the levers of government power as a one-way ratchet down for tax rates. The next two Republican presidents – Bush's son and now Donald Trump – cut taxes though neither circumstances nor public sentiment have supported corresponding cuts in spending. The visceral appeal of tax cuts to voters makes that politically attractive in the short-term. The 41st president chose a harder path.

"We have a deficit to bring down," Bush had said in his 1989 inaugural address. "We must ensure that America stands before the world united, strong, at peace and fiscally sound. But of course things will be difficult.

"We need to compromise," he continued. Bush spoke those words outside the Capitol where he now lies in state, having met that commitment."

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/04/geor...cal-price.html

[aja_christopher]

If Republicans don't remove this man from office, then they are directly responsible for his actions from this point forward.

------
"Pentagon now says 50 service members suffered brain injuries from Iran attack"

"The Pentagon now says 50 American military service members suffered traumatic brain injuries following Iran’s Jan. 8 missile attack on a base in western Iraq that was housing the U.S. military personnel.

Initially the Pentagon said there were no injuries in the missile attack, but as more symptoms were diagnosed, the number was updated to 11, then 34 and now 50.

Officials have acknowledged that it can take time for the concussion-like symptoms to present themselves.

"Of these 50, 31 total service members were treated in Iraq and returned to duty, including 15 of the additional service members who have been diagnosed since the previous report," said Lt. Col. Thomas Campbell, a Pentagon spokesperson. "Eighteen service members have been transported to Germany for further evaluation and treatment."

"This is an increase of one service member from the previous report, who had been transported to Germany for other health reasons and has since been diagnosed with a TBI," Campbell added.

There was no update on the eight other service members who had been transported to the United States last week for evaluation and treatment.

The increasing numbers of service members who suffered from traumatic brain injuries in the attack earlier this month has become a political controversy because of President Donald Trump's recent comments that the injuries were "headaches" and "not serious."

This past weekend, the head of the Veterans of Foreign Wars requested that the president apologize for "his misguided remarks."

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/pentagon-n...003534450.html

[Superbat]

Joe Biden didn't just compromise with segregationists. He fought for their cause in schools, experts say.

Joe Biden helped give America the language that is still used to oppose school integration today, legislative and education history experts say.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/...their-n1021626

"In a 1975 Senate hearing, the legendary civil rights lawyer Jack Greenberg had something to say to freshman Sen. Joe Biden.

Greenberg, longtime director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, took Biden to task for sponsoring a bill that would limit the power of courts to order school desegregation with busing. It was a move that followed the wishes of many of Biden’s white constituents in Delaware.

The bill “heaves a brick through the window of school integration,” said Greenberg, one of the lawyers who had won the Brown v. Board of Education case that ended legal school segregation 21 years earlier. And according to Greenberg, Biden was the man with his hand on the brick.

Biden’s role in fighting student busing more than four decades ago has received renewed attention after the 76-year-old presidential candidate touted his ability to compromise with segregationists during his long Senate career. Biden said he disagreed strongly with these Southerners’ views but needed to work with them to get things done. Biden’s comments set off a firestorm among his political rivals and some political analysts, who described his language as offensive and anachronistic.

But political experts and education policy researchers say Biden, a supporter of civil rights in other arenas, did not simply compromise with segregationists — he also led the charge on an issue that kept black students away from the classrooms of white students. His legislative work against school integration advanced a more palatable version of the “separate but equal” doctrine and undermined the nation’s short******d effort at educational equality, legislative and education history experts say.

“Biden, who I think has been good overall on civil rights, was a leader on anti-busing,” Rucker Johnson, author of the book “Children of the Dream: Why School Integration Works,” said. “A leader on giving America the language to oppose it despite it being the most effective means of school integration at that time.”

