USPol March presents the 8th Annual Debt Limit Fight: Fracas in the Caucus

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > USPol March presents the 8th Annual Debt Limit Fight: Fracas in the Caucus

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mastershakeman: Oct 28, 2008; by vyelkin

Ubiquitous_ posted:

They must have found Schock's rent boy budget.

Nah, with those abs it was probably Schock getting paid.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 19:55

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# ? Jun 10, 2024 20:43

Tercio: Jan 30, 2003

I like that Aaron Schock became a member of Congress as a straight grift. Dude is a traditionalist.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 19:55

Three Olives: Apr 10, 2005; Not a single fucking olive in sight

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/aaron-schock-resigns-116153.html?hp=t1_r

quote:

When Schock transferred the SUV to an Illinois dealership in 2014, it had 81,860 miles on the odometer, the documents show. However, between January 2010 and the end of July 2014, he billed the federal government for 123,131 miles driven in his personal vehicle. During the same time period, the Republican billed his �Schock for Congress� campaign account and GOP Generation Y Fund, his leadership political action committee, for another 49,388 miles.

Altogether, Schock sought reimbursement for 172,520 miles on his car, despite the fact that he signed documents that certified the vehicle traveled less than half that distance.
Schock had no other vehicles registered in his name at the time, according to state public records. Multiple sources familiar with his office operations say he only drove the Tahoe during this period.

Oh come on, this is junior level league corruption, it almost makes me want to believe he is just an idiot.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:00

RuanGacho: Jun 20, 2002; "You're gunna break it!"

Three Olives posted:

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/aaron-schock-resigns-116153.html?hp=t1_r

Oh come on, this is junior level league corruption, it almost makes me want to believe he is just an idiot.

Keep in mind the only thing keeping the average politician from doing this is competent staff.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:04

ReidRansom: Oct 25, 2004

Three Olives posted:

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/aaron-schock-resigns-116153.html?hp=t1_r

Oh come on, this is junior level league corruption, it almost makes me want to believe he is just an idiot.

Is any of this prosecutable, I wonder. It's all pretty small potatoes fraud, really, but there's a poo poo lot of it.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:05

esto es malo: Aug 3, 2006; Don't want to end up a cartoon

In a cartoon graveyard

ReidRansom posted:

Is any of this prosecutable, I wonder. It's all pretty small potatoes fraud, really, but there's a poo poo lot of it.

obviously there is more, and its worse

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:06

Sir Tonk: Apr 18, 2006; Young Orc

joeburz posted:

my fav schock moment was back when he was first elected, bonus with noted moron david brooks in the panel

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/14/rachel-maddow-stuns-rep-a_n_461885.html

This was sooooo good, had totally forgotten about it. He's lucky Brooks was there to save his rear end.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:08

Three Olives: Apr 10, 2005; Not a single fucking olive in sight

ReidRansom posted:

Is any of this prosecutable, I wonder. It's all pretty small potatoes fraud, really, but there's a poo poo lot of it.

The excess mileage reimbursements exceeded $50,000, I wouldn't exactly call that small potatoes fraud.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:08

Joementum: May 23, 2004; jesus christ

Three Olives posted:

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/aaron-schock-resigns-116153.html?hp=t1_r

Oh come on, this is junior level league corruption, it almost makes me want to believe he is just an idiot.

You're talking about a guy who expensed Katy Perry concert tickets to his office.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:11

ReidRansom: Oct 25, 2004

Three Olives posted:

The excess mileage reimbursements exceeded $50,000, I wouldn't exactly call that small potatoes fraud.

In total, yeah, because of lots and lots of smaller fraudulent mileage expensing. And I'm sure that's still a small bit of the whole. So I'm just wondering if all this is going to be lolol go to jail bad, or just leave office in disgrace bad.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:14

SubponticatePoster: Aug 9, 2004; Every day takes figurin' out all over again how to fuckin' live.; Slippery Tilde

I'm waiting for someone to blame him being a corrupt poo poo on his being gay, or has that happened already? "Well, of course he's crooked, he's a dirty human being!"

