All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[JB]

Sure at a high level we need to get to the root causes of the economic hardships these people are facing that keeps them coming. Everything else is just papering over the cracks. What policy changes in Central and South America need to happen to help change the situations these people are fleeing from? That's obviously a tough question that no one has found an answer for. But, we can't keep ignoring that obvious point of treating the root causes.

We can have every Remain in Mexico, close border, wall etc we want. But, it will keep coming up cycle after cycle. People will always risk the journey, risk the hardships(sleeping under a bridge etc.) for a chance at a better life than what they are escaping from.

I agree with all of the above. Unfortunately cartels have a great deal of power in those countries (and are often connected to corrupt government officials), and keep much of their populations poor and dependent on them. Do we go in and help clean up the cartels? I would say yes but then many will say we shouldn't be getting involved. I disagree with that though because it's directly impacting us here financially anyway.

[babyblob]

While addressing the needs in these countries will help it will take a very very long time for these changes to take effect that will change the lives of the people there that will keep them from coming here. it is a decades long process. We can our of our polices tomorrow but that wont change the issues these countries are facing any time soon. High crime, corrupt officials, infrastructure problems, health care problems etc... We have issues in outr own country trying to fix these things so fixing them in several other countries is not going to happen any time soon. It will take many many years like decades to fix these on a large enough scale to keep people from coming here and that is if we we changed our polices now. it is a great goal to work for and I am all for doing what we can. But many of us will be old and grey before meaningful change happens in those countries.

[Malvolio]

A story worth sharing, because this is one hell of a cautionary tale:

https://twitter.com/kurteichenwald/s...33423968108545

I think if Jesus Christ himself came back today and told these people to get vaccinated, many of them would say, "No thanks Jesus, I've done my own research."

[BeastieRunner]

I think if Jesus Christ himself came back today and told these people to get vaccinated, many of them would say, "No thanks Jesus, I've done my own research."

Doesn't the Pope support it? Didn't the vast majority of the leaders of Islam name the shot Halal? Didn't the same thing happen naming the shot Kosher amongst Judaism leaders? I think the Dali Lama even got the shot.

How often do all those religions agree on something?

[Jack Dracula]

LOL

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/1...primary-523772

The article states Trump is pushing gubernatorial candidates is several other states as well.
He’s attempting to install loyalists ahead of the 2024 election.

[kidfresh512]

While addressing the needs in these countries will help it will take a very very long time for these changes to take effect that will change the lives of the people there that will keep them from coming here. it is a decades long process. We can our of our polices tomorrow but that wont change the issues these countries are facing any time soon. High crime, corrupt officials, infrastructure problems, health care problems etc... We have issues in outr own country trying to fix these things so fixing them in several other countries is not going to happen any time soon. It will take many many years like decades to fix these on a large enough scale to keep people from coming here and that is if we we changed our polices now. it is a great goal to work for and I am all for doing what we can. But many of us will be old and grey before meaningful change happens in those countries.

Which is why politically it makes sense to keep kicking the can down the road. But, it is just never going to get better that way and humanitarian crises will keep piling up regardless of "walls".

[Billy Batson]

The Biden administration has approved 3,091 new drilling permits on public lands at a rate of 332 per month, a faster pace than the Trump administration’s 300 permits per month.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The article states Trump is pushing gubernatorial candidates is several other states as well.
He’s attempting to install loyalists ahead of the 2024 election.

In the case of Georgia, Trump’s need for payback against Brian Kemp because he wouldn’t throw the state’s election results last November could backfire as that might result in a split vote among Qpublicans, which, in turn, could help Stacey Abrams.

[AnakinFlair]

Doesn't the Pope support it? Didn't the vast majority of the leaders of Islam name the shot Halal? Didn't the same thing happen naming the shot Kosher amongst Judaism leaders? I think the Dali Lama even got the shot.

How often do all those religions agree on something?

A Priest, a Rabbi, and an Imam walk into a pharmacy and get the COVID-19 vaccine....

[Jack Dracula]

In the case of Georgia, Trump’s need for payback against Brian Kemp because he wouldn’t throw the state’s election results last November could backfire as that might result in a split vote among Qpublicans, which, in turn, could help Stacey Abrams.

