When I read stuff like this you could have told me this was “the process here on Mars” and it would seem less surprising.
Yeah, Canadians don't really understand American politics. They think they do because we use similar terminology, but once you start living and breathing in the political system down here you quickly recognize it is a different universe. You can not apply Canadian thinking to American politics because things are so incredibly different.
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Tax cuts for the rich.
Increased spending on programs that feed money to the top .1%.
Eliminate spending on the poor.
Eliminate services for the poor.
Crush what is left of the middle class with taxes to pay for everything.
Foreign policy?
Piss off our allies.
Do as much damage to NATO as possible.
Blame black and brown people.
China! China! China!
Abdicate power and influence in the Middle East. Work Putin's shaft while fondling his balls. Be compliant with Russians desires.
Did I miss anything?
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I mean, I like the fact that I have an active say in so much, but it also requires a lot of investment of my time, and I'm a well-educated person who can suss out the details and make a good choice. I get concerned that so many voters don't have the wherewithal to do the same and that's why we have bad outcomes sometimes with voting.
A well-educated population is the key to a healthy democracy. It's no secret as to why American democracy has languished over the past couple of decades. Education, especially civics education, is very uneven or downright poor in this country.
Honestly, how many voters actually invest the time to know who is running for all those periphery issues. Who has time for that?
I am guessing most people end up voting based on some kind of inner bias or gut feeling when it comes to that.
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Honestly, how many voters actually invest the time to know who is running for all those periphery issues. Who has time for that?
I am guessing most people end up voting based on some kind of inner bias or gut feeling when it comes to that.
Well, just as an example, the justice appointments are often retained because people don't know if they should remove them or not. This is currently a problem because the appointees up for renewal today are Federalist Society stooges put up by Rick Scott and now Ron DeSantis to further the conservative agenda. Their reviews from lawyers are consistently low for impartiality and demeanor. This is a group that is usually pretty impartial politically when they review justices. I voted to remove the lot of them, but you watch, they'll still be in their position after all this.
Smaller positions like county clerk and soil commissioner aren't life or death, but you still want someone qualified in those positions.
The weird thing is almost everyone running for these positions has a party affiliation. The current sheriff is a democrat. Isn't that a position where you would love the absence of a political affiliation? No, because people want their policing to resemble their social justice ideology, not that it necessarily translates that way. The current sheriff, who I voted to keep, is progressive in many ways but still refuses to implement body cams. Curious.
It's definitely an issue, but my sincere hope is that this recent presidency has underscored how important it is to be active and informed in politics. It might move an entire generation to take it more seriously and follow things on a consistent basis, rather than once every 4 years.
I suspect that the turnout in this election might be one of the highest ever recorded, just based on the amount of turnout so far. I hope that means people are engaged in democracy again.
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Originally Posted by ResAlien
If we can't fall in love with replaceable bottom 6 players then the terrorists have won.
The Republican five pillars, Taxes, Religion, Guns, Immigration, Healthcare.
Curiously they haven't announce any actual policies for these items. It's basically been hoping they can make people hate Biden as much as they hated Hillary. Naturally it has failed miserably.
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Curiously they haven't announce any actual policies for these items. It's basically been hoping they can make people hate Biden as much as they hated Hillary. Naturally it has failed miserably.
You mean I'm going to make the biggest, bestest healthcare program ever is not a policy?
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Exp:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan
"You're going to have so much healthcare you're going to get tired of having healthcare."
Not only that, Trump is all for eliminating government waste and getting things done quickly, so he's planning on skipping the first part, and going straight to fixing the part where people are tired of having healthcare.
Now that's efficient governing!
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Well, just as an example, the justice appointments are often retained because people don't know if they should remove them or not. This is currently a problem because the appointees up for renewal today are Federalist Society stooges put up by Rick Scott and now Ron DeSantis to further the conservative agenda. Their reviews from lawyers are consistently low for impartiality and demeanor. This is a group that is usually pretty impartial politically when they review justices. I voted to remove the lot of them, but you watch, they'll still be in their position after all this.
Smaller positions like county clerk and soil commissioner aren't life or death, but you still want someone qualified in those positions.
The weird thing is almost everyone running for these positions has a party affiliation. The current sheriff is a democrat. Isn't that a position where you would love the absence of a political affiliation? No, because people want their policing to resemble their social justice ideology, not that it necessarily translates that way. The current sheriff, who I voted to keep, is progressive in many ways but still refuses to implement body cams. Curious.
It's definitely an issue, but my sincere hope is that this recent presidency has underscored how important it is to be active and informed in politics. It might move an entire generation to take it more seriously and follow things on a consistent basis, rather than once every 4 years.
I suspect that the turnout in this election might be one of the highest ever recorded, just based on the amount of turnout so far. I hope that means people are engaged in democracy again.
When I hear about how all of those positions in the U.S. are elected positions, I can't help but think of this episode from "It's Always Sunny".
NSFW!
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Taxes- corporations are exempt
Religion- be an a-hole 6 days of week and on day 7 pray all your sins away
Guns- carry them everywhere, shoot them everywhere
Immigration- eff them they are all bad and rapists
Health care- don't need it. See point 2.
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I roll my eyes at much of what Trump says and does but his statements on the kidnapping plot of the Michigan Governor are so vile.
When asked about the plot to kidnap her, he talks about what a bad Governor she is. The deplorables chant "lock her up, lock her up!" WTF? All the while he sneers and grins.
You are a bad person Donald.
One thing that pisses me off about Trump's attacks on Whitmer is that he's potentially ruined her political brand. She seems to be a very competent politician who could realistically make the leap someday to Washington. But now she's branded as a polarizing figure in the way that AOC or Clinton is, and will be seen as unelectable in a national race. She'll continue to be in politics long after he's gone, but the sad reality is that his attacks are very effective and may prove to be very long-lasting.
One thing that pisses me off about Trump's attacks on Whitmer is that he's potentially ruined her political brand. She seems to be a very competent politician who could realistically make the leap someday to Washington. But now she's branded as a polarizing figure in the way that AOC or Clinton is, and will be seen as unelectable in a national race. She'll continue to be in politics long after he's gone, but the sad reality is that his attacks are very effective and may prove to be very long-lasting.
She can come up here and be our PM. Better than anyone we currently have up here. I'll even take Michigan's DA.
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President/Vice president
House Representative (congress)
State Senator
County Sheriff
County Clerk
County Tax Collector
County Supervisor of Elections (we have a very, very good one)
Local circuit court judge
Vote to retain a state supreme court justice and 3 state circuit court justices. A "no" vote means they then get replaced with new appointees.
County water, soil, and environment supervisors.
6 different amendments. Some were funded by dark money and are anti-democratic or unnecessary. Fun times!
Edit: needless to say I was doing a lot of extra research on these down ballot races or initiatives this weekend. It would be very easy to be an uninformed voter on some of these items and just vote based on the language.
For instance, one amendment was to require that only citizens can vote in Florida. Well guess what, that's already the ####ing law, so there must be something in the language there to then fight a legal case to exclude voters who are likely immigrants. Who knows, seemed nefarious and unnecessary to me.
Another one was to require 2 votes to pass any future amendments, so basically, if you don't like the vote the last time, you put it out there again and force people to vote to pass it twice. Essentially, some people don't like democracy when it doesn't go their way. Also was funded by dark money.
Double edit: I can't believe I forgot the sheriff! Where else can you vote for the top cop in your region?
What do you look for in a county clerk or tax collector?
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