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:17

Tercio: Jan 30, 2003

SubponticatePoster posted:

I'm waiting for someone to blame him being a corrupt poo poo on his being gay, or has that happened already? "Well, of course he's crooked, he's a dirty human being!"

I'm wondering who will be the first person to argue Schock was bullied out of office by a liberal mob.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:21

Joementum: May 23, 2004; jesus christ

SubponticatePoster posted:

I'm waiting for someone to blame him being a corrupt poo poo on his being gay

Woah, what's with all the jumping to conclusions about his identity without any evidence? :raise:

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:22

Three Olives: Apr 10, 2005; Not a single fucking olive in sight

Joementum posted:

Woah, what's with all the jumping to conclusions about his identity without any evidence?

Any?

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:23

Shbobdb: Dec 16, 2010; by Reene

How to win elections in America:

1). Join the masons

2). Climb the ranks until you find a black lodge.

3). gently caress children and let them videotape you, worship Lucifer (some organizations like the skull and bones start with this step, those are the really good ones to join)

4). Get elected bases on powerful illuminati backing

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:26

duz: Jul 11, 2005; Come on Ilhan, lets go bag us a shitpost

Joementum posted:

Remember: Schockerdammerung all started because he didn't want the Washington Post's style reporter writing about his Downton Abbey office makeover.

I think the real question is, will his replacement redecorate the office?

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:27

Rhesus Pieces: Jun 27, 2005

Joementum posted:

You're talking about a guy who expensed Katy Perry concert tickets to his office.

This and the mileage thing seem like things that would be covered in a first day on-boarding seminar or employee handbook on what not to do in your first term of elected office. Just absolute bush-league textbook graft that isn't even worth committing from a risk/reward standpoint.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:28

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

Shbobdb posted:

How to win elections in America:

1). Join the masons

2). Climb the ranks until you find a black lodge.

3). gently caress children and let them videotape you, worship Lucifer (some organizations like the skull and bones start with this step, those are the really good ones to join)

4). Get elected bases on powerful illuminati backing

See, then you end up resigning in a Schocking turn of events.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:30

Joementum: May 23, 2004; jesus christ

Rhesus Pieces posted:

This and the mileage thing seem like things that would be covered in a first day on-boarding seminar or employee handbook on what not to do in your first term of elected office. Just absolute bush-league textbook graft that isn't even worth committing from a risk/reward standpoint.

This was his third term. :laugh:

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:30

Jackson Taus: Oct 19, 2011

Amergin posted:

Okay, so let's start here. So I'm a 30 year old (as of 2015) goon restaurant owner in Northglenn, Colorado (because it's a purple-ish state for my hypothetical). Northglenn is majority white with ~10% folks over the age of 65. The US Congressional District is CO-7 which is relatively solid D. State House district is 34, which was a little closer in the 2014 elections bringing in this glorious moustache.

So let's assume I want to run first for city council. Ward 1 doesn't seem to have much competition, but it turns out Ward 1 is locked down by either a husband-wife team or a family. They seem to crush their competition pretty easily, too.

Instead, I'll target Ward 3, as both the 2011 and 2013 elections were relatively competitive. Kyle's seat is up in 2017 - Marci's is a bit more vulnerable given her election results but 2015 is too soon to build connections.

First steps would be:
1. Getting into local community events as both a sponsor and organizer.
2. Going to local city council meetings.
3. Getting more involved in local D party organization.
4. Piggybacking on #3, try to get involved in local union organization. Turns out there's a UNITE HERE location in Denver - SE Denver so not exactly "local," but local enough (also who the gently caress comes up with these organization name acronyms?). There's also a UFCW chapter a bit closer, some Teamster chapters in the area, and a BCTGM location.

