Sir Kodiak posted:

Yep, I know about this. I am in no way claiming there was not an attempt to overturn the election. I'm asking specifically for support for the claim that but for a few capitol police officers on 1/6 the election would have been overturned. Neither of those links discuss how, but for a few capitol police officers, the fake electors mentioned are counted in place of the true ones. Can you clarify that?

cat botherer posted:

https://twitter.com/orneryscientist/status/1487844142151450626

Apparently there's now significant support in congress to put some kind of price controls on travel nursing costs, which is a bizarre thing to do right now (or ever).

Jaxyon posted:

Please feel free to post those studies.

cat botherer posted:

https://twitter.com/orneryscientist/status/1487844142151450626

Apparently there's now significant support in congress to put some kind of price controls on travel nursing costs, which is a bizarre thing to do right now (or ever).

Kanos posted:

It's plausible to think that had there been zero capitol police presence(instead of the woefully undersupported group that was actually there), the rioters might have reached congresspeople and some extremely bad poo poo could have happened that might have delayed certification significantly.

DeliciousPatriotism posted:

A good post

StratGoatCom posted:

While it's being cloaked in going after fucky travelling agencies, we all know it's a stalking horse for attempts to prevent increases in payment, right?

Oracle posted:

Cool what's your plan for getting drive by shooters off the streets then? Because the ONE TIME cops tend to be useful is apprehending people actively shooting up neighborhoods.

And three strikes laws have been being chipped away at for awhile now. See Johnson vs. United States (2015), Romero and the Committee on Revision of the Penal Code in CA etc. For-profit prisons are bullshit but with the reform and legalization of marijuana laws they're in for some hard times for their shareholders which will hopefully help.

Tuxedo Gin posted:

Community outreach and opportunities to participate in the economy are how you solve gang drive-by problems, not more agents to feed the prison industrial complex that is a major factor in perpetuating gang culture and violence.

quote:

The last time strangers approached Samuel Sánchez Tirado while he was trimming his front lawn, he pretended to be the landscaper so that they would leave him alone. He knew what the uninvited visitors wanted, and he was tired of having the same conversation over and over again.

Mr. Sánchez lives in Rincón, a seaside town in northwestern Puerto Rico famous for surfing and sunsets that has become a hot spot for wealthy investors looking for tax breaks. The visitors, like so many before them, were interested in buying his one-story home, which is a two-minute walk from the beach. It is not for sale, but that has not stopped the unsolicited offers from coming.

“They don’t ask you for a price,” he said. “They just hand you a check and tell you to fill it out with whatever you think the house is worth.”

These are boom times for investors flocking to idyllic towns all over Puerto Rico, some of them seeking to take advantage of tax incentives intended to attract new people and outside money to the cash-strapped island, which is working its way out of bankruptcy. The tax breaks’ appeal accelerated after the coronavirus pandemic prompted many companies to shift to remote work, inspiring Americans who live on the mainland to move to more temperate climes.

But the influx of the affluent new settlers, who must acquire residency and buy property in Puerto Rico within two years of moving in order to keep the tax breaks, has pushed up home prices and displaced residents who can no longer afford to live in their hometowns. Hurricane Maria, which heavily damaged thousands of homes in 2017, had already prompted many residents to leave the island.

The real estate boom, which began in San Juan, the capital, has extended across the island, as investors have started to move away from the metropolitan area and into smaller towns like Rincón.

There are new arrivals beyond those seeking tax breaks who are also snapping up properties and driving up rents and home prices. But it is the finance and tech investors who have formally applied for tax-break status who have drawn the most attention.

Many of them are cryptocurrency traders, who now hold weekly happy hours at a seaside bar in Rincón. A new barbecue food truck that opened in August accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Shiba Inu, Solana and Litecoin for its mainland-style chicken.

The creeping gentrification troubles many Puerto Ricans, who have become increasingly more forceful in questioning how an economy reliant on tax breaks for the wealthy can work for local residents increasingly unable to afford property.

