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

[Zauriel]

Detroit is in the shape it is in because the Auto manufacturers moved the plants and middle class union jobs to "right to work" States or out of the Country. The local leaders had nothing to do with it.
I don't know one thing voting Green has done, except help elected G W Bush and Donald Trump.

So you're blaming Ralph Nader and Jill Stein? Do you also blame Ross Perot for helping elect Bill Clinton? Of course I rejoiced when Bill Clinton got elected in 1992, even though I was still too underage to vote but old enough to understand politics.

[JB]

Powerful House Democratic appropriator not seeking reelection
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5...ing-reelection

Longtime Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), the powerful chairwoman of an Appropriations subcommittee overseeing immigration issues, will not seek reelection in 2022.

“Serving my Constituents in Congress has been the single most distinguished honor of my life," Roybal-Allard said in a statement Monday night. "Over my many years of public service, I have always strived to do that which is best to help improve my community and my country. After thirty years in the House of Representatives, the time has come for me to spend more time with my family. Therefore, I have decided not to seek reelection."

Rep. Albio Sires to retire from New Jersey seat, adding to ranks of congressional Democrats heading for the exits
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...627_story.html

Veteran Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.) plans to retire at the end of his eighth term, bringing to 23 the number of Democrats who have said they won’t seek reelection during next year’s midterms, in which the party risks losing control of the House.

“When he retires at the end of his term, our Caucus and the Congress will truly miss his tireless voice For The People,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement Tuesday, in which she also praised Sires’s work on other issues including affordable housing and education.

[Mister Mets]

It's weird people think that having less money makes you 'less judicious'. Impoverished people are *way* better with stretching a dollar than people who've never dealt with it. It's just a sign of comfort and empathyless nonsense that isn't backed by anything by wanting to assure yourself the impoverished are there because they deserve to be.

There are some specific ways poor people spend money badly so that is an aspect of the problem, even if it is not the entirety of it.

How much of that is due to state level policies? Local politicians have less power than most people realize, especially if state level politicians are opposed to them.

Most people pay very little attention to state legislatures, to be honest.

That is what the Communist Party did in the Soviet union. They were able to bring their economy back on its feet.

They had to kill millions to get that to happen, to say nothing of totalitarian restrictions on the survivors.

If the states have power over the cities, then why aren't the state legislators doing something about inner city violence and poverty in the cities?

There are two main reasons.

Divided government and transfers of power mean there's always someone else to blame (city government, the federal government, other state governments, the courts, previous administrations.)

These problems are also hard to fix. Every politician in America quirks be ecstatic if they could fix it all and take credit, but the solutions are not obvious and all efforts have tradeoffs.

[Kirby101]

So you're blaming Ralph Nader and Jill Stein? Do you also blame Ross Perot for helping elect Bill Clinton? Of course I rejoiced when Bill Clinton got elected in 1992, even though I was still too underage to vote but old enough to understand politics.

Yes, Perot helped get Clinton elected. I am not blaming them, but I am saying people voting for them were part of the reason Bush and Trump got elected (not the only reason).
So my question remains, what has voting Green ever done but help Bush and Trump get elected?

[Moon Ronin]

That is what the Communist Party did in the Soviet union. They were able to bring their economy back on its feet.

What is it with the admiration of the U.S.S.R.? Most now say that wasn't real "Communism/Socialism" anyway. Guess you are overlooking; Holodomor genocide, the Great Terror of 37, Katyn Massacre, Dekulakization, Soviet famine of 1946, Gulags, and on and on. Joseph Stalin was just as bad if not worse than Hitler he just kept his guns pointed inward so the rest of the world did know or care.

[Malvolio]

It's weird people think that having less money makes you 'less judicious'. Impoverished people are *way* better with stretching a dollar than people who've never dealt with it. It's just a sign of comfort and empathyless nonsense that isn't backed by anything by wanting to assure yourself the impoverished are there because they deserve to be.

