American Politics 3.0 - Back to Brunch

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Mathgod

Reagan - trickle-down policies, anti-union policies

Bush - tax cuts for the rich

Trump - more tax cuts for the rich

Meanwhile, Obama and Biden inherited economic collapses from their predecessors, and spent their presidencies cleaning up the mess, all while facing constant obstruction from the GOP in congress.

Maybe, just maybe, the Republicans have been the problem this whole time, despite what you may have been told.

Didn't Obama and Biden extend those tax cuts?

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Didn't Obama and Biden extend those tax cuts?

I believe so, yes.

[puffnstuff]

The trump cuts for the rich were baked in and couldnt be reversed. Unlike his middle class tax cut that was temporary and really not a cut at all, just a shuffling of when you pay them.

In news, maga election clerk Tina Peters, who was found guilty of tampering with voting machines in an effort to prove trump won was sentenced to 9 years today.

[HOOT]

https://x.com/bfriedmandc/status/184...093494832?s=46




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MoneyGuy]

You can’t compare Trump’s presidency with a possible second one. Last time he had staff who resisted his stupid decisions, in some cases refusing (without his knowledge) to carry out his orders - sometimes stealing and destroying memos off of his desk. They were like a governor on a car. There will be none of those controls the possible next time.

Vance is much more dangerous than Pence was. He’s smart but swarthy antics as corrupt. If Trump dies, the prospect of a President Vance is terrifying.

Trump’s Project 2025 playbook didn’t exist last time. He and his minions will implement the policies in those 900-plus pages. Project 2025 may be the worst outcome of a Trump presidency.

Trump will come into office angry for perceived transgressions against him. Line them up; it’ll be a shooting gallery. Targets will include Biden, Harris, Obama,Jack Smith, Pence, several CNN and MSNBC anchors, Cohen, Fauci, Barr, Mark Elias, Fani Willis, E. Jean Carroll, every member of the J6 committee especially Liz Cheney, Bennie Thompson, Adam Kissinger and Jamie Raskin, Moss and Freeman…the hit list will be long and the slaughter bloody.

Trump will hand Ukraine over to Putin who will then target other countries. Trump says he’ll be a dictator, ending presidential elections.

Trump will fire thousands of government employees, replacing them with unqualified minions. He’ll put his biggest supporters into key positions despite having no credentials. Spitballing only, but imagine Ivanka running FEMA, if it even exists as he says he’ll dismantle several departments and agencies. Rudy and Don Jr. will get influential posts.

I could go on and on. This would be far worse than his first reign of terror. Be afraid. The country would take decades to recover, if it ever does.

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Didn't Obama and Biden extend those tax cuts?

Everything in Washington DC is transactional. When Obama lost congress in the 2010 midterms, congressional Republicans gained a ton of control. Obama had basically no choice but to agree to the extension. Similar problem with Biden, having to deal with Manchin and Sinema. His hands were tied.

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Mathgod, if you just stick to the actual GOP policies on paper, things like restricting women's rights, suppressing minorities, climate change denial, horrible fiscal policy, then that is fine. It's when you dial up the insanity to these fourth Reich, nuclear annihilation and Canada's imminent invasion when Trump wins posts that you lose credibility. You don't need to escalate things to MAGA levels of insanity to show the GOP and Trump are horrible, and doing so undermines the legitimate concerns there are. Keep it simple, and within the realm of reality, and no one is gonna call you out.

I never said nuclear annihilation. But the other two I do think are real possibilities. If you think that hurts my credibility well then let's just agree to disagree.

[puffnstuff]

Bruce Springsteen just endorsed Vice President Harris, calling Trump "the most dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime."

"His disdain for the sanctity of our Constitution, the sanctity of democracy, the sanctity of the rule of law and the sanctity of the peaceful transfer of power should disqualify him from the office of president ever again. He doesn't understand the meaning of this country, its history, or what it means to be deeply American," Springsteen says. "Come Nov. 5, I'll be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz."

[CliffFletcher]

It isn’t just Republicans who bribe well-heeled voters. When Obama was elected, he tried to remove the tax benefits from 529 college saving plans, which disproportionately benefit higher income households. His reform effort was smacked down by house Democrats.