“It feels like Hurricane Maria placed a ‘For Sale’ sign on the island,” said Gloria Cuevas Viera, a Rincón resident who is helping to lead the fight against gentrification.

Many investors buy residential properties and then resell them at higher prices or turn them into short-term vacation rentals, turning entire neighborhoods into Airbnb corridors and creating a shortage of inventory for local residents. Forty-three percent of Puerto Ricans live under the federal poverty level.

Israel Matos, 45, will have to move out of his Rincón home by March because the property owner sold it last year. Mr. Matos had an option to buy the house but it expired. The owner, who is from Hermosa Beach, Calif., decided to sell to someone else.

Mr. Matos has lived in the home with his wife and two daughters for two years, and said he cannot find a single listing in Rincón that matches his budget.

“The pressure as a father is incredibly difficult,” said Mr. Matos, a sound engineer for a television station. “I never thought I would be in the situation of having a hard time looking for a roof to live under with my daughters. And it’s all because I don’t have $100,000 in the bank.”

Recently, dozens of demonstrators gathered in Old San Juan to protest the tax breaks. They congregated in front of a former children’s museum that the Bitcoin billionaire Brock Pierce has turned into a “crypto clubhouse.” Protesters graffitied the building with “Brock Pierce is a colonizer” and “Gringo go home.”

The tax breaks fall under a law known as Act 60, a version of which was initially enacted by the Puerto Rico government under another name in 2012, as the island faced a looming economic collapse. The incentive drew more interest after 2017, when Hurricane Maria decimated the island. In 2019, the tax breaks were repackaged to attract finance, tech and other investors.

People who move to the island can benefit from a reduction of income taxes on long-term capital gains, dividends, interest and revenues from their services. In Silicon Valley, a billboard advertises Puerto Rico as “a tech hub in sync with your vision.”

As of October, Puerto Rico had received 1,349 applications in 2021 — a record — from people looking to become resident investors. Of those, 982 had been approved. In all, more than 4,286 applications have been approved since 2012, with more than 35 percent of them approved in the last three years.

Under the law, an investor can qualify for the tax breaks if he or she has not been a resident of Puerto Rico for at least 10 years prior. The investor must also buy a home to benefit from a 4 percent corporate tax rate and zero capital gains tax. The more than three million Puerto Ricans already living on the island do not qualify for the tax breaks.

“This is creating inequality in terms of taxpayer responsibility,” said Heriberto Martínez Otero, the executive director of the Ways and Means Committee in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives.

Renters forced out by soaring housing prices along the coast may move to cheaper neighboring towns but may have to spend more on gas and tolls to commute, said Mr. Martínez Otero, who also teaches economics at the University of Puerto Rico.

Owners who sell their homes, of course, have benefited from a rise in property prices, and Gov. Pedro R. Pierluisi has applauded the fact that many investors are buying luxury homes — a collapse in the luxury real estate market was a key motivation for passing the tax law, he said in January.

“What was intended was an influx of people with capital to give life to the real estate market,” he said.

Large numbers of people leaving the island had also been a concern for policymakers. Hammered by both the economic crisis and Hurricane Maria, the island’s population declined 11.8 percent from 2010 to 2020, according to the census.

“But the fact that there are people buying residential properties that do not meet the reality of consumption patterns in Puerto Rico joins the rest of the problems on the island that hinders affordable housing,” Mr. Martínez Otero said.

Mr. Sánchez, the Rincón homeowner who pretended to be a landscaper, helps coordinate the town’s federal Section 8 program, which provides affordable housing to low-income families. The program offers families monthly $450 vouchers to pay for housing, but he is struggling to find homes at that price.

“I’m worried that native Puerto Ricans won’t be able to live or invest here and will end up displaced,” he said. “I thought the prices were only going up in the downtown area, but the properties in the more rural sectors in the mountains are getting expensive.”

