The New American Politics thread

[GirlySports]

Louisiana going bankrupt

Louisiana stands at the brink of economic disaster. Without sharp and painful tax increases in the coming weeks, the government will cease to offer many of its vital services, including education opportunities and certain programs for the needy. A few universities will shut down and declare bankruptcy. Graduations will be canceled. Students will lose scholarships. Select hospitals will close. Patients will lose funding for treatment of disabilities. Some reports of child abuse will go uninvestigated.

“Doomsday,” said Marketa Garner Walters, the head of Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services. If the state can’t raise any new revenue, her agency’s budget, like several others, will be slashed 60 percent.

“At that level,” she said in an interview, “the agency is unsustainable.”

[Flash Walken]

Sounds like Louisiana needs to cut taxes to encourage business development.

[CliffFletcher]

Populist demagogue =/= nazi. All these comparisons do is betray the historical ignorance of the people drawing them.

[peter12]

Even Mussolini isn't close to an accurate comparison. Not even a little bit.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I used to go with Fuhrer Trump, but it's obvious at this point he doesn't believe the vast majority of what he's saying. He's a grifter who will say whatever he needs to if it means he wins (hence why he hangs with other grifters like Christie and Palin). The real comparable for Trump is Berlusconi, which is better than Hitler or Mussolini from a he'll destroy human beings perspective...but Berlusconi was a catastrophe and Italy will be recovering from his time for years to come. So people should shift to that comparable, especially since Berlusconi is a massive piece of ####, with odd perverted tendencies, kind of like Trump.

[Fuzz]

Silvio Berlusconi seams to be a better comparison.

[octothorp]

So I think in the next week, we'll see Kasich supplant Rubio as the establishment guy of choice. Not so much in endorsements (in fact if I was Kasich I'd privately ask not to be endorsed by anyone), but in terms of what's left of the establishment voting block moving away from Rubio to Kasich. The polls already suggest that this is happening in Michigan, where the two are moving in inverse directions. One poll that's clearly an outlier has Kasich leading Trump, but the polling is there overall to suggest that Kasich finishes a strong second in Michigan. Based on that, I think it's reasonable to expect a momentum effect that gives Kasich Ohio.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Rubio can't drop out, though; he has to win Florida for the Romney "contested convention" plan to work. But then, as his support wanes, that's seeming less likely.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Rubio can't drop out, though; he has to win Florida for the Romney "contested convention" plan to work. But then, as his support wanes, that's seeming less likely.

I think the contested convention plan is alive as long as one of Florida or Ohio goes non-Trump. Whichever guy doesn't win his home state drops out, the remaining establishment vote coalesces around the winner. In fact that might be better over the long term than both Rubio and Kasich winning and staying in.

538 has Trump currently outperforming the delegates he needs to get a majority, by 17. But it also has Trump needing to win both Florida and Ohio to maintain that pace. If he wins only one of those two, then he falls behind his needed pace. And given he hasn't performed well in closed events and most of the events after March 15 are closed, he'll probably continue to pick up a plurality of delegates but will be hard-pressed to get back on pace necessary to avoid a contested nomination.

[Tinordi]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Louisiana going bankrupt

We have some rare laboratories at work in Louisiana and Kansas on how the low-tax small government utopia is working out and it doesn't look pretty. They better start finding more inefficiencies in the system to root out and quick.

[Zarley]

Kasich seems like a nice guy - the type of guy that would do well in Canadian politics.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by Zarley

Kasich seems like a nice guy - the type of guy that would do well in Canadian politics.

Yeah, it's weird that he's been able to turn niceness into a differentiating factor for him in the race. Just goes to show you how much of a perceived correlation there is in terms of right-wingness and nastiness. Trump behaves like a total bully and is perceived as being far more right-wing than he actually is, Kasich behaves like a nice guy and is perceived as being far more moderate than he actually is.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

We have some rare laboratories at work in Louisiana and Kansas on how the low-tax small government utopia is working out and it doesn't look pretty. They better start finding more inefficiencies in the system to root out and quick.

How are you supposed to continue funding the military if you start diverting funds to stupid things like hospitals, schools, education and programs for the needy.

You are clearly a socialist-commie who hates America.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by edslunch

I don't think Trump believes half of what he says. Cruz does. I would honestly be more worried about Cruz

Trump is on record basically saying the opposite of what he is saying now.

Nobody has a clue what he actually thinks but hey, time to make America great again!

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

You know, with all the comparisons to other politicians and Hitler in particular, I have to say, I personally think the closest comparable would be President Biff Tannen.

[PsYcNeT]

Has Trump ever given a concise stance RE: manure?

[2Stonedbirds]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

You know, with all the comparisons to other politicians and Hitler in particular, I have to say, I personally think the closest comparable would be President Biff Tannen.

I think you nailed it lol

[octothorp]

So Rubio's florida prospects just got a big boost in a Monmouth poll that has him trailing Trump by 8, and at 30% is the best he's ever polled in Florida. It's not so different as other recent polls as to be dismissed as an outlier, as he's been polling in the mid to high 20s since Bush dropped out.
Significantly, the poll was in the field entirely after Super Tuesday, so it suggests that Rubio's awful performance in those primaries isn't hurting him in Florida, even if he's bleeding support to Kasich and Cruz everywhere else in the country. Add a closed primary and a potential ground-game advantage (which Rubio hasn't had anywhere other than PR, but if he's got any ground game it has to be in Florida), and it looks like a pretty tight race there.

Edit: Diving into the numbers a little more, Rubio has a huge edge in people who have already cast their vote in early voting, which may put a damper on the significance of the 'in the field' dates. However, it's still a very good poll for Rubio if Trump's typical poor performance amongst late-deciders comes to fruition.

[PostandIn]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

I used to go with Fuhrer Trump, but it's obvious at this point he doesn't believe the vast majority of what he's saying. He's a grifter who will say whatever he needs to if it means he wins (hence why he hangs with other grifters like Christie and Palin). The real comparable for Trump is Berlusconi, which is better than Hitler or Mussolini from a he'll destroy human beings perspective...but Berlusconi was a catastrophe and Italy will be recovering from his time for years to come. So people should shift to that comparable, especially since Berlusconi is a massive piece of ####, with odd perverted tendencies, kind of like Trump.

Rec'd for content and use of the word 'grifter'.

[110%]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

We have some rare laboratories at work in Louisiana and Kansas on how the low-tax small government utopia is working out and it doesn't look pretty. They better start finding more inefficiencies in the system to root out and quick.

Louisiana has state and local sales tax rates in the highest 10% of all US states. Also, in terms of state income tax rates their rates are in the highest 30% of all US states. But I guess tax more because thats been working pretty well for them so far...