It's not weird at all. If we admit that it's not poor people making bad decisions and that it's actually society that's responsible for making them poor and keeping them poor, then we're all responsible for it to some extent, right? And then we have to do something about it or we're assholes. So in order to do nothing but still not be assholes, we invent these excuses, that poor people spend their government checks on drugs, or expensive cell phones. It makes it easier to rationalize doing nothing to resolve the problem.

[Zauriel]

They had to kill millions to get that to happen, to say nothing of totalitarian restrictions on the survivors.

What is it with the admiration of the U.S.S.R.? Most now say that wasn't real "Communism/Socialism" anyway. Guess you are overlooking; Holodomor genocide, the Great Terror of 37, Katyn Massacre, Dekulakization, Soviet famine of 1946, Gulags, and on and on. Joseph Stalin was just as bad if not worse than Hitler he just kept his guns pointed inward so the rest of the world did know or care.

I acknowledge they had done bad atrocities. But capitalists are hardly better and also are responsible for the deaths of many workers. Do you know how many coal miners died in mine explosions and other accidents because their greedy company owners cared more about profits than worker safety and dangerous workplace environments.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_accident

the Soviet economy model lasted 70 years. So it lasted longer than an average human lifespan. It would last longer if the Russians didn't become too excessively concerned with material possessions including money.

[Jack Dracula]

True. When Atlanta city council attempted to defund the police, Georgia legislature stopped Atlanta from doing it.

When a couple of cities in Texas opened themselves as sanctuary cities to undocumented immigrants, Texas legislature passed a bill prohibiting sanctuary cities.

Due to the high corruption in the Mayor Marion Barry's administration, the Federal Government stripped the Mayor of D.C. of all powers, making the mayor a little more than a figurehead with little authority over the city. in 1997, the Clinton Administration and Senator Lauch Faircloth agreed on legislation that rescued the city from its financial crisis but stripped Barry of all authority (including hiring and firing) over nine district agencies, making them directly answerable to the control board. Barry was left with control of only the Department of Parks and Recreation, the public libraries, and the Board of Tourism, as well as the ceremonial trappings of his office.

Realizing the office of mayor of D.C. has no real power, Barry had to quit being mayor and chose to run for a seat on the D.C. Council. He was a elected as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Barry



Name a GP candidate who has broken their promises when elected to office.

It’s the “when elected to office” part that trips you up. You’d have to find one first.
May as well ask how many unicorns have blue eyes.

[Zauriel]

It’s the “when elected to office” part that trips you up. You’d have to find one first.
May as well ask how many unicorns have blue eyes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._United_States

Most of the current and present officeholders who are in the Green Party are town mayors or city councilors.

[JB]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._United_States

Most of the current and present officeholders who are in the Green Party are town mayors or city councilors.

True. There's been quite a few elected in upstate New York and California. Thanks for the link. It's the kind of thing the media prefers the public not to be informed about.

[babyblob]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._United_States

Most of the current and present officeholders who are in the Green Party are town mayors or city councilors.

This is helpful. I legit did not know the list was so long. Thank you for this.

[Mister Mets]

I acknowledge they had done bad atrocities. But capitalists are hardly better and also are responsible for the deaths of many workers. Do you know how many coal miners died in mine explosions and other accidents because their greedy company owners cared more about profits than worker safety and dangerous workplace environments.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_accident

the Soviet economy model lasted 70 years. So it lasted longer than an average human lifespan. It would last longer if the Russians didn't become too excessively concerned with material possessions including money.

It does seem to be worse than what greedy coal mining company owners did.

https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/04/w...of-stalin.html

Millions starved to death in the Ukranian famines, caused when Stalin wanted to replace Ukraine’s small farms with state-run collectives and punish independence-minded Ukrainians who posed a threat to his totalitarian authority.

https://www.history.com/news/ukrainian-famine-stalin

There is also the great purge when "enemies of the people" were sent to labor camps on fabricated enemies, and the question is whether half a million or a million died.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Purge

Lenin and Stalin's ideas on freedoms we take for granted are repugnant compared to the worst American presidents.

