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FMguru posted:California is a failed state in their minds because it does everything the exact opposite of what conservatives like to do: high taxes, raises taxes, big liberal cities, huge latino population, tolerance of gay people, some strong regulations (especially air pollution) and labor protections, not very Evangelical, freewheeling culture, and so on. By their ideology California should be this flaming bankrupt shithole that people are fleeing in droves, the American equivalent of the late-period Soviet Union. And yet, California is thriving right now. Huge budget surpluses, giant diverse economy, new billionaires and new Fortune 500 companies being created every day. Say, did you hear one of our homespun little hippie companies (run by a genuine out-n-proud homosexual gaylord) just booked the largest quarterly profit in the history of capitalism? I drive by the Tesla factory on the way to and from work every day. The wait list to buy one of their $80,000 electric sedans is almost a year long. They can't make them fast enough, and the plant now employs as many people as when it was making light trucks for Ford/Mazda, and they're looking to expand. Note that this isn't being done in Wisconsin or Mississippi or Kansas - it's happening in California, which is literally impossible according to wingnut theology. Also guns. To many conservatives, California's gun laws (silly as some of them are, admittedly) are evidence that it is a state completely adverse to individual freedoms. Because to middle class white conservatives, that's the only freedom that matters. Jerry Manderbilt posted:Yeah it seems that wingnut perception of California is perpetually stuck in the 2000s. Acknowledging that it has a budget surplus now is pretty inconvenient for them when they still rag on the state.
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Feb 1, 2015 21:03
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Bizarro Watt posted:Also guns. To many conservatives, California's gun laws (silly as some of them are, admittedly) are evidence that it is a state completely adverse to individual freedoms. Because to middle class white conservatives, that's the only freedom that matters. quote:They just bring up the pension stuff in that case.
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Feb 1, 2015 21:13
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FMguru posted:Here's a complete list of states that aren't in danger of being bitten on the rear end by underfunded pension obligations: Rhode Island 
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Feb 1, 2015 21:15
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FMguru posted:Here's a complete list of states that aren't in danger of being bitten on the rear end by underfunded pension obligations: I'll admit that I don't actually know much about other states' pension obligation issues.
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Feb 1, 2015 21:20
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/01/walker-on-roll-for-potential-2016-wh-bid-says-open-to-sending-us-troops-to/ Scott Walker said that he is open to ground troops fighting ISIS. Tough on terror!
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Feb 1, 2015 22:08
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William Bear posted:http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/01/walker-on-roll-for-potential-2016-wh-bid-says-open-to-sending-us-troops-to/ Sounds like a real vote winner!
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Feb 1, 2015 22:12
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Its good to know one's Land War in Asia policy out of the gate.
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Feb 1, 2015 22:13
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Lindsey Graham, on Face the Nation this morning, said essentially the same thing. Apparently ignoring that Obama's strategy is working and demanding a Third Iraq War is going to be a non-trivial thing, at least during the preliminary GOP primary scuffling.
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Feb 1, 2015 22:24
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axeil posted:Perry can't because there's a significant chance he's in jail in 2016. There are three things keeping Perry out of the whitehouse - he's under felony charges, Texas's miracle having gone really far downhill, and....aw shoot, the third thing....
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Feb 1, 2015 22:55
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axeil posted:Perry can't because there's a significant chance he's in jail in 2016. Significant is not the word I'd use for 0.000001% but hey
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Feb 1, 2015 23:19
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FMguru posted:Oh, yeah, forgot about GUNS GUNS GUNS. If the ownership trend line continues unbroken, guns guns guns is going to be an albatross in a few cycles. quote:Here's a complete list of states that aren't in danger of being bitten on the rear end by underfunded pension obligations: Florida Despite what Rick Scott and the Legislature would have you believe.
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Feb 2, 2015 04:41
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Missing Donut posted:Except that Walker has had a Republican majority for his full term as Governor See, you're assuming that reality matters here - it doesn't. Maybe some Fact Checker somewhere will give it a "Mostly False", but there will be an addendum that technically the Democrats in the Legislature could have...something which would have blocked things or his majority was too small and he had to over-negotiate with his moderates because Dems wouldn't cave or whatever the heck. On the first level, nobody gives a poo poo about the truth values of the candidates' statements, only that they have a response. On the second level, it'll turn into a "he said, she said", "the truth is in the middle" type of thing. Journalists don't often call out politicians for being blatantly full of poo poo. shadow puppet of a posted:The Kochs should really start smaller and spend to ring the US with ultra-conservative satellite nations first. The same way ideologies get flipped in Civ 5. Isn't that what they're doing with WI, KS, and FL?
