US CE Spring 2022: I'm convinced it's useless which is why I argue about it all day every day

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > US CE Spring 2022: I'm convinced it's useless which is why I argue about it all day every day

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metachronos: Sep 11, 2001; When I roll, baby I roll DEEP

Are we allowed to discuss local politics here? My city elected a couple stop the steal cranks to city council and "anti-crt" people won big in school board elections in outlying suburbs. Seems like a bad news bellwether.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 12:58

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# ? May 23, 2024 22:09

selec: Sep 6, 2003

metachronos posted:

Are we allowed to discuss local politics here? My city elected a couple stop the steal cranks to city council and "anti-crt" people won big in school board elections in outlying suburbs. Seems like a bad news bellwether.

Plenty of folks will fight them earnestly, your job is to keep heightening the contradiction. And what I mean is to get them fighting over which village in Kenya Obama was born in and attempt to get them to put this into the curriculum, alongside a picture of Castro for some reason.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 13:18

BougieBitch: Oct 2, 2013; Basic as hell

Freakazoid_ posted:

If he had offered a plan of attack, like national rent control and price limits at the pump, then I'd be more worried about the media silencing his agenda.

The policy move for gas prices was opening the strategic reserve. There are also the international overtures to Venezuela and Iran, which are clearly calculated to improve the situation in the mid- to long-term. We will also get the cyclical lower prices for summer gas (idr the specifics, something about the blend?), so it is possible that prices will nudge downwards in the next couple months.

On the flip side though, there is an actual supply crunch on gas globally, so doing things that will increase use (like lowering the price by fiat) is probably not good policy. We likely need to step up exports to Europe from an international security perspective, so increasing domestic use is counterproductive. With that in mind, we need the Carter-level "start wearing sweaters" messaging from the government, and we need consumers to start viewing renewables with more enthusiasm (and frankly we have needed it for decades, climate change isn't going away).

# ? Apr 6, 2022 13:32

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Remember that crazy lady who was the head of a national anti-abortion group that was indicted by the Justice Department and arrested by Capitol Police this week because she stole 5 fetuses from an abortion clinic they raided and kept them in here house for years?

Turns out that was all wrong and fake news.

She actually took 115 fetuses.

And now they claim that they were given the fetuses and they didn't steal them.

They hired a priest to give 110 of them a mass burial on sanctified ground and kept 5 of them in their house for ???

She also claims she is an "atheist leftist."

quote:

Anti-Abortion Activists Say They Were Allowed to Take 115 Fetuses

A medical waste disposal company denied their account. Most of the fetuses were buried in secret, the activists said, but they kept five that were later seized by the police in Washington, D.C.

Anti-abortion activists claimed on Tuesday that five fetuses that were removed from an apartment in Washington last week had been in a box containing a total of 115 that the driver of a medical waste truck voluntarily allowed them to take from his dolly outside an abortion clinic.

The driver�s employer, Curtis Bay Medical Waste Services, denied their account and added that the use of its services to dispose of fetuses was against company policy.

It was the latest turn in an investigation that burst into public view last Wednesday, the same day that Lauren Handy, 28, an anti-abortion activist, was arrested and charged, along with eight others, with illegally blocking access to a Washington abortion clinic in October 2020.

Separately from that federal investigation, the Metropolitan Police in Washington, D.C., said that they had removed the five fetuses from an apartment where Ms. Handy said she lived, prompting questions about where they came from and why she had them.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Ms. Handy, the director of activism at a group called Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising; Terrisa Bukovinac, the group�s founder and executive director; and Randall Terry, the founder of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, sought to answer those questions.

They claimed that Ms. Handy and Ms. Bukovinac had gone to the Washington Surgi-Clinic to protest abortions on March 25 when they happened upon a Curtis Bay driver who was loading boxes outside. They told him there were �dead babies� inside, they said, and asked him if he would get in trouble if they took one of the boxes.

When he asked what they planned to do with it, they promised a �proper burial,� and he said, �OK,� and gestured toward his dolly, they said. Ms. Handy grabbed one of the boxes, and took it back to her apartment, she said.

The two women said that a Roman Catholic priest said Mass, and that they read aloud names that they gave to the fetuses before 110 of them were buried, with a priest present, at a location they declined to disclose.

They said their lawyer then contacted the Washington police to pick up the five remaining ones, which the activists said they considered evidence of violations of federal laws, including the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which bans certain methods to terminate pregnancies starting at 12 weeks.