Let's give this step two years and attempt an election to city council in 2017. We lose the first election, but win the second election in 2019 - let's assume Marci gets re-elected by a slim margin this year and we manage to beat her in 2019 after four years of building connections. I'm now 34 and in the city council.

I essentially continue my original steps of building connections while trying to be an active city council member. I stay on for two election cycles - eight years total. I'm 42 now.

At this point the path of least resistance seems to be State House Representative (two or three cycles, 4-6 years, 48 years old after) -> State Senator (two or three cycles, 8-12 years, 60 years old after) -> US House Representative (two or three cycles, 4-6 years, 66 years old after) -> US Senator.

So if I were to start a political career from scratch at 30, possibly the best I could hope for would to be a US Senator by the time I'm 70, assuming I don't really turn heads and jump positions in a single cycle or jump them entirely?

Couple thoughts:

There's no reason you necessarily have to complete a term before run for another office - if city council is every four years, you can run for State House/Senate in years 2 and 6 if you want.
You can probably go from State House => House of Representatives or City Council => State Senate if you're actually a good and popular politician, that saves you a step.
You could try to go from State House/Senate to a gubernatorial (Governor/Lt. Governor/other state-wide elected office at the state level) seat.
Re-districting is a thing that happens, so come 2021/2022 the districts could look different.
Officeholders retiring is also a thing that happens and could help you accelerate your timetable.

Fundamentally, most folks who try to be politicians don't end up as Senator. Most politicians run for local/state office, lose once or twice, and give up. There are HUNDREDS of state and local elected officials in every Congressional district (meaning they won at least one election), and and most a couple of them will get a chance to be a Congressman. Not every School Board member aspires to be Senator someday, but many do. Being in a position to run for Senator before you're 60 or 70 is going to require a few things to break your way, and nothing to break against you. If you're starting out running for City Council, it shouldn't be surprising that there's a long and twisty road ahead. Planning is important but be willing to call audibles.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:45

Pervis: Jan 12, 2001; YOSPOS

SumYungGui posted:

http://www.npr.org/2015/03/16/39279...ontent=20150316

House got hosed up in Hurricane Sandy? Insurance company low-balled your claim by as much as half because gently caress you? Don't worry FEMA's got your back. Wait, no, your appeal goes back to the same people that declared your first estimate and they can deny or validate appeals in bulk by choosing whether or not a given factor applying to all those appeals is a valid reason for them to pay you more money. In a shocking turn of events that is just purely shocking, shocking all observers, one lawyer representing claimants sees as much as 92% of all appeals are denied.

Of note is that this does not only apply to Sandy relief, it's how the majority of the industry is configured. Private arbitration really should be illegal. It won't be because it's profitable, in addition it would require regulatory oversight to make it so and, well, gotta keep starving that beast, but it should be.

As a reminder private arbitration being complete and utterly corrupt and a run-around of various laws was ruled A-OK by SCOTUS a year or two (or maybe more) ago. RBG had some interesting comments from what I remember.

Basically it's totally ok for the company paying for the arbitration to expect that it'll always rule it's way and get rid of any of them that don't. Since you signed the piece of paper agreeing to it (.. which you have no choice, since this is industry practice to include it in all sorts of contracts) you waive rights to any sort of impartial civil trial. Private arbitration is just one of many places where the courts have been chipping away at rights for normal people so more corporations can gently caress us all.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:51

FAUXTON: Jun 2, 2005; spero che tu stia bene

I think everyone is overlooking the part where Schock expensed flights between Chicago and Peoria. I mean it isn't a picturesque drive or anything but it's like flying from St. Pete to Orlando, only assholes do that poo poo.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 20:59

zoux: Apr 28, 2006

Hmmmmm

FAUXTON posted:

I think everyone is overlooking the part where Schock expensed flights between Chicago and Peoria. I mean it isn't a picturesque drive or anything but it's like flying from St. Pete to Orlando, only assholes do that poo poo.

