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Inglonias posted:I'm more curious as to what caused this whole deadlock in the first place. My gut* tells me that a combination of factors like 9-11 and the rapid advancement of technology in media especially is causing us all to just stare at the shiny thing on the ground without actually picking it up and doing anything with it. It's partially structural; there are a lot of points in the Congressional process where a relatively small number of people can derail the whole thing if they don't agree. Likewise the Senate gives a lot of power to the individual senators, trusting them to not abuse it to stall the government's functions. Two hundred years down the road now, we've figured out most of the best ways to bend the system in ways that are unintended.
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Apr 11, 2014 01:52
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Without learning how to take the whole process seriously enough to pay attention to more than just the last vote in the cycle.
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Apr 11, 2014 02:02
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StandardVC10 posted:It's partially structural; there are a lot of points in the Congressional process where a relatively small number of people can derail the whole thing if they don't agree. Likewise the Senate gives a lot of power to the individual senators, trusting them to not abuse it to stall the government's functions. Two hundred years down the road now, we've figured out most of the best ways to bend the system in ways that are unintended. The Constitution is fairly conservative in terms of preventing bills from being passed if there's opposition from the minority. Unfortunately this means that there are ways to obstruct innocuous bills for extended periods of time.
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Apr 11, 2014 02:09
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Monkey Fracas posted:The constant banging on the Austerity Drum by the GOP might carry a bit more weight if it actually worked. Rambling story about how they benefit from killing the poor aside, I don't think that Wall Street wants to end Medicare and Medicaid to profit. As cynical as I am even I don't believe that. I highly doubt most of the big names know what debts go into their products, and even if they do there are other securities more important and bigger payouts for ending the safety net than this particular scheme. Rather, think of the "big" line of Margin Call - "these people do not lose money." Things are set up so they profit no matter what. The economy takes off? They gain. The economy gets worse? Those people die and they gain. Then they apply pressure to make it so they gain the most - think the shorts against the "London Whale" before they outed jp Morgan's position and losses. And if the unexpected happens, like the 2008 crash, they cover their asses at the expense of others (Goldman divesting when they knew what was up) and twist power to reward them (TARP). By the way, as of the most recent Q4 postings, they took a bath on the life insurance CDS scam. They own the insurance companies so they crafted the policies they sold first, which were structured for minimal payments to maximum payouts. So they applied crooked actuarial tables to figure it out, with the side effect of underestimating the chances of those they were betting against. So since those people haven't died yet it is costing the banks money. So it isn't all bad  Finnin posted:Why? She was toast after the rollout, but if they had axed her then 1) changing leadership in the middle of a project is hugely disruptive and could have made things worse 2) the GOP would have blocked a replacement to try and get things to fail, absolutely making things worse Now that it is all done they can move forward. They only need 50 votes for her replacement, but getting 50 in an election year for "the woman who will run Obamacare!" Will be tough Fried Chicken fucked around with this message at 02:22 on Apr 11, 2014 |
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Apr 11, 2014 02:18
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Joementum posted:Looks like Burwell will get at least one Republican vote for confirmation. Also, I decided to include some of the replies. I like how now all of Obama's staff picks have to be contested. I wonder if this obstructionist period will be historically remembered.
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Apr 11, 2014 02:25
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ChaosSamusX posted:I like how now all of Obama's staff picks have to be contested. I wonder if this obstructionist period will be historically remembered. Probably, if any presidential historians are reading this thread 
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Apr 11, 2014 02:33
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ChaosSamusX posted:I wonder if this obstructionist period will be historically remembered. The Era of poo poo Feelings
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Apr 11, 2014 02:35
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I have to wonder how much of the executive power creep that has gone on recently could be averted if Congress wasn't so dysfunctional. Probably not a lot, but if I was in that chair, yeah I'd be looking for ways to accomplish my goals without having to deal with the obstructionism.
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Apr 11, 2014 02:36
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Obama's Sexiest Former Cabinet Members -Kathleen Sibelius -Gary Locke (  )-
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Apr 11, 2014 02:39
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Captain_Maclaine posted:Probably, if any presidential historians are reading this thread I like to think that our posts will be referenced in academic texts 50 years from now with attributions to names like SedanChair and Captain_Maclaine.