Joe Biden won’t commit to backing Bernie Sanders if he wins the Democratic presidential nomination

https://www.dailypress.com/nation-wo...otq-story.html

[numberthirty]

https://earther.gizmodo.com/over-55-...aim-1841318428

Over 55 Climate Scientists Call BS on Joe Biden's Claim No Scientists Support Bernie Sanders' Climate Plan

Over 55 scientists have signed an open letter rebuking Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden’s claim that the climate plan rival contender Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders supports, the Green New Deal, isn’t supported by anyone in the scientific field.

[Mister Mets]

Anyone could have said the exact same thing about Donald Trump in the lead up to the last Presidential election.

Edit:

In addition, that folks can't even start to talk about how Biden has done in previous runs for the nomination sticks out like a sore thumb.

- How has he done when he hit any adversity during those runs?
- Has he ever recovered from stumbles during those runs?

That folks aren't even asking themselves these questions is rather odd.

Trump barely won. I don't think he represents the ideal for a general election candidate. We shouldn't assume that he demonstrates that Sanders is a stronger general-election candidate than the alternatives.

Biden is better positioned to run for President than before, for reasons of prestige (he has been a two-term Vice President), luck (he was born & raised in the rust belt, a region that became important in the 2016 cycle; he has support of African-Americans due to his role in the Obama administration and perception that he was an important ally) and tragedy (the death of his son is horrible but it is a compelling personal story.)

There is a perfect storm of circumstances that have helped Biden be a strong contender. If he came from an area that wasn't seen as important to take back (the Pacific Northwest, Maryland/ Virginia), if he had been Hillary Clinton's Vice President from 2009-2017, or if he had lost a primary big to Hillary, he probably wouldn't be able to run for President now.

Bernie did fail in his first bids for statewide office. And he benefited from a lucky breaks, including top-tier Democrats deciding not to run in 2016, and coming from the big state next to New Hampshire. I doubt Sanders from Delaware would do as well right now as Biden from Delaware, especially if the likes of Warren or Booker had opted to run for President in '16/

[JCAll]

I am still deluding myself it's going to be the good kind of nasty of a biden or sanders presidency rather than another Donny one.

I hope your right. I can almost deal with everyone fighting like cats, I don't know how much more of Trump's open corruption I can stand.

[numberthirty]

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/lo...e-with-cancer/

Orlando LGBTQ advocate Terry DeCarlo dies after battle with cancer

DeCarlo became a voice for LGBTQ community after Pulse shooting

[numberthirty]

On the one hand, the guy is being held accountable. On the other hand, it doesn't feel like there was much in the way of oversight built in if this happened in the first place...

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/loca...eturn/2208857/

Ex-Sen. Martin Sandoval Pleads Guilty to Bribery, Tax Offense

[Superbat]

MSNBC's Katie Tur: Every Candidate Is Drawing Huge Crowds in Iowa Except Biden

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/vi...cept_bide.html

A candidate that can't generate excitement is not going to beat Trump.

[Gray Lensman]

On the one hand, the guy is being held accountable. On the other hand, it doesn't feel like there was much in the way of oversight built in if this happened in the first place...

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/loca...eturn/2208857/

I never hear anything good about red light camera companies and their interactions with the government. Elected officials need to Just Say No to Policing For Profit.

[numberthirty]

I never hear anything good about red light camera companies and their interactions with the government. Elected officials need to Just Say No to Policing For Profit.

To say the least.

You'd just think that there would be "Fine Tooth Comb..." oversight attached to that sort of thing.

[worstblogever]

Posted this in the wrong thread two days ago, so... here you go, two days late?

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of Jodie Laubenberg, of the Texas House of Representatives, who for over a decade, has shown amazing hypocrisy on her supposed pro-life stance. She can undauntingly push for legislation that would close all abortion clinics in Texas, but at other times, has screamed at Democrats on the floor over the Texas House when debate over health insurance covering pre-natal care comes up and she wants children's health insurance and pre-natal insurance to go unfunded because "there's no money for it". She also once argued against an anti-abortion bill having exceptions for rape and incest in it because "the emergency rooms they have what’s called rape kits, that the woman can get cleaned out, basically like a D and C.” Politifact gave that statement that rape kits end pregnancies its own rare "Pants of Fire" rating, because yes, it's that ridiculous. Laubenberg has also compared Planned Parenthood to Nazis eugenics scientists, because Godwin’s Law is never far from the lips of an anti-abortion lunatic like her. In August of 2017 Laubenberg announced that this would be her last term in the Texas House of Representatives, and after 16 years of trying to criminalize abortion and harass the LGBTQ community, she will fade away into retirement.