Splitting the conservative vote would obviously be a good thing but it’s dependent on Kemp wanting to hang on to his seat while Trump and members of his own party harass him for the next year.

[thwhtGuardian]

Doesn't the Pope support it? Didn't the vast majority of the leaders of Islam name the shot Halal? Didn't the same thing happen naming the shot Kosher amongst Judaism leaders? I think the Dali Lama even got the shot.

How often do all those religions agree on something?

That's precisely why there are next to no legitimate religious exemptions. Literally every head of every major religion came out and said get the shot, the only spiritual leaders who didn't are those mega-church types and although their masses are often well attended they only really have local pull so they amount to only a tiny fraction of the population.

[Tami]

The Biden administration has approved 3,091 new drilling permits on public lands at a rate of 332 per month, a faster pace than the Trump administration’s 300 permits per month.

Biden administration proposes oil and gas drilling reform but stops short of ban - Nov 26 2021

The Biden administration on Friday proposed reforms to the country’s oil and gas leasing program that would raise costs for energy companies to drill on public lands and water, but stopped short of recommending an end to leasing on public lands.

The long-anticipated report, published by the Interior Department, recommended increasing royalty rates and rents for drillers, prioritizing leasing in areas with known resource potential and avoiding leasing in areas that can be developed to protect wildlife habitat, recreation and cultural resources.

The report completes a review that President Joe Biden ordered in January. The president directed a halt to new federal oil and gas lease sales on public lands and waters, but a Louisiana federal judge blocked the administration’s suspension in June.

The report said the federal oil and gas program, which is enshrined in law, fails to provide a fair return to taxpayers and inadequately accounts for its harmful impact on the environment. It called for new rules to hike royalty rates, bonding rates and other fees for drillers. The minimum royalty rate is currently 12.5% for oil and gas production on federal lands.

“Our nation faces a profound climate crisis that is impacting every American,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “The Interior Department has an obligation to responsibly manage our public lands and waters – providing a fair return to the taxpayer and mitigating worsening climate impacts – while staying steadfast in the pursuit of environmental justice.”

[shooshoomanjoe]

That's precisely why there are next to no legitimate religious exemptions. Literally every head of every major religion came out and said get the shot, the only spiritual leaders who didn't are those mega-church types and although their masses are often well attended they only really have local pull so they amount to only a tiny fraction of the population.

It's insane how much influence evangelical pastors have over their congregation and how they believe their pastor's lies.

[Kirby101]

It's insane how much influence evangelical pastors have over their congregation and how they believe their pastor's lies.

Replace "pastor" with "religion" and we are getting to the crux of the problem.

[Mister Mets]

Sure at a high level we need to get to the root causes of the economic hardships these people are facing that keeps them coming. Everything else is just papering over the cracks. What policy changes in Central and South America need to happen to help change the situations these people are fleeing from? That's obviously a tough question that no one has found an answer for. But, we can't keep ignoring that obvious point of treating the root causes.

We can have every Remain in Mexico, close border, wall etc we want. But, it will keep coming up cycle after cycle. People will always risk the journey, risk the hardships(sleeping under a bridge etc.) for a chance at a better life than what they are escaping from.

There are two questions here if we're trying to determine ideal policies. One question is what can we realistically do given the constraints of American politics. The second question is what's the best thing to do if we didn't have to worry about xenophobic swing voters.

In both cases, we need a solution other than fixing nations where many of the problems are beyond the control of the US government. We should still offer aid, and be willing to kill terrorists, but we still need a solution even if things remain bad in other countries so that many people would prefer to live in the US.

I believe open borders are unworkable, but that decent and well-informed people may believe it's the right approach. If the United States going to have borders, and we should, we're going to have to patrol the border. We'll have to go after Visa overstayers as well as those who crossed the border recently. We'll have to adjudicate asylum claims and send back anyone who doesn't qualify. We should close loopholes in laws that make it impossible to house families securely until claims are considered.

I do support an increase in legal immigration, which does put me to the left of the median Democratic voter, so politically it is not a wise idea for the Democratic party to have a plan that basically just allows every undocumented immigrant currently in the country to eventually get amnesty, unless they think this is worth a significantly increased chance of Trump's return to the White House.