In Rincón, Ingrid Badillo Carrero, a real estate broker, said home prices have soared in the last four years. In 2017, a two-bedroom condo would list at an average of $290,000. Now, the same unit could be listed at about $420,000.

The average annual income in Rincón is about $19,900.

“I’ve had locals tell me I’m selling our country,” said Ms. Badillo, who regularly deals with investor clients seeking the tax breaks. Many are able to pay in cash, which is more attractive to sellers than selling to Puerto Ricans, who may only have the means to pay through a mortgage.

In May, Elizabeth Stevenson moved to Puerto Rico with her husband, Tyler McNatt, from Austin, Texas. They were looking for a way out of going to the office every day and began exploring cryptocurrency investments as a way to generate income. Ms. Stevenson, an Act 60 beneficiary, is working as a consultant for a California movie producer now based in Puerto Rico, while also buying and selling cryptocurrency.

“It’s really exciting that there’s so much to learn, and there’s so much money to be made,” said Ms. Stevenson, who signed a one-year lease for an apartment about a 15-minute walk from the beach.

She is part of several crypto groups for ex-mainlanders that regularly host events in Rincón. Daniel Torgerson, a crypto investor who moved to Puerto Rico in June, convenes a weekly happy hour at the Aqua Marina Beach Club in Rincón.

In early January, about 20 people met around the bar and pool, speaking under string lights and competing with the sounds of the nocturnal coquí frogs.

“How’s everyone feeling in the market this week?” Mr. Torgerson asked the crowd. “Any new projects you’re excited about?”

“Solar bitcoin mining!” someone responded.

The new residents are bringing their children along. Myriam Pérez Cruz, the principal at Manuel González Melo K-8 School in Rincón, said the school had to add more coursework for students learning Spanish as their second language.

In the 2016-17 school year, a student survey identified three native English speakers who needed Spanish-language assistance, Ms. Pérez said. For the 2021-22 school year, that number rose to 17 students.

Mr. Matos, the Rincón resident who must move out of his home by March, recently drove around looking for promising “For Rent” signs. Afterward, he went to the beach, sat cross-legged on the sand, and tried to relax. But soon after parking his car, he felt uneasy.

“There were probably 50 people on that beach, and I only saw what looked like five Puerto Ricans there,” Mr. Matos said. “Rincón has changed a lot.”

Craig K posted:

hey now, my basal insulin is switching to one that's the same but a quarter of the list price, for merely $147.98 a month! i recommend not doing that unstated math as blood will shoot out your nose

Kalit posted:

Looks like crypto people are buying up Puerto Rico real estate, with help from a tax break designed to encourage it:
https://twitter.com/nytimesbusiness/status/1488306365487538176

Sorry for the wall of text, but I decided to paste the entire article because of the annoying paywall. I'm honestly a little surprised this is finally just occurring at this pace in the rural areas there. But I guess those tax breaks really got things rolling.

BiggerBoat posted:

I've read several studies where increased police PRESENCE resulted in a decrease in crime. Specifically during the 90's .

Space Cadet Omoly posted:

The price gouging on insulin so insanely cruel.

Sir Kodiak posted:

Yeah, there's definitely scenarios where it could have gone much worse. I'm asking specifically what the path is that ends up with Joe Biden never becoming president that was stopped by those few capitol police officers that day, which is what I understood was put forward by the poster I responded to. I'm asking this to improve my understanding of the weaknesses of our political system, not to minimize what happened or could have happened.

Oracle posted:

If you’re explaining you’re losing and Democratic solutions require a gently caress load of explanation, are complicated, and take time. ‘Lock’m up’ is quick easy and removes the immediate threat which if I’m getting shot at is what I drat well want, later can wait til later.