Kyle Biedermann
It was one year ago that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Kyle Biedermann, a member of the Texas House of Representatives representing District 73 who is the fella on the right in the above photo dressed up for Halloween as “Gay Hitler”. Now, we’re already off to a great start for this profile, just based on that image, but even Biedermann’s explanation as to why he had a photo of himself dressed up as the Flamboyant Fuhrer for Halloween on his Facebook page during his first run for office back in 2016 is… bothersome. He responded to this first controversy by saying he was “not gay and never have been. Don’t know anything about Swingers Clubs and no desire to find out.”

We are going to point out that Biedermann neglected to deny being a Nazi in that non-apology (which is the far more offensive thing to go and dress up as)… so…

Now, at this point, Kyle Biedermann as a political outsider rushing into Texas politics might seem like he’d be a long shot on the ballot… and then word also came out regarding his history of mental instability. Court documents from Biedermann’s divorce detailed several incidents where he verbally and physically abused his wife, and was negligent as a father, trying to avoid taking his daughter to the hospital when she broke both her wrists because he didn’t want to pay for any medical bills. The judge ordered him to stay away from his wife and not to contact his daughters by telephone…

Somehow, Biederman survived in the GOP Primary, getting 40% in the initial round of voting. In the final primary vote, he got 55% over incumbent Texas state legislator Doug Miller, and went on to raise hell at the state capitol, immediately joining the Texas House Freedom Caucus, with such luminaries as CSGOPOTD alumni like Jonathon Stickland and Tony Tinderholt. How, based off of the “Gay Hitler” photo and being a documented domestic abuser that this guy could still find his way into office… well, there are reasons we have to pause from writing this blog sometimes to pour out a stiff drink, and Kyle Biedermann sure is one of them.

Now, when we say that Kyle Biedermann joined the Texas House Freedom caucus and started raising hell, rest assured, we’re not saying he’s subtle. Only a few weeks into his freshman term in the state legislature, he sent out a deliberately offensive “survey” on Texas Muslim Day at the state capitol to mosques statewide that demanded a response from Muslim leaders about their beliefs in Shariah law, their opinions about if the Muslim Brotherhood should be designated as a terrorist organization, and about ideological organizations that claim to oppose Islamic extremism.

If that weren’t enough to show he’s a bit intolerant, there’s also Biedermann’s obsession with ending the Texas Dream Act, which would effectively end in-state tuition for any student who came to the United States illegally (obviously not intending to exclude those who were brought here as children whether they were willing or not). And, we’ll add that Biedermann co-sponsored HB 3859, a bill to allow adoption agencies in Texas to refuse to place children with same-sex parents, because you just knew that “Gay Hitler” thing wasn’t a one-off of homophobia. It’s like he’s playing to bigots across the board, or something…

Case in point, in 2019, Biedermann filed legislation to protect Confederate monuments, and pretending there’s a slippery slope where people will tear down the Alamo or World War II memorials, of which, there are zero calls for.

Biedermann has also been caught using Facebook to anonymously manipulate public opinion in his favor, even on issues as simplistic as nixing money that would have been spent on the construction of sports fields for youths to play on in the city of Fredericksburg.

Kyle Biedermann managed to be re-elected in 2018, in spite of getting a GOP establishment challenger in the primary for his seat in the Texas House, winning that race with 57% of the vote and coasting to victory in November with 75% of the vote. We’re hoping 2020 is the year he’s ousted, because he seems intent on a homophobic, white nationalist agenda.