A mass grave was found near the House of Beria, a top official in the Stalin administration. Whatever the left thinks of William Barr or even Stephen Miller, and whatever the right thinks of any major Democratic official, we don't have to worry about this type of stuff coming out.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...s-1453126.html

A good intro to all of this is the movie The Death of Stalin.

Going back to an earlier question, what should state legislatures do? If Democrats take back the state legislature in Michigan on a "We're going to follow Zauriel's advice" platform, what should they do to solve the problems? At the moment, we could assume limited pushback from the Biden administration or Governor Whitmer, and general support from left-leaning city councils.

[numberthirty]

Yes, Perot helped get Clinton elected. I am not blaming them, but I am saying people voting for them were part of the reason Bush and Trump got elected (not the only reason).
So my question remains, what has voting Green ever done but help Bush and Trump get elected?

It’s the “when elected to office” part that trips you up. You’d have to find one first.
May as well ask how many unicorns have blue eyes.

Gayle McLaughlin, progressive mayor of Richmond, brings her message to Sonoma

Gayle McLaughlin, progressive mayor of Richmond, brings her message to Sonoma

McLaughlin’s so-called “Richmond story” reached its climax when she served as mayor for eight years in nearby Richmond, a town dominated both in landscape and economy by a multi-billion-dollar oil company, Chevron.

“Richmond really was and is a wonderful diverse city. It reminded me of Chicago, of course much smaller,” said the former 66-year-old Midwesterner, who moved to Richmond about 20 years ago.

“All the problems that cities and urban environments have was something I was familiar with. I wanted to make a difference and do what I could to help my community.”

It was an effort that largely succeeded. She was elected mayor – Richmond has a seven-member city council, with the mayor elected separately – in 2006, and again in 2010. For 10 years she led what became the Richmond Progressive Alliance to a “super-majority” on the city council, which enabled the Contra Costa County city to raise the hourly minimum wage to $12.50, and then to $15; reduce homicide by 75 percent; arrest police misconduct by restructuring the department; and pass the first rent control law in 30 years, among other progressive accomplishments.

They also managed to hit up Chevron for millions in higher business fees to the city, and passed ordinances that decreased toxic pollution from its refinery.

“We really addressed the root causes of our problems, and we made a phenomenal change. We made a transformation,” she said proudly.

The Richmond Progressive Alliance was the anchor for those social changes. While it is not aligned with any political party (“I’m registered NPP, no party preference,” McLaughlin said more than once), refuses corporate support, opposes racial profiling and openly supports progressive issues, it draws members from the Democratic party, Democratic Socialists, Greens and Bernie Sanders’ enthusiasts.

[Robotman]

I’m shocked I tell you! Shocked!


Sen. Joe Manchin's PAC received a spike in corporate donations in the months leading up to his opposition of the $2 trillion Build Back Better plan

” Sen. Joe Manchin's political action committee received a spike in corporate contributions — which included donations from committees related to fossil fuel industries — in the months leading up to his Sunday announcement that he would oppose President Joe Biden's $2 trillion social spending bill, according to federal election commission filings.

Manchin's leadership PAC, Country Roads, drew in 17 corporate contributions in October and 19 donations in November — its highest monthly counts received in the last half-year, CNBC's Brian Schwartz and Jacob Pramuk first reported.”

[JB]

Right before Christmas too. I'm glad everyone is physically okay.

Illinois State Sen. Kimberly Lightford Says She is 'Thankful' to Be Unharmed After Armed Carjacking
https://people.com/politics/illinois...king-unharmed/

Police in Broadview, Illinois are investigating after state senator Kimberly Lightford and her husband were car-jacked Tuesday in an incident in which "multiple gunshots were fired." The senator and her husband are unharmed, police said in a statement.

Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon carjacked in Philadelphia's FDR Park
https://6abc.com/mary-gay-scanlon-ca...park/11372337/

Her personal cell phone, government cell phone, purse and identification were inside the vehicle.

Scanlon was not injured.