Never mind the 1 per cent, the group no politicians - Republican or Democrats - dare to mess with are the 20 per cent, the upper middle-class.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by wittynickname

To me the judicial aspect is the most worrisome part of a second Trump term. His picks have already taken down Roe and created ugly precedent with several rulings, notably the immunity for the President and overturning the Chevron doctrine. Thomas is 76, Alito 74, so likely the next POTUS will replace them, and Sotomayor and Roberts are right behind at 70 and 69 respectively. Harris as President replacing 2-4 of them would be vastly preferable to allowing Trump to further politicize and corrupt the court with right-wing justices. Either Harris wins and changes the makeup of SCOTUS back to a more comfortable 5-4 liberal (or 6-3 if Roberts does retire, which I think would be a surprise but it's not out of the realm of possibility), or Trump is able to enshrine an ultra-conservative 6-3 (or even 7-2, depending on Sotomayor) for the next decade or three.

SCOTUS is why I was vehemently in favor of Hillary in 2016 and why I'm vehemently in favor of Harris now. The rest is all fixable, but SCOTUS appointments are way too important to leave to Trump and the people who guide his decision-making.

I don’t think it’s available in Canada on YouTube yet or I’d post it but the most recent Last Week Tonight was a horrifying glimpse at the current state of the judicial system.

Anyone in America should be able to watch it here. It’s rage inducing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJiUPYNfGyI

[Dion]

Republican election denier Tina Peters sentenced to 9 years in prison for voting data scheme

A judge ripped into a Colorado county clerk for her crimes and lies before sentencing her Thursday to nine years behind bars for a data-breach scheme spawned from the rampant false claims about voting machine fraud in the 2020 presidential race.

District Judge Matthew Barrett told former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters — after earlier sparring with her for continuing to press discredited claims about rigged voting machines — that she never took her job seriously.

“I am convinced you would do it all over again if you could. You’re as defiant as any defendant this court has ever seen,” Barrett told her in handing down the sentence. “You are no hero. You abused your position and you’re a charlatan.”

Jurors found Peters guilty in August for allowing a man to misuse a security card to access to the Mesa County election system and for being deceptive about that person’s identity.

It’s impossible to overestimate the damage Peters has done to other election workers in Colorado and elsewhere, Colorado County Clerks Association director Matt Crane told the court.

“In a real and specific way, her actions have led directly to death threats and general threats to the lives and the families of the people who work in our elections,” Crane said. “She has willingly aided individuals in our country who believe that violence is a way to make a point. She has knowingly fueled a fire within others who choose threats as a means to get their way.”

He, his wife and his children have been among those threatened, Crane said.

Colorado won’t allow anyone to threaten its elections, Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement in response to Peters’ sentencing.

“Colorado’s elections are the nation’s gold standard. I am proud of how we have responded to the first insider elections breach in the nation and look forward to another secure and successful election in November,” Griswold said.

Attorney General Phil Weiser in a statement called the sentence “fair and just.”

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politic...ng-data-scheme

[SutterBrother]

Originally Posted by Dion

Republican election denier Tina Peters sentenced to 9 years in prison for voting data scheme

Great to see. Much like the financial settlement against Fox and the suit against Alex Jones, this is the only language that MAGA will understand.

Although I suppose "understand" is a stretch.

Wish they could get the orange dotard guy who made her do it though...

[Harry Lime]

Tina Peter's is qualified to be the premier of Alberta.

[Paulie Walnuts]

She said she can’t go to jail because she has a magnetic mattress.

[puffnstuff]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

She said she can’t go to jail because she has a magnetic mattress.

She said a few things that didnt help her with judge...shes a child of god, and god doesnt like when people mess with his children. Totally stable genius that one.

[wittynickname]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

I don’t think it’s available in Canada on YouTube yet or I’d post it but the most recent Last Week Tonight was a horrifying glimpse at the current state of the judicial system.

Anyone in America should be able to watch it here. It’s rage inducing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJiUPYNfGyI

I actually watched that right AFTER I made the original post re: SCOTUS. It reminds me why I won't be even slightly sad when McConnell kicks it. He's a huge part of why this country is where it is right now.