At the news conference, they showed pictures of a Curtis Bay truck and a box with the company�s name as well as graphic video of what they described as Ms. Bukovinac and Ms. Handy opening the box at the apartment.

�Pro-life Americans will not stay silent in the face of such aggressive and barbarous violence,� said Ms. Bukovinac, who identified herself as an atheist and a �leftist.�

Curtis Bay denied the activists� claims.

�On March 25, a Curtis Bay employee took custody of three packages from the Washington Surgery Center (Washington Surgi-Clinic) and delivered all of them to Curtis Bay�s incineration facility,� the company said in a statement. The driver did not hand packages over to the protesters or anyone else, it said. �Any allegations made otherwise are false.�

The company, which said it was cooperating with the police, added that its client agreements prohibit customers �from disposing of fetuses and human remains� using its services.

The Washington Surgi-Clinic referred questions to the National Abortion Federation, which said that providers comply with state and federal laws that regulate the handling of tissue.

�Anti-abortion individuals and groups are increasingly resorting to extreme and illegal antics to attempt to intimidate clinic workers and patients, and stop them from seeking or providing abortion care,� Melissa Fowler, the federation�s chief program officer, said in a statement. She said the groups were making false claims to encourage �medically unnecessary and politically motivated� legislative restrictions to push safe and affordable abortion care out of reach.

The Washington police declined on Tuesday to comment on the anti-abortion group�s latest claims, but said the case �remains under active investigation.�

The police said last week that five fetuses were seized on March 30 after the police received a tip about �potential biohazard material.� They were handed over to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

At a news conference on Thursday, Ashan M. Benedict, the executive assistant chief of police, said the investigation did not focus on the abortions, which were legal under Washington law.

�There doesn�t seem to be anything criminal in nature right now about that, except for how they got into this house,� Chief Benedict said, �and so we�ll continue to look at that.�

Last Wednesday, the Justice Department said Ms. Handy was one of nine people who had been charged with using chairs, ropes, chains and their bodies to block access to a Washington abortion clinic on Oct. 22, 2020, in violation of the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.

Court papers did not identify the clinic, but Ms. Handy and Ms. Bukovinac said it was the Washington Surgi-Clinic.

If convicted, the defendants would each face up to 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release and fines of $350,000, prosecutors said.

�I don�t believe I did anything wrong,� said Ms. Handy, who identified herself in an interview as a Catholic and an anarchist. �We try to rescue a baby on a particular day, and we try to let the chips fall where they may.�

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/05/us/fetus-anti-abortion-home-washington.html

# ? Apr 6, 2022 13:49

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Josh Mandel seems to have made a very large error and a false claim in his new campaign ad.

Here's the 30-second ad below. See if you can spot it.

https://twitter.com/JoshMandelOhio/status/1511360397244350472

If you didn't spot it, then here's the frame in question:

# ? Apr 6, 2022 13:57

Baronash: Feb 29, 2012; So what do you want to be called?

I wanted to see if anyone looked into this, because it seemed unbelievable that the kind of person who would be willing and able to pull off a competent fake like this would forget about the hands.
https://twitter.com/natalie_allison/status/1511478072511451136?t=ZkuR1yRxL3R3EEZ7HPPOSA&s=19

# ? Apr 6, 2022 14:21

Gumball Gumption: Jan 7, 2012

I can't really come up with a motive on why you would edit a photo like that, swapping his head onto a black man. Still an awful ad though.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 14:30

selec: Sep 6, 2003

I�m giving the internet less than ten minutes before somebody photoshops that picture so Mandel is sitting on a couch

# ? Apr 6, 2022 14:39

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Baronash posted:

I wanted to see if anyone looked into this, because it seemed unbelievable that the kind of person who would be willing and able to pull off a competent fake like this would forget about the hands.
https://twitter.com/natalie_allison/status/1511478072511451136?t=ZkuR1yRxL3R3EEZ7HPPOSA&s=19

That's a less funny explanation to a funny situation. If the campaign is telling the truth, then why in the world did they use a darkening filter?

In other news, I celebrate Joseph Crowley (the former #3 for the House Democratic Leadership team who was primaried by AOC) for gracefully dropping out of politics after his loss.

Instead, he is going into the next logical step for a former member of congressional leadership and is... *checks notes*... producing and performing a traditional Irish music/Hip-Hop/Rock Ballad fusion Broadway musical about Irish Immigrants and Black Americans living in a fictionalized racial paradise based on the real life Five Points neighborhood in the 1800's?

quote:

A former lawmaker is raising the curtain on a new role: Broadway producer.

