|
It’s time once again for our favorite form of legitimate theater: American Political Theater - March 2015! The 114th United States Congress is now well underway, and while February was not quite the wild ride January was (a President’s Day recess helped), there’s still plenty of news to report, what with Republicans continuing to lunge from crisis to crisis... The Obama Update While Obama hasn’t been quite as aggressive about it as he was in January, his alter-ego Trollbama has still been out in full force.
114th Congress Bingo Card Now that we’re deeper into the Congressional session (with fewer days this month to boot) less has changed with respect to the predictions I laid out in January. Still, the beginning of a month is as good a time to take stock as any.
Other News
Talk to other goons (why would you want to do that?) Remember that we have an IRC channel at synirc in #poligoon for livesteaming stuff. Goon Recommendations Documentaries Slavery by Another Name Talks Long pieces
Books
Twitter feeds
Related threads "US Politics" is an incredibly broad topic, as A) the country is freaking huge and B) given our role in international events pretty much everything impacts us. So there are other subthreads 2016 Presidential Primary 2016 US Senate Elections SCOTUS thread Right Wing Media There are also regional subthreads that are usually pretty slow, but sometimes cross-pollinate with this thread when something important is happening. Pacific Northwest Illinois Texas California There was a South thread, too, but it's been dead since last July. Lifted the rest of the above from FriedChicken. As before post suggestions for adding to the above and I'll edit them in. And remember folks, drink chat goes in D&D chat thread. Drink responsibly. Your liver will thank you. ComradeCosmobot fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Mar 1, 2015 |
# ? Mar 1, 2015 09:01 |
|
|
# ? May 19, 2024 14:50 |
|
lets all move to canada
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 09:13 |
|
The Accelerationism is getting off to an early start this month, I see.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 09:23 |
|
Scrub-Niggurath posted:lets all move to canada they still have harper though and hes scary
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 09:42 |
|
Tiler Kiwi posted:they still have harper though and hes scary it's true and there's no guarantee he's going away in 2016
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 10:24 |
Bassetking posted:The Accelerationism is getting off to an early start this month, I see. Is accelerationism the politcal meme of 2015?
|
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 11:43 |
|
I hope that the Bibi visit backfires for everyone involved in it.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 13:28 |
|
Speaking of Middle East morons with laughable names, how did Sisi manage to become some sort of conservative folk hero? Is it really as simple as mowing down muslims in the street?
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 14:59 |
|
He spoke out against radical Islam after the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 15:12 |
|
baw posted:I hope that the Bibi visit backfires for everyone involved in it. The funny thing is, it's like Bibi decided to give a free handout to the tea party and to Obama at the same time. He and the mainstream republicans both come out looking damaged, but the tea party gets their photo ops and Fox News appearances in while Obama gets to sit in the Oval Office shaking his head with regret (and no smug pleasure, at all).
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 15:43 |
|
I still don't understand how Harper has managed to hang on to the PM seat as long as he has.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 16:15 |
|
Scrub-Niggurath posted:lets all move to canada it'd be perfect but for the Canadians
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 16:24 |
|
Quote of the morning, "They want a master religion just as the Nazis wanted a master race.” ~ Lindsey Graham, on ISIS at AIPAC.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 16:47 |
|
Joementum posted:Quote of the morning, "They want a master religion just as the Nazis wanted a master race.” ~ Lindsey Graham, on ISIS at AIPAC. I too agree with keeping religion as far away from government.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 17:00 |
|
Wait when is our next debt limit fight?
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 17:07 |
|
I'm very concerned about net neutrality suddenly becoming an extremely partisan issue. I mean good drat it, 80% of people agreed with it, and now the conservative media leaders have decided and now 45% of the people will always be against it and think Obamanet is a thing, and if any republican President is EVER elected it will be over.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 17:07 |
|
Grouchio posted:Wait when is our next debt limit fight? I think the fiscal year ends Sept 30th.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 17:12 |
|
The debt limit is temporarily suspended until March 15, a date which isn't at all ominous.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 17:18 |
|
greatn posted:I'm very concerned about net neutrality suddenly becoming an extremely partisan issue. I mean good drat it, 80% of people agreed with it, and now the conservative media leaders have decided and now 45% of the people will always be against it and think Obamanet is a thing, and if any republican President is EVER elected it will be over.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 17:19 |
|
With the cpac polling on the issue, what are the chances of the Rs co-opting the legalization issue early to outflank the Dems and secure the youth vote?