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Apr 11, 2014 02:41
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Joementum posted:Mike Huckabee has a few more thoughts on the ladies. Also too, the gays. Yeah, girls don't really want guys following them into bathrooms either. That was a stated reason why a girl in my fifth grade class wanted at least two girls to go with her so a janitor wouldn't corner her again. I'd be OK with dudes wanting the same thing, for that very reason. gently caress you, Huckabee.
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Apr 11, 2014 02:41
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Somebody threw a shoe at Clinton. Not sure what to make of that other than some people be crazy.
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Apr 11, 2014 02:42
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Evil Fluffy posted:Late Night with Fake Conservative Blowhard Colbert (Report) should be a given though? I mean if CBS is hiring him but don't want him bringing along the persona that's made him popular in the first place then CBS has a terminal case of the stupids. Colbert and CBS have already said he's not doing the fake conservative blowhard character. They want a network late night show, not a 60 minute Colbert Report.
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Apr 11, 2014 02:46
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PostNouveau posted:Somebody threw a shoe at Clinton. Not sure what to make of that other than some people be crazy. Why wasn't she wearing her helmet? 
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Apr 11, 2014 02:47
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PostNouveau posted:Somebody threw a shoe at Clinton. Not sure what to make of that other than some people be crazy. Are Hillary's reaction times fast enough to be president?
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Apr 11, 2014 02:47
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StandardVC10 posted:I have to wonder how much of the executive power creep that has gone on recently could be averted if Congress wasn't so dysfunctional. Probably not a lot, but if I was in that chair, yeah I'd be looking for ways to accomplish my goals without having to deal with the obstructionism.
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Apr 11, 2014 02:48
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hobbesmaster posted:Are Hillary's reaction times fast enough to be president? Nah she just kinda flinched. She's not a shoe-ducking phenom like Dubya.
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Apr 11, 2014 02:49
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It's not a coincidence that the areas of recent executive power extension happen to all be things where there's a likely majority in Congress in favor of authorizing such actions, but reluctant to publicly state their support for the actions. You'll notice a different reaction from Congress when the executive tries to flex its muscle in the direction of, say, banking reform.
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Apr 11, 2014 02:54
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Joementum posted:Looks like Burwell will get at least one Republican vote for confirmation. Also, I decided to include some of the replies. And now the secret daughter is African. 
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Apr 11, 2014 03:10
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paragon1 posted:And now the secret daughter is African. "Now"? Is it 1999 again? Quick, invest in this company called "Google", divest from Krispy Kreme, there is going to be this fad called "Atkins"
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Apr 11, 2014 03:15
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paragon1 posted:And now the secret daughter is African. Isn't she? I legit forgot where they adopted her from. I mean I don't doubt that dude is a huge racist piece of poo poo nutjob, but I coulda sworn she was adopted from Africa?
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Apr 11, 2014 03:16
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shrike82 posted:I like to think that our posts will be referenced in academic texts 50 years from now with attributions to names like SedanChair and Captain_Maclaine. Are there studies or research into this? How likely will this be when it comes down to internet research? I know MMORPG's got a lot of love with the Daedalus Project for a lot of trends.
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Apr 11, 2014 03:17
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Tatum Girlparts posted:Isn't she? I legit forgot where they adopted her from. I was under the impression her country of origin was Bangladesh. edit: or was that another, different Rove smear
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Apr 11, 2014 03:18
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StandardVC10 posted:I was under the impression her country of origin was Bangladesh. Pretty sure its bangladesh, rove's people put out a robocall describing her as mccain's black lovechild with another woman and it tanked him in the south
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Apr 11, 2014 03:24
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Peven Stan posted:Pretty sure its bangladesh, rove's people put out a robocall describing her as mccain's black lovechild with another woman and it tanked him in the south Ah my bad, silly me there have been so many insane racists claiming his innocent adopted child who did nothing to harm them was some horrible family secret shame, I forgot what the truth was!
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Apr 11, 2014 03:31
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Fried Chicken posted:Stuff about banks' life insurance scams. Never heard of that, and it's loving fascinating. Would you happen to have a link to where I could read more about it?