Former Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) is celebrating the first Broadway performance of �Paradise Square,� which premiered over the weekend with a debut attended by New York Mayor Eric Adams (D).

It was after his stunning Democratic primary loss to then-political newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018 that Crowley said an old friend called him up and got him interested in the musical.

�I just fell in love with the material,� Crowley said.

The show follows the lives of Black Americans and Irish immigrants in New York�s notorious Five Points slum during the Civil War.

�It�s based on historical events. It�s great dance, and just terrific music and acting. It�s just off the charts,� Crowley told ITK the morning after the show kicked off at Broadway�s Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

Asked what�s tougher, cutting it on Capitol Hill or in the cutthroat world of Broadway, Crowley replied with a laugh, �They all come with their challenges, there�s no question about that. But if there was any concern about life after Congress, this has been exhilarating, and great fun, and great joy.�

Calling his involvement with the production something he �wasn�t expecting,� Crowley, 60, said, �You never know what�s going to happen, and I never would�ve been able to work on this while I was in Congress.�

It seems to be getting okay reviews. Although, a lot of critics seem concerned that the writing and costuming are too ham-fisted with obvious metaphor and lack subtlety, and the score leans heavily on the rock ballads and less on the traditional Irish music and hip-hop.

quote:

In �Paradise Square,� Racial Harmony Turns to Discord

In a new musical starring Joaquina Kalukango, the love between Black and Irish New Yorkers in a Manhattan bar is threatened by Civil War riots.

Most of the characters � and there are 10 major roles � seem less like people than ideas with human masks. Willie�s war buddy Mike Quinlan (Kevin Dennis) represents the unemployed Irish workers easily swayed by demagogic politicians. A white pianist and composer who turns plantation tunes into uptown hits (Jacob Fishel) represents, somewhat anachronistically, the problem of cultural appropriation � though it�s a nice touch that some Stephen Foster songs, like �Camptown Races,� are reappropriated in Jason Howland�s music.

Another Foster song � �Oh! Susanna� � gets an even more interesting overhaul, insidiously connecting the show�s all-purpose villain, Frederic Tiggens, as he fans the Irish rebellion, to racist Southern tropes. (Foster�s melody is reset with the lyric �You were true to a country that wasn�t true to you.�) Alas, none of Tiggens�s dialogue is as subtle; a vaguely defined �uptown party boss� set on shutting down the �depravity� of places like Paradise Square, he leaves the performer John Dossett little to do but metaphorically twirl his mustaches.

If most of the score suffers from a mild case of overstatement � whipping up a series of generic rock ballads and throat-shredding anthems � the book and staging suffer from full-blown emphasitis.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/03/theater/paradise-square-review.html

Leon Trotsky 2012 fucked around with this message at 14:47 on Apr 6, 2022

# ? Apr 6, 2022 14:42

Ghost Leviathan: Mar 2, 2017; Exploration is ill-advised.

Is this the new Hamilton?

# ? Apr 6, 2022 14:45

Gatts: Jan 2, 2001; Goodnight Moon; Nap Ghost

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

That's a less funny explanation to a funny situation. If the campaign is telling the truth, then why in the world did they use a darkening filter?

Why, to own the libs who would call it out and create controversy my dude

# ? Apr 6, 2022 14:46

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Ghost Leviathan posted:

Is this the new Hamilton?

The reviews are just okay and, so far, it is only scheduled for one run on Broadway. So, probably not.

Maybe it will be like Rocky Horror Picture Show or Little Shop of Horrors and be rediscovered 20 years later and declared an underappreciated classic?

Leon Trotsky 2012 fucked around with this message at 14:52 on Apr 6, 2022

# ? Apr 6, 2022 14:50

tk: Dec 10, 2003; Nap Ghost

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

That's a less funny explanation to a funny situation. If the campaign is telling the truth, then why in the world did they use a darkening filter?

The original shot is pretty flat. They upped the contrast a bit to get darker shadows and brighter highlights.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 14:55

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

The U.S. is still trying to walk a tightrope of applying sanctions that punish Putin, but don't seriously impact the Russian oil and gas production industry that makes up most of its economy.