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Feb 2, 2015 05:25
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I figured what the Kochs were doing while the John Birch Society people were essentially kept out of the party by William F. Buckley was establishing lots of think tanks (like CATO) and legislation-crafting organizations so they could essentially move the Overton Window of political discourse towards the Right without having to directly sponsor candidates or be too overt. Then when Reagan got elected, they used their amassed groundwork to take control of the GOP and push the conversation even further rightward.
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Feb 2, 2015 07:46
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WaPo is running a story focusing on the oft-discussed-but-not-in-the-media Rand Paul's pet ophthalmology certification board.
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Feb 2, 2015 08:18
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ComradeCosmobot posted:WaPo is running a story focusing on the oft-discussed-but-not-in-the-media Rand Paul's pet ophthalmology certification board. This is a loving pro-click. quote:The digital face of Paul’s group, natboardoph.org, also did not inspire confidence. “NBO formed as reaction to discriminatory recertification policy of the American Board of Ophthalmology,” it proclaimed on its front page (leaving out an “a” and a “the”), according to an archived copy from 2007.
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Feb 2, 2015 08:51
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Oh my god that last paragraph needs to be a thread title somehow.
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Feb 2, 2015 16:15
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The optomolagy board thing is amusing, but not damning. I would be annoyed if, say, the state board exempted older tax preparers from their CEs. But I'm lazy and not a self-starter and wouldn't form my own board.
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Feb 2, 2015 16:21
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Well, the newest "If Obummer is fer it, I'm agin it" hilarity is starting to unfold. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/02/02/christie-breaks-with-obama-over-measles-vaccine-calls-for-balance/
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Feb 2, 2015 16:25
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like even if you are all about rich people staying rich there's plenty of room for you in the democratic party. what convinces people to run under the banner of a party that says "i support your right to be pants-on-head retarded to the detriment of others"
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Feb 2, 2015 16:29
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E: wow, I don't know how that happened. My phone didn't list the 4 pages that elapsed since the quote I was replying to.
FAUXTON fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Feb 2, 2015 |
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Feb 2, 2015 17:07
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There is a pay walled article in the WSJ Journal today with a lot of interesting information about Hillary's advisers and campaign apparatus. She's getting economic policy advice from Joseph Stiglitz, a guy from Third Way, a former Vice-Chairman of Goldman Sachs, a Princeton Labor Economist, and Paul Volker: quote:Mr. Volcker, the architect of the “Volcker Rule,” a regulatory measure barring banks from making risky bets with their own money; Jonathan Cowan, co-founder of the centrist think tank Third Way, which has been critical of some of the populist rhetoric coming from the Democrats’ liberal wing; and Alan Blinder , a Princeton professor and former Fed vice chairman and economics adviser to Mr. Clinton. Her economic platform is going to be quote:Policies that raise the wages and living standards of the middle class and working poor, address their economic anxieties, and make sluggish wage growth and middle-class prosperity a central focus without sounding like a combative populist or demonizing high-income groups. She's keeping a couple advisers from her 2008 run, but most of her top team is going to be Obama people. quote:Mrs. Clinton has also spoken to trusted Democratic confidants about appointments to high-level positions in her campaign, should she decide to run. She's seeking foreign policy advice from: quote:Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, who worked under both Republican presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush; David Rothkopf, author of a new book on foreign policy-making in the George W. Bush and Obama administrations; and Dennis Ross, a diplomat with many years of experience in the Middle East peace negotiations. Pretty much what was expected here: Liberal interventionists, centrists, and people with experience in diplomacy. Leon Trotsky 2012 fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Feb 2, 2015 |
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Feb 2, 2015 17:19
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Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:She's keeping a couple advisers from her 2008 run, but most of her top team is going to be Obama people.
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Feb 2, 2015 17:26
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Eschers Basement posted:Well, the newest "If Obummer is fer it, I'm agin it" hilarity is starting to unfold. Orly Taitz was right! Obama is a secret Al Qaeda sleeper who has tricked americans into murdering their own children using reverse psychology.