Harik posted:

I'd really like an explanation of this as well, because the chain of events as presented is along the lines of:
1) A bunch of rubes storm the capital and hold the legislature hostage
2) Rudy sneaks in his fake electors
3) Q-Shaman bangs the gavel and begins the count
4) Fake electors say "trump"
5) Trump is now president

Even if steps 1-4 happen by some slapstick comedy of failures, the end result is that it gets ignored because the senate pomeranian declares they didn't ennunciate the call to vote properly nobody is stupid enough to think that it actually counted, and they redo it. It's the same kind of magical thinking that says Barack Obama wasn't really president because he flubbed the oath of office the first time, and only the televised ceremony counts despite the exact time of swearing in (and existence of television) not being in the constitution. What happened then (obama quietly going back and re-taking the oath of office) is exactly what would have happened last year: after the clown parade was shooed out the adults would rerun the count or whatever ceremony a bit more somberly and biden would be duly annointed president.

Discendo Vox posted:

This story is at least 3 years out of date. Cryptobros were in PR snapping up properties before recovery even really started.

Roadie posted:

I just looked up San Juan housing prices and they're impulse-buy cheap by West Coast standards in general, let alone, say, SoCal specifically. Sure, you'll have to tear down that $50,000 shack and build your own house on the land, but it's still cheaper than a one-bedroom in San Francisco or near downtown Seattle.

Roadie posted:

The much simpler answer to all this that you're overlooking is that the insurrectionists kill or kidnap a bunch of Democrat representatives and senators before being apprehended, and Republican state governments appointment replacements for their missing Democrat congresspeople who then do whatever they want with a technically legal majority.

Justice Elena Kagan posted:

The Constitution’s text and the nation’s history both support allowing a state to enforce an elector’s pledge to support his party’s nominee – and the state voters’ choice – for president

Crain posted:

Duuuuhhhh.

It's a market that hospitals and clinics can't do anything about. They need staff and for whatever reason they will pay a traveling nurse a premium instead of improving pay for their permanent staff.

Harik posted:

So again, they were a few hundred corpses and military backing short of a coup.

There was no path to trump being declared president on 1/6. The electoral collage had already voted back on December 14th. The outcome was decided. 1/6 in-person reporting to congress is a formality from the time before instant communications. The Roberts Supreme court has ruled previously against faithless electors, so it's not a big stretch to guess their opinion on state representatives lying about the results that were already formalized.

Their best case outcome is a constitutional crisis of an uncertifed election that the roberts court tells them to fuckoff about. Nobody was going to accept a result that didn't match with the already completed electoral college vote.

Harik posted:

Their best case outcome is a constitutional crisis of an uncertifed election that the roberts court tells them to fuckoff about. Nobody was going to accept a result that didn't match with the already completed electoral college vote.

TaintedBalance posted:

It's because travelers are often not covered by the unions and are ALWAYS not part of pension costing. The long term cost for a permanent healthcare worker can be loving massive. If we ever get UHC, there is gonna be a huge reckoning there. Nurses in the bay area pull down serious bank and that would not be tenable under a UHC system.

TaintedBalance posted:

It's because travelers are often not covered by the unions and are ALWAYS not part of pension costing. The long term cost for a permanent healthcare worker can be loving massive. If we ever get UHC, there is gonna be a huge reckoning there.

cat botherer posted:

https://twitter.com/orneryscientist/status/1487844142151450626

Apparently there's now significant support in congress to put some kind of price controls on travel nursing costs, which is a bizarre thing to do right now (or ever).

FizFashizzle posted:

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

This is requesting they investigate nursing contracting agency profits and not traveling nurses specifically.

Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley also signed on to the letter and their statements talk about staffing agencies using their leverage against hospitals for higher commissions and using "anticompetitive tactics" to require them to higher from their agency for their entire slate of contract nurses.

Edit:

Beaten slightly by Fiz and with more detail.