[activeStick]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1841913621741220112

[DownInFlames]

I’m glad to see the port strike has apparently been resolved. Now the morons can stop hoarding the toilet paper that is all made domestically.

[puffnstuff]

Guess which american politician posted this to twitter...

"Yes they can control the weather.

It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done."

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Mathgod

So for me to be "doing something", I will have to, at huge expense and upheaval of me and the people around me, leave them high and dry and go to the eastern US, spending money I don't have on flights and hotels for a month, knocking on doors, and with each door knock praying that I don't get asked where I'm from.

But for you to be "doing something", all you have to do is fill out your ballot in the comfort of your home, and drop it off at your nearest dropbox location.

Seems rather convenient, doesn't it?

No, you just have to do something. It is convenient that I can just vote, I guess. I’m also not the one who believes this to be a humanity-ender. If it was, I would do more than just cast my vote. But you actually believe it is, so you should probably do more than just post on a Canadian hockey message board about it.

It’s also weird that you hold up the significance of posting about something on a message board while mocking actual voting. You’ve got it totally backwards.

Originally Posted by Mathgod

And because I chose to speak out about the dangers of Trump, I'm suddenly saddled with the responsibility of going to the US and helping get Harris & Walz over the finish line. But those who haven't spoken out have no such responsibility, simply because they chose to stay quiet and keep their heads in the sand.

Seems rather convenient, doesn't it?

No, it’s because you believe it’ll end humanity. If it’s that serious, you should do something about it. People can speak out all they like, but if you actually think it’s a real, immediate danger to the lives of you and your family, it seems really weird to get offended by the idea that you should do something more than nothing.

Seems rather convenient you can make it out to be the end of the world and say you’ve done your part by posting about it, doesn’t it?

Originally Posted by Mathgod

As for analogies, nope, you have it backward. You're conflating individual responsibility with collective responsibility. Believe it or not, it's not the responsibility of ONE RANDOM ASS CANADIAN CITIZEN to see to it that Trump is defeated in this election. It's the responsibility of America and Americans to see to it that Trump is defeated in this election.

Nope, I don’t.

You said this will directly impact you as a Canadian, and that’s it’s a real, immediately risk to your life. It’s therefore, if you are to be believed, as much your responsibility as it is any American.

Seems convenient to say it’s a threat to humanity and to Canada but “it’s not my responsibility.” If what you say comes true than it’s going to feel like your responsibility real quick, and you’ll probably regret doing nothing when you’re sent to risk your life to defend the Canadian border (or whatever made up scenario you envision).

Originally Posted by Mathgod

But let me ask you something. I say that Russia is an existential threat to Ukraine. Is it wild that I'm not going to Ukraine and taking up arms against Russian forces? I also say that climate change is an existential threat to humanity. Is it wild that I'm not dedicating my whole life to trying to solve climate change?

For Ukraine, no, because it doesn’t directly endanger you and your family. If it did, it would be wild, yes. (People here have actually gone to fight in Ukraine and taken on people from Ukraine, by the way. People here have actually done something, and that’s without the threat being to themselves or their country. Pretty impressive.)

For climate change, it would be weird if you’re not doing anything to fight climate change as an individual. Nobody said go dedicate the rest of your life to fighting Trump. Someone just urged you to go do something, so comparing it to dedicating your whole life to fighting climate change is… weird.

Originally Posted by Mathgod

Or do we realize that speaking out about problems has value in its own right, and doing so does not automatically saddle us with responsibilities that those who stay quiet get a free pass on?

Sure it does, but you’re not just speaking out about problems. You’re framing problems in a very specific way, where it actually becomes weird that you aren’t doing anything, and instead:

- talking about how it isn’t fair you should have to do something
- demanding people respect your privacy for not doing something
- making up bizarre excuses for why you can’t do something, like how it would be dangerous for you to go to the US as a Canadian (lol)

So, yeah, sorry, if you were that worried about humanity and the immediate threat this poses to your family in Canada then it would look extremely weird and childish to complain that other people get a free pass for nothing doing anything.

[ah123]

Came across this interesting and refreshing article about the US election and how diverse the US is

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/gift...3CGHJO5WY2HKAM