[worstblogever]

January 29th, 2020
In 2015, in 2016, and in 2017, “Crazy Stupid Republican of the Day” published profiles of Sally Kern, who has voted in favor of every anti-choice bill in the Oklahoma legislature, no matter how extreme, voted for a ban on Sharia Law in the Sooner State, a bill to make it more difficult for people to get a divorce for incompatibility, and a bill to allow Creationists to teach “pure science” in class. In spite of being the wife of a pastor, and practitioner of a religion whose Savior was put to death, Kern is not just in favor of the death penalty, but would like it applied to second offense sex offenders (they’re scum and all, but come on, that’s a bit much). Kern had, on three separate occasions, sponsored or co-sponsored legislation to nullify federal law, and even sponsored a bill to prohibit compliance with the United Nations Agenda 21 conspiracy, presumably because she’s convinced it’s a plot for world domination. Even with all that, Sally Kern’s real bread and butter issue is LGBT rights, because she’s such a homophobic bigot that she’s said that homosexuals were destroying the United States and are more dangerous than terrorists (and vowed never to apologize for that statement), blamed the economic woes of ’07-’10 on same sex marriage, claimed gays are looking to exploit legalized gay marriage to also legalize polygamy and pedophilia, and longs for “the good old days when gays would get thrown in jail.” Kern has also commented on race and gender in the same speech in uncomfortable ways, saying that there is a larger percentage of African Americans than whites in prison because they “don’t work as hard in school” and that women don’t deserve equal pay to men because “they don’t work as hard”. In 2015 alone, she supported three radically anti-gay “religious freedom” bills, one to make it legal for businesses to discriminate against gay people, one that would prohibit judges and clerks in Oklahoma from issuing marriage certificates to same sex couples, despite federal court decisions that already struck down Oklahoma’s gay marriage ban, and a third to allow for the “freedom” for individuals to seek out gay conversion therapy. We are relieved, however, to report that Sally Kern faced term limits in 2016, and is no longer a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. To the end, she was a homophobic loon, as even in her farewell speech, she took time to insist that “the homosexual agenda is worse than terrorism”. She then called for homosexuality to be outlawed, and described herself, literally, as a “victim of anti-Christian persecution”.

On this date in both 2018, as well as 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled the former U.S. House Representative from Illinois’ 14th Congressional District, Randy Hultgren, who first arrived in Washington D.C. in, yes, the Tea Party Wave in 2010 after he spent twelve years floating around the Illinois state legislature with a meager 51% of the vote. After redistricting his district was redrawn to +5 Republican lean, aiding him to hang onto what was once a swing seat for far longer than he deserved to. And that’s a shame, because the last thing the country needs is a man who consistently denies facts and science being given a leg up on being re-elected without effort. Hultgren wanted intelligent design taught in schools, a violation of the separation of church and state and also touted a bill he wrote that would allocate over half a billion dollars to grants to promote “abstinence only” education in schools. He also claimed the Obama administration was enacting “dangerous and experimental” sex education programs for “younger and younger children” (because that isn’t a lie made to sound more sinister), and that there were “incredible success records” for abstinence education. And… that’s completely false, as studies show precisely the opposite, and that abstinence only education is a failure. Rounding things out, Randy Hultgren is a climate change denier, as he expressed in this interview back in late 2009, where against all evidence, he tried claiming that the Earth was entering a “cooling period”: As a legislator, Hultgren frequently voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, twice voted to Defund Planned Parenthood, against the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, against disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Harvey, and for the 2013 Government Shutdown. In 2017, he voted for the GOP’s massive Tax Scam, and for the repeal of Dodd-Frank Wall Street Financial Reform. Mercifully, in the 2018 elections, Randy Hultgren was swept out of office by the Blue Wave, with Lauren Underwood overcoming the +5 Republican lean to defeat Hultgren 52.5% to 47.5%. We will set aside his profile at this time and profile a different wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 830-40, since this was established in July 2014.)