BiggerBoat posted:

We had a 1/6 thread for a while

quote:

Rubio 49
Demings 41

DeSantis 49
Crist 43

DeSantis 51
Fried 40

If Presidential election were held today:

Trump 47
Biden 44

(The same margin as 2020 results)

Republican Presidential Primary:

Trump: 47
DeSantis 40
Other/Don't Know 13

quote:

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of likely midterm voters say there is a mental health crisis today, tracking the findings in the Suffolk University/USA TODAY national poll released in early January, in which 88% indicated there is a mental health crisis in the country.

quote:

Economic conditions in Florida were rated as excellent/good (47%) versus fair/poor (50%).

Jobs/economy (20%) was also the top issue overall, followed by immigration policy (15%), inflation (13%), COVID-19 and crime/guns (tied at 9%), and schools/education (8%).

quote:

A slight majority (52%) of voters support the state’s ban on vaccine requirements and more voters feel that Florida’s COVID-19 policies have helped the Florida economy (49%) than hurt it (38%). However, only 46% rated the governor’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as excellent/good while 53% rated it fair/poor.

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Even thought it is a midterm that would be rough for the incumbent part anyway, Florida seems to be slipping further and further into a red state from a swing state.

52% of Florida voters consider themselves Republicans or Republican-leaning.

Other polling questions:

Florida voters overwhelmingly think there is a mental health crisis in the country, but noticeably less so than the national average.

Voters' perception of economic conditions were split almost 50/50 and the most important issues were:

1) Jobs/Economy.
2) Immigration
3) Inflation
4) Covid
5) Crime/Guns
6) Schools/Education

Most Florida voters support banning vaccine mandates and think DeSantis' Covid policies have been good for the economy.

But, a majority also said DeSantis has not done a good job handling Covid.

Interestingly, DeSantis has had his approval rating tank recently because Democrats have solidified to be overwhelmingly against him and only 66% of Republicans approve.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/02/01/poll-biden-struggling-florida-2024/9282357002/

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Even thought it is a midterm that would be rough for the incumbent part anyway, Florida seems to be slipping further and further into a red state from a swing state.

52% of Florida voters consider themselves Republicans or Republican-leaning.

Other polling questions:

Florida voters overwhelmingly think there is a mental health crisis in the country, but noticeably less so than the national average.

Voters' perception of economic conditions were split almost 50/50 and the most important issues were:

1) Jobs/Economy.
2) Immigration
3) Inflation
4) Covid
5) Crime/Guns
6) Schools/Education

Most Florida voters support banning vaccine mandates and think DeSantis' Covid policies have been good for the economy.

But, a majority also said DeSantis has not done a good job handling Covid.

Interestingly, DeSantis has had his approval rating tank recently because Democrats have solidified to be overwhelmingly against him and only 66% of Republicans approve.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/02/01/poll-biden-struggling-florida-2024/9282357002/

quote:

The Suffolk University/USA TODAY Network poll of likely Florida voters says only 39% of respondents approve of the job Biden is doing, while 53% disapprove. By a 30 point margin – 58%-28% – the poll says voters in Florida believe the nation as a whole is on the wrong track, and a full 57% disapprove of the president's handling of the economy.

Lib and let die posted:

I find myself agreeing with the idea that it's probably not a good idea to set the precedent that private industries have carte blanche to deny or provide service or employment based on a private citizen's health history which seems to be the trend that vaccine mandates are taking - to be perfectly clear, whether it be COVID vaccine mandates, flu vaccine mandates, HPV vaccine mandates, signaling to corporations that they're within their rights to deny employment or service to any individual based on traditionally HIPAA protected information gives corporations even more power over workers than they already have. My fear is that ultimately we will end up in a situation where an employer can hire you on at a lower rate because you answered "Yes" that you had chicken pox as a child, but have not been vaccinated against Shingles, so you're worth $10k less/year because we might lose 2 weeks of productivity out of you if you contract Shingles.

Yes, more people need to get vaccinated. Yes, 5g nanochip anti-vax morons are a danger to society at large. Yes, we should be pushing for a higher vaccination rate among the whole of the US population, but none of that should in any capacity be allowed to be leveraged by corporations who have their own interests, not their labor forces', at heart.