So, in response to alleged war crimes involving killing over 300 civilians who were bound and shot at close range, targeting non-strategically important civilian buildings like schools, museums, and grocery store, allowing rape of civilians, and taking Ukrainian civilians prisoner and back to Russian territory, the U.S. is seizing Putin's daughter's New York City condo, preventing her from competing in any U.S. dance competitions, and preventing all of his children from owning property or holding financial accounts in American territory.

https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1511702405938876421

Seems like the kind of thing that is going to make nobody happy.

Leon Trotsky 2012 fucked around with this message at 15:03 on Apr 6, 2022

# ? Apr 6, 2022 15:01

VitalSigns: Sep 3, 2011

Now there's a sanction regime I support, let's seize all rich people's second+ condos and house homeless people in them

# ? Apr 6, 2022 15:04

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

The U.S. is also depriving the world of art like this from the "Boogie-Woogie Masters" by preventing Putin's daughter from competing.

https://twitter.com/xeni/status/561611645265674240

The full video with music really makes the performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h1BAq_fcXI

# ? Apr 6, 2022 15:11

RBA Starblade: Apr 28, 2008; Going Home.

Games Idiot Court Jester

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

The U.S. is also depriving the world of art like this from the "Boogie-Woogie Masters" by preventing Putin's daughter from competing.

And isn't that the real war crime?

# ? Apr 6, 2022 15:18

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

It's going to be really embarrassing if it turns out that Putin's kids kept all of their assets in Bank of America checking accounts and their NYC condo closets.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 15:23

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Looks like 2022's campaign theme for Dems will be The Year of the Moderate in an attempt to counter the GOP's smears of Dems being radical socialists:

The "good" Arizona senator:

quote:

He helped sink one of Joe Biden�s labor nominees, pushed the president to open new drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and hammered the administration over lifting pandemic-era restrictions on the southern border.

No, it�s not a Republican. It�s Mark Kelly.

The Arizona Democratic senator is breaking palpably with the president as he pursues a full six-year term this fall in a once-reliable red state that�s recently become fertile territory for Democrats. Though Kelly has at times sought distance from the president on the border and economic issues during his 16 months in Congress, his recent run of schisms with the White House demonstrates that it�s not just Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) calling her own shots in the Copper State.

Though Democrats are used to Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) bucking them, Kelly�s vote against David Weil to be wage administrator for the Labor Department shocked party leaders, according to one Democratic senator supportive of the nomination. And his criticism of Biden�s approach to the southern border only grew louder after the White House reversed the Trump administration public-health order known as Title 42, potentially clearing the way for more immigrants seeking asylum to enter the country.

And the "bad" senator from Arizona agrees: "Sinema issued a statement praising Kelly�s 'independent leadership' with his work on Covid, infrastructure and the border."

Kelly's been joined by other party members in good standing who are facing losses this year:

quote:

While progressives have largely called the rescission of Title 42 � which allowed border agents to quickly kick out thousands of migrants � long overdue, moderates have slammed the administration for proceeding without a plan to handle an expected surge of migrants. The four most vulnerable Senate Democrats � Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire � have all spoken out against the Biden administration�s move, echoing GOP concerns about a coming spike in the number of migrants arriving at the border.

Other Democrats have said nothing at all.

�This is the wrong way to do this and it will leave the administration unprepared for a surge at the border,� Cortez Masto said in a statement to POLITICO. �We should be working to fix our immigration system by investing in border security and treating immigrant families with dignity. Instead, the administration is acting without a detailed plan.�

And, as always, the party "moderates" are trying to battle the GOP on its own turf, with an assist from the DCCC:

quote:

The Democratic Blue Dogs are sharpening their teeth for the midterms.

Ahead of an election where moderates could lose dozens within their ranks, House Democratic centrists are throwing more coordinated political muscle behind moderate primary candidates they say are the most electable in tough seats. And they�re planning an aggressive ground game: Groups aligned with the moderate faction are bulking up their teams and working more closely with party officials on recruitment and fundraising � all with the hopes of lifting moderates of their own mold in November.

�You need someone who can actually have a chance of helping us keep our majority,� Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), who leads the Blue Dog Democrats� political arm this cycle � which will roll out its first slate of endorsements on Wednesday. �We need a moderate to replace a moderate because those seats are not winnable by some of those folks on the further left of the spectrum of our party.�

***

To ward off a complete clobbering of their ranks, many House centrists are partnering more with the the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, led by Rep. Sean Maloney (D-N.Y.). They hope more coordination on recruitment and strategy will help in their fight to hang on during a political cycle that has them at a disadvantage.