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Feb 2, 2015 17:35
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Gyges posted:If the ownership trend line continues unbroken, guns guns guns is going to be an albatross in a few cycles. Could you elaborate?
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Feb 2, 2015 18:06
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Family Values posted:Could you elaborate? He's alluding to the fact that gun ownership rates have been going down, even though total gun purchases has gone up. Basically, fewer people are gun owners, but modern gun owners buy significantly more guns than before. I think he's wrong, because gun owners are already a minority, but the main difference is intensity. Gun owners are overwhelmingly obsessed with the issue of guns and donate a lot of money, time, and votes to their issue. Non-gun owners are not nearly as unanimous in their position on guns and in general are significantly less passionate about it. The gun lobby is also much better funded and organized than the anti-gun lobby.
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Feb 2, 2015 18:09
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Family Values posted:Could you elaborate? Gun ownership is going down but gun proliferation is going up, meaning fewer people own guns but the ones that do own more of them. It looks good for sales but it means fewer people will be receptive to the guns guns guns message. E: pistolwhipped.
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Feb 2, 2015 18:11
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Incidentally a lot of the extra guns being bought are just being hoarded, while the guns already in ownership are often quite neglected and even unusable without extensive restoration. It's kinda like keeping track of passenger vehicle ownership in the US and making sure to count every rusted out hulk or perpetually immobile garage "restoration" project that hasn't been registered or legal to drive in 10 years.
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Feb 2, 2015 18:42
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FMguru posted:Oh, yeah, forgot about GUNS GUNS GUNS. And the problem of underfunded pensions is rather small when you compare it to the 401k shortfall. Between "contribution smoothing" where companies haven't paid into them for years (and the shortfall from that thanks to compound interest), underperformance compared to the pensions they were supposed to be superior to, an industry full of leeching payments divorced from performance, and the well established macro conditions of a rising cost of living we are looking at a real problem in the years to come. Abolishing elderly poverty was a great accomplishment and is as central to the American economy as the 40 hour work week. It's return is going to upend a hell of a lot and change the dynamic. At a minimum you are going to see families supporting grandparents which will decrease their purchasing power, and see a lot of frustration about that. Neeksy posted:I figured what the Kochs were doing while the John Birch Society people were essentially kept out of the party by William F. Buckley was establishing lots of think tanks (like CATO) and legislation-crafting organizations so they could essentially move the Overton Window of political discourse towards the Right without having to directly sponsor candidates or be too overt. Then when Reagan got elected, they used their amassed groundwork to take control of the GOP and push the conversation even further rightward. That is literally exactly what happened. Look up the Powell memo and what followed. There is very much a planned out an executed path for reshaping America that the rich have been following for decades and it has been highly effective in achieving their ends
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Feb 2, 2015 18:46
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Captain_Maclaine posted:Lindsey Graham, on Face the Nation this morning, said essentially the same thing. Apparently ignoring that Obama's strategy is working and demanding a Third Iraq War is going to be a non-trivial thing, at least during the preliminary GOP primary scuffling. So did Robert Gates on MTP, but he said that his definition of "boots on the ground" didn't mean a full scale invasion. More like a a few hundred troops and some spec ops. he definitely didn't seem to care for Obama.
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Feb 2, 2015 19:13
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Nintendo Kid posted:Incidentally a lot of the extra guns being bought are just being hoarded, while the guns already in ownership are often quite neglected and even unusable without extensive restoration. Guns are much more durable than cars. Consider that a Smith and Wesson revolver from the same time period as the Model T is likely to still be functional without maintenance of any kind.
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Feb 2, 2015 19:17
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BiggerBoat posted:So did Robert Gates on MTP, but he said that his definition of "boots on the ground" didn't mean a full scale invasion. More like a a few hundred troops and some spec ops. he definitely didn't seem to care for Obama. Graham said "about ten thousand," so he at least is talking a substantial ground presence which I'm sure would never ever grow or experience mission creep, and certainly wouldn't have us directly entangled in middle east warfare for another loving decade or anything.