Politicians fly everywhere.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:00

Series DD Funding: Nov 25, 2014; by exmarx

Pervis posted:

As a reminder private arbitration being complete and utterly corrupt and a run-around of various laws was ruled A-OK by SCOTUS a year or two (or maybe more) ago. RBG had some interesting comments from what I remember.

Basically it's totally ok for the company paying for the arbitration to expect that it'll always rule it's way and get rid of any of them that don't. Since you signed the piece of paper agreeing to it (.. which you have no choice, since this is industry practice to include it in all sorts of contracts) you waive rights to any sort of impartial civil trial. Private arbitration is just one of many places where the courts have been chipping away at rights for normal people so more corporations can gently caress us all.

Except this has nothing to do with private arbitration. Flood insurance is federally regulated, and guarantees an appeal to FEMA (what was mentioned in the article) as well as judicial review.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:03

ex post facho: Oct 25, 2007

Radbot posted:

I already said I'm going to call the ACLU and see if I can help with some pro bono consulting. I am a dues-paying member.

The ACLU actually makes a difference and a positive change. Democrats do not.

And again, if you're aware of any folks "on the liberal side" in my state or city (Denver, CO) that I could advocate for, let me know! I couldn't find any.

Hey I live in Northglenn and please god do something about US 36

e: oh god I live in the same city as Amergin :v:

ex post facho fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Mar 17, 2015

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:10

Pohl: Jan 28, 2005; In the future, please post shit with the sole purpose of antagonizing the person running this site. Thank you.

Three Olives posted:

Any?

He may be a huge piece of poo poo but he sure is pretty.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:13

Grope-A-Matic: Nov 16, 2008; sigh... you really suck at hand
to hand combat i wont lie and
this is way more challenging
then i thought it would be. to
teach you hand to hand combat,
alright i will try to teach you
some more hand to hand combat

Shbobdb posted:

find a black lodge

More like "ShBOBdb", am I right?

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:13

FAUXTON: Jun 2, 2005; spero che tu stia bene

zoux posted:

Hmmmmm

Politicians fly everywhere.

Diamond Joe takes the train because he wants to look the world straight in the eye.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:13

InequalityGodzilla: May 31, 2012

Pohl posted:

He may be a huge piece of poo poo but he sure is pretty.

He is a very handsome man and it takes a special type of person to pull off a cyan belt.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:16

ReidRansom: Oct 25, 2004

Pohl posted:

He may be a huge piece of poo poo but he sure is pretty.

His "personal photographer" is the pretty one.

i mean, I'm basically totally straight, but that's a handsome dude.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:18

Nintendo Kid: Aug 4, 2011; by Smythe

FAUXTON posted:

I think everyone is overlooking the part where Schock expensed flights between Chicago and Peoria. I mean it isn't a picturesque drive or anything but it's like flying from St. Pete to Orlando, only assholes do that poo poo.

The John Sununu of the 21st century?

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:20

ex post facho: Oct 25, 2007

Goon project: Radbot, a shameful boehner and Amergin get together and turn Colorado blue forever, starting with Adams county.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:20

Fried Chicken: Jan 9, 2011; Don't fry me, I'm no chicken!

pathetic little tramp posted:

Seriously, I'd love to run, but I'd be completely inept at fundraising. And running on a 'you people are smart enough to vote for someone regardless of how much money they have' platform is a bad idea when the majority of americans are pretty goddamn easily swayed.

Plus I'd be running in Kentucky and I'd have to say at some point "Uh coal won't last forever you know" which means I'll lose 80-20.

Yeah fundraising is the biggest and hardest part of it. The hurdle I've run into there is that I try to get attached to fundraising committees to learn but the people doing it are so busy running events right after another they don't really have time to teach. Which is probably another symptom of the state of the party where I am, but there you are. It's not an election year and the latest weekly mailer still has 6 events listed.

Venom Snake posted:

Jesus christ on a cracker does D&D get bad when the usual myopic suspects start whining.