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Apr 11, 2014 03:32
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Huh, I thought that episode of Leverage about banks shorting life insurance was just made up. The more you know.
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Apr 11, 2014 03:34
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computer parts posted:Huh, I thought that episode of Leverage about banks shorting life insurance was just made up. The more you know. The best part about Leverage is almost all the over the top 'ha ha crazy rich people would never gently caress people over like that right?' are usually based on real things that happen. It's revenge fantasy based in reality.
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Apr 11, 2014 03:36
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emptyspace posted:Never heard of that, and it's loving fascinating. Would you happen to have a link to where I could read more about it? I remember reading something about how this was a major issue when they found the treatment for AIDS, as many AIDS patients had resold their life insurance policies for short-term cash, and banks were left holding the suddenly significantly-less-valuable policies.
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Apr 11, 2014 03:39
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I like the guy suggesting that Sarah Palin should be HHS Secretary. Or any other possible position, really.
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Apr 11, 2014 03:47
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gradenko_2000 posted:I like the guy suggesting that Sarah Palin should be HHS Secretary. Or any other possible position, really. At least she'd have the dignity to quit the cabinet at the first opportunity rather than waiting around for good news to provide an exit.
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Apr 11, 2014 03:51
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Tatum Girlparts posted:Ah my bad, silly me there have been so many insane racists claiming his innocent adopted child who did nothing to harm them was some horrible family secret shame, I forgot what the truth was! I didn't even know that he had an adopted daughter! I just thought the ol' Rove smear had drifted over the years! You'd have to be a complete shitheel to consider that a real smear, but you know what I mean!
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Apr 11, 2014 03:53
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Finnin posted:Calm the gently caress down both of you the only reason the Republicans will have any chance at the senate in 2014 and 2016 is because of partisan redistricting. You do know what the Senate is, right? Because the Senate doesn't work like that.
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Apr 11, 2014 04:00
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The McCain lovechild thing was a great example of a push poll, not a smear. They asked hundreds of thousands of people in a robocall "Would you vote for John McCain if you knew he had an illegitimate black child?" and all the racist idiots in the south just assumed it was a real thing.
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Apr 11, 2014 04:03
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Stereotype posted:The McCain lovechild thing was a great example of a push poll, not a smear. They asked hundreds of thousands of people in a robocall "Would you vote for John McCain if you knew he had an illegitimate black child?" and all the racist idiots in the south just assumed it was a real thing. I swear there were some disgusting flyers handed out about this, but I can't for the life of me find them.
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Apr 11, 2014 04:05
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Joementum posted:At least she'd have the dignity to quit the cabinet at the first opportunity rather than waiting around for good news to provide an exit. Hahaha, Sarah Palin having dignity. You slay me with your foolishness, Joe.
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Apr 11, 2014 04:08
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The thing people need to keep in mind about the partisan redistricting is that gerrymandering is a moving target. They're trying to fudge elections by redrawing those boundaries, but lots of people move around in a 10 year time frame. Maybe they don't move whole states, but a few miles in any direction could certainly put them in a different district. The idea that Dems are hosed until 2020 and beyond unless they get control of the redistricting process in 2020 is being overly dramatic. Yeah, the last few have sucked more poo poo than they should have because of redistricting, but people in districts do change over time even if the geographical boundaries don't. These things have a way of regressing toward the mean. It won't regress to the point of being completely fair most likely, but the effects of gerrymandering do diminish over time.
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Apr 11, 2014 04:09
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A Fancy 400 lbs posted:You do know what the Senate is, right? Because the Senate doesn't work like that. Depends. Was there a push in the first half of the 19th century to make as many states north of the Missouri Compromise line as possible so the northern senators could finally outnumber the south in the Senate? Because it shows remarkable prescience that the Republicans and Democrats were going to switch sides a century later.
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Apr 11, 2014 04:09
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A Fancy 400 lbs posted:You do know what the Senate is, right? Because the Senate doesn't work like that. Yes, but the GOP hasn't exactly had an easy go of getting control of the senate back from the Democrats, even in elections that favored them.
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Apr 11, 2014 04:10
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paragon1 posted:And now the secret daughter is African. Oh man, I missed that part. I can't believe there are still people who belive this.
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Apr 11, 2014 04:27
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