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Feb 2, 2015 19:21
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Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:There is a pay walled article in the WSJ Journal today with a lot of interesting information about Hillary's advisers and campaign apparatus. The foreign policy circle is groan-worthy, but I actually like Alan Blinder. He's a decent, humane Keynesian liberal. I'm to his left, but he writes intelligently and has no patience for free market fundamentalism. See this essay in the New York Review: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/dec/18/whats-matter-economics/ Blinder posted:
In other Democratic primary news, O'Malley has an op-ed in the New York Times today on East Coat drilling. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/02/opinion/dont-drill-along-the-east-coast.html?ref=opinion Somewhat bland but likeable former Maryland Governor posted:
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Feb 2, 2015 19:55
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ComradeCosmobot posted:WaPo is running a story focusing on the oft-discussed-but-not-in-the-media Rand Paul's pet ophthalmology certification board. "He never stopped trying", said Jesse Benton of the guy who let his revolutionary medical board get dissolved twice because he didn't feel like filling out forms.
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Feb 2, 2015 21:07
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SedanChair posted:Guns are much more durable than cars. Consider that a Smith and Wesson revolver from the same time period as the Model T is likely to still be functional without maintenance of any kind. Yeah but last I checked the methodology on things like "300 million guns in the US" tries to count things like a civil war relic weapon that was last maintained before McKinley went down, or some weird gun grandpappy jones lifted off a dead Japanese soldier on a beach. It's not stuff anyone will actually shoot any time soon.
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Feb 2, 2015 21:20
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Nintendo Kid posted:Yeah but last I checked the methodology on things like "300 million guns in the US" tries to count things like a civil war relic weapon that was last maintained before McKinley went down, or some weird gun grandpappy jones lifted off a dead Japanese soldier on a beach. It's not stuff anyone will actually shoot any time soon. Probably so but with annual production at several million, all antique firearms will be a drop in the bucket soon enough.
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Feb 2, 2015 21:34
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Nintendo Kid posted:Yeah but last I checked the methodology on things like "300 million guns in the US" tries to count things like a civil war relic weapon that was last maintained before McKinley went down, or some weird gun grandpappy jones lifted off a dead Japanese soldier on a beach. It's not stuff anyone will actually shoot any time soon. Technically, it is entirely possible the musket great-13th grandpappy mugged a british soldier for while he was pissing against a wall behind a tavern, might fire. We really need to have it x-rayed to see if it's still safe, I think. It's in good shape. We used to shoot it once a year till the late 70s. I mean, it'll fire, we're just concerned about the barrel maybe bursting. Grandpa's WWII weapons are, er, _certainly_ in perfectly good working condition. Heck, friend of mine found one that'd been in a box for fifty years exposed to the Texas elements. Works fine. He even recovered a whole bunch that'd been in a barn fire and then hosed down. He's got a good amount of them working again. Warcabbit fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Feb 3, 2015 |
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Feb 3, 2015 00:28
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Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:He's alluding to the fact that gun ownership rates have been going down, even though total gun purchases has gone up. Basically, fewer people are gun owners, but modern gun owners buy significantly more guns than before. They're a minority but they're still a sizable minority. I think it's something like 30-35% of households. That's still a hell of a lot of voters, especially in primaries and special elections. We probably need to get down into the mid 20s or so drop before they reach the level where their idiocy outweighs their voting value. Which it's quite possible is either still far in the future or below the threshold of 'Merican values. Of course there's also the possibility that the percentage of gun owners who aren't loving idiots will simultaneously rise as overall ownership falls, accelerating the tipping point.
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Feb 3, 2015 00:33
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Warcabbit posted:Technically, it is entirely possible the musket great-13th grandpappy mugged a british soldier for while he was pissing against a wall behind a tavern, might fire. We really need to have it x-rayed to see if it's still safe, I think. It's in good shape. We used to shoot it once a year till the late 70s. And so you think that all those millions of thoroughly obsolete guns are in fact gonna be restored and used anytime soon? Because if you don't, you're missing the point: that counting them just serves to build up a Scary Number with no bearing on actual usage, just as you could easily count Americans as owning dozens of millions more cars if you start counting vehicles that haven't moved in decades or are permanently "being worked on" and not drivable.
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Feb 3, 2015 00:38
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Right. Wandering into gunchat. Dropping the topic.
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Feb 3, 2015 00:52
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So this just happened: Edit: Context! Board Certified(?) Sen. Rand Paul posted:I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines. DynamicSloth fucked around with this message at 00:57 on Feb 3, 2015 |
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Feb 3, 2015 00:55
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