You can easily get to know politicians by working on campaigns, lots of volunteering is the backbone of every democratic office on the state level. It's also fun to do and you meet nice people and make friends.

This. It is actually shockingly easy to meet and get connected with politicians once you get involved.

Three Olives posted:

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/aaron-schock-resigns-116153.html?hp=t1_r

Oh come on, this is junior level league corruption, it almost makes me want to believe he is just an idiot.

I wish I could remember which goon was working the losing campaign against him 2010. I met up with the guy to compare notes, I'd love to get his reaction to this.

I have to think something bigger is coming down the pipe though, this stuff has been small potatoes on the scale of congressional grifting, you don't give up a congressional seat this easy

If I was going to offer a bit of advice about running that hasn't been covered, I'd say this: Toastmasters. Seriously, the ability to give a good stump speech is invaluable. I've dealt with plenty of candidates who ramble on, hem and haw, and just have terrible body language and public speaking skills. Find a toastmasters near you and go aggressively so you learn how to write and deliver a tight introduction (for introducing someone else), thank you speech (for people turning out to events and for your volunteers), stump speech (for when you are talking to potential voters), persuasive request (for fundraising), and something to just get people fired up.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:22

Mr Interweb: Aug 25, 2004

So the new GOP budget was scored by the Tax Foundation and said that its massive tax cuts and privatization of medicare will balance the budget in 10 years. :lol:

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:25

ex post facho: Oct 25, 2007

Mr Interweb posted:

So the new GOP budget was scored by the Tax Foundation and said that its massive tax cuts and privatization of medicare will balance the budget in 10 years.

Well, sure. Slashing earned benefits is one way to do that and will result in millions of people facing desperate poverty, medical bankruptcy, starvation and decades of hardship before an early death.

The other way is to raise taxes on the wealthy, lift the cap on contributions to Social Security and create incentives for local businesses to hire locally and pay fair living wages.

In modern America, this means: Accelerationism or Full Communism.

There is no middle ground.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:29

Three Olives: Apr 10, 2005; Not a single fucking olive in sight

Pohl posted:

He may be a huge piece of poo poo but he sure is pretty.

Three Olives fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Mar 17, 2015

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:32

Amergin: Jan 29, 2013; THE SOUND A WET FART MAKES

a shameful boehner posted:

Hey I live in Northglenn and please god do something about US 36

e: oh god I live in the same city as Amergin

I'm in Thornton, actually. Close enough though.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:35

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

I love political fundraising. It is simply the best line of work available for rapid advancement in politics when you're good at it. Want to run for office one day? Fundraise, form your own patronage network, and use it when you make the leap.

Fundraising is about knowing why individuals give, how they give, and how much they're good for in comparison with everyone else.

If you aren't making calls for money during your every waking hour, you're not a politician, you're a gabhander and probably an egotist.

Folks tend to think the issue with American politics is that the pool of money is too large; well, I'm here to tell you, the pool is far too small compared to its returns on investment. Until the pool is large enough that money doesn't matter more than social organizations, you won't have communities that are unable or unwilling to organize fundraisers matter.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:35

ex post facho: Oct 25, 2007

Amergin posted:

I'm in Thornton, actually. Close enough though.

Neat, I'm just over the highway. Ever been to Saigon Basil?

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:38

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# ? Jun 10, 2024 20:43

skaboomizzy: Nov 12, 2003; There is nothing I want to be. There is nothing I want to do.
I don't even have an image of what I want to be. I have nothing. All that exists is zero.

Fried Chicken posted:

I have to think something bigger is coming down the pipe though, this stuff has been small potatoes on the scale of congressional grifting, you don't give up a congressional seat this easy

My guess is that now that his finances were under real investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics, they were going to find a lot more trips with his photographer buddy.

# ? Mar 17, 2015 21:38

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > USPol March presents the 8th Annual Debt Limit Fight: Fracas in the Caucus

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