That�s a shift from the past, as some battleground Democrats have had their gripes with the party campaign arm. Schrader said he�s sensed a different tune coming from the DCCC this cycle, particularly when it comes to allowing moderates to run independently, without a party platform or predetermined message.

What could possibly go wrong with moderates trying to out-conservative the conservatives?

quote:

Last cycle, the ranks of the Blue Dogs were decimated. Zero out of the nine candidates they endorsed won, while eight of their incumbents lost their reelection battles. New Democrats, which has a larger base of lawmakers, also lost a key chunk of members.

This year could be even worse, some Democrats privately say.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 15:27

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

VitalSigns posted:

Now there's a sanction regime I support, let's seize all rich people's second+ condos and house homeless people in them

That's what Eric Adams is doing in NYC. Getting the homeless out of the subway stations, trains, and parks and putting them up in free NYC apartments. They only have 500 units, though.

As long as there aren't more than 500 homeless people in NYC, they should be fine.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 15:33

VitalSigns: Sep 3, 2011

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

That's what Eric Adams is doing in NYC. Getting the homeless out of the subway stations, trains, and parks and putting them up in free NYC apartments. They only have 500 units, though.

As long as there aren't more than 500 homeless people in NYC, they should be fine.

Nah not the same I don't support the forcibly clearing out the homeless from public spaces part, only the free housing for the homeless part.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 15:40

Xombie: May 22, 2004; Soul Thrashing
Black Sorcery

metachronos posted:

Are we allowed to discuss local politics here? My city elected a couple stop the steal cranks to city council and "anti-crt" people won big in school board elections in outlying suburbs. Seems like a bad news bellwether.

This is not a bellweather about anything nationally because of the way local politics like city councils and school boards are run as open, non-partisan elections in a first-past-the-post system. You end up with several incumbents and a number of challengers running for a few seats. So you end up with a situation like where there's 2 open seats with 1 incumbent, 5 normal people, and 2 cranks running. The cranks get the Karen and racists to coalesce behind them on a culture war policy like CRT while the 5 normal people dilute the vote for any one of them. So the top 3 vote getters end up being the incumbent and the 2 cranks.

This is as opposed to national and state elections that run primaries for candidates with clear party affiliations. Culture war poo poo doesn't make a difference in these elections.

The only reason why the school board stuff is a thing at all is because the GOP has specifically targeted it as their new tactic to dismantle public schooling, since voucher programs have failed to succeed at the task.

Xombie fucked around with this message at 15:46 on Apr 6, 2022

# ? Apr 6, 2022 15:42

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

VitalSigns posted:

Nah not the same I don't support the forcibly clearing out the homeless from public spaces part, only the free housing for the homeless part.

(It was a joke)

# ? Apr 6, 2022 15:43

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Just got a wire buzz that the Supreme Court struck down parts of the Clean Water Act (5-4) a few minutes ago. Roberts joined the liberals.

Essentially, they are limiting the government's ability to declare wetlands or inland waterways protected or claim that construction could impact protected waterways unless the waterways are directly connected to each other with no subdivision at all (even a sand dune) or the impact would directly impact the protected areas.

Basically, if you are doing something that damages unprotected rivers/waterways that flow into protected waterways, then you are okay as long as there is something separating them. Instead of the previous standard, which was if it was overwhelmingly likely to impact the protected waterways.

They could still take action later if they did end up damaging the waterways, but they cannot pre-emptively stop them or require a permit now.

Don't see any articles up yet, but here's an older one from when they agreed to take up the case with a summary:

quote:

Supreme Court takes EPA case that could narrow Clean Water Act

The Supreme Court will take up a challenge to the Clean Water Act that could narrow the law�s reach in ways long sought by businesses and home builders.

The justices said Monday that they will consider, probably in the term beginning in October, a long-running dispute involving an Idaho couple who already won once at the Supreme Court in an effort to build a home near Priest Lake. The Environmental Protection Agency says there are wetlands on the couple�s roughly half-acre lot, which brings it under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act, and thus requires a permit.

Supreme Court allows Idaho couple to challenge EPA on wetlands ruling

The case raises the question of the test that courts should use to determine what constitutes �waters of the United States,� which the Clean Water Act was passed to protect in 1972.

In a 2006 case called Rapanos v. U.S., the court could not muster a majority opinion. Four justices, led by Justice Antonin Scalia, said the provision means water on the property in question must have a connection to a river, lake or other waterway.

But a fifth justice, Anthony M. Kennedy, created the test that emerged from the case, saying the act covers wetlands with a