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 17:20 |
|
site posted:With the cpac polling on the issue, what are the chances of the Rs co-opting the legalization issue early to outflank the Dems and secure the youth vote? CPAC is highly populated by college Republicans who don't control anything in the party. There's a reason the Pauls always win the straw poll.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 17:21 |
|
Joementum posted:The debt limit is temporarily suspended until March 15, a date which isn't at all ominous. If anyone gets the Caesar treatment it would probably be Ted Cruz.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 17:25 |
|
Schizotek posted:Speaking of Middle East morons with laughable names, how did Sisi manage to become some sort of conservative folk hero? Is it really as simple as mowing down muslims in the street? Pick one:
skaboomizzy posted:I think the fiscal year ends Sept 30th. That'd be the budget. Debt ceiling returns March 15, though extraordinary measures mean it might not be a problem until October... Right when Congress is going to be dueling with Obama over defunding the EPA/FCC/DHS. Huh. Just like 2013. ComradeCosmobot fucked around with this message at 17:36 on Mar 1, 2015 |
# ? Mar 1, 2015 17:29 |
|
Joementum posted:The debt limit is temporarily suspended until March 15, a date which isn't at all ominous. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about To find ourselves dishonorable graves. Men at some time are masters of their fates. The fault, dear Boehner, is not in our stars But in ourselves, that we are underlings. Boehner and Obama—what should be in that “Obama”? I haven't put a ton of time into that Politics list (a lot of the good names had been mentioned before), but BillMon and Dick Nixon are both pro follows, if for very different reasons
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 17:45 |
|
Joementum posted:CPAC is highly populated by college Republicans who don't control anything in the party. There's a reason the Pauls always win the straw poll.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 17:57 |
|
site posted:That's funny cuz you only ever see really old people in the audience. Still, good to hear. That is because they strictly enforce the "no pants = no sitting" rule.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 18:14 |
|
funtax posted:That is because they strictly enforce the "no pants = no sitting" rule.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 18:31 |
|
site posted:The Purge should be a thing... I don't think you want to give those boys license to saddle up daddy's retinue for a good ol' fashioned nigrah hunt
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 18:35 |
|
site posted:That's funny cuz you only ever see really old people in the audience. Still, good to hear. The main ballroom stage at a conference is the sideshow.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 18:38 |
|
Aren't our current measures not that bad if the debt clock predicts only a 2 trillion dollar increase in national debt by 2019?
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 18:39 |
|
funtax posted:That is because they strictly enforce the "no pants = no sitting" rule. Bowties and matching underwear, how cute.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 19:03 |
|
House Majority Leader McCarthy is making the Sunday Morning Show rounds endorsing the idea of eliminating the legislative filibuster http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/house-majority-leader-endorses-nuclear-option-n315106 The Senate GOP spent 8 years filibustering everything, now as soon as they have the Senate again there is the push to strip that power so the Dems can't do the same. Raise your hand if you didn't see that coming.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 19:07 |
|
Joementum posted:The main ballroom stage at a conference is the sideshow. It is a pity that the ballroom is where CSPAN et al park their cameras for the whole three days.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 19:07 |
|
site posted:With the cpac polling on the issue, what are the chances of the Rs co-opting the legalization issue early to outflank the Dems and secure the youth vote? Slim to none, and Slim just left town. Keep in mind that the demographics of who goes to CPAC are very different from who votes in primary elections. CPAC has a large libertarian and College Republican contingent, the primary voters are 80%+ old evangelicals. More to the point, the war on drugs serves a very useful purpose for the established interests of the GOP (and to a lesser extent, the Dems) that they don't want to upend.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 19:10 |
|
Grouchio posted:Aren't our current measures not that bad if the debt clock predicts only a 2 trillion dollar increase in national debt by 2019? It has nothing to do with good policy or reasons or anything in particular, it's a tool. The national debt as an issue is purely about pushing lovely unpopular policies using the cry of 'debt' as leverage. It's also part of the reason why the deficit was so drastically increased under Bush and the Republican congress from 2002-2006 - once you are out of power you can scream up and down about the debt and deficit as a means of attacking SS/medicare/medicaid, despite those not being the cause of the debt in the first place (well, Medicare part D is part of it, but it's mostly the wars and the Bush tax cuts and the bank crisis killing tax revenues). Without the talk of the debt, there would be zero traction in any sort of compromise on entitlements, as the programs actually work and other than things like Medicare part D's lovely price negotiation limits, are largely efficient as hell. You can see the same thing play out in Australia - during the good years under a conservative government, there was a ton of tax concessions/cuts, and now rather than fix those they'll use the scare of debt (and they are way lower than ours) as a means of attacking the safety net, especially for the 30 and under crowd, which is a great way of driving down the cost of labor over time.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 19:27 |
|
Joementum posted:The debt limit is temporarily suspended until March 15, a date which isn't at all ominous. The corporate return filing date isn't ominous?! Oh, the Ides of March.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 19:30 |
|
Fried Chicken posted:House Majority Leader McCarthy is making the Sunday Morning Show rounds endorsing the idea of eliminating the legislative filibuster This is a good thing though, because it doesn't change anything while Obama's in office and if the GOP goes full nuclear and they lose the senate in 2016 then all pressure goes back to the House unless the Democrats manage to throw away what should be a fairly solid shot at the presidency. If the Senate was full nuclear when Obama came in to office they might've gotten some more noteworthy poo poo done before the dems lost the House for the next 20 or so years.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 19:33 |
|
Fried Chicken posted:House Majority Leader McCarthy is making the Sunday Morning Show rounds endorsing the idea of eliminating the legislative filibuster I figured they would wait until they had the White House too
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 19:36 |
|
Evil Fluffy posted:Democrats manage to throw away what should be a fairly solid shot at the presidency. No spoilers for 2016 thanks
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 19:45 |
|
|
# ? May 19, 2024 14:50 |
|
Rygar201 posted:I figured they would wait until they had the White House too Almost nobody understands how the Senate works, so as long as the Democrats successfully filibuster everything it just makes everyone think the Republicans are incompetent. The Republicans know this because they pioneered the art of wrecking up the place and then running on a platform of look how messy this place is. Without the Senate Democrats stopping things, the narrative goes from Congress being unable to do anything to Obama and his Tyrannic Veto Pen vs Congress. Plus they realize the Presidency is going to be an uphill battle for them next time.
|
# ? Mar 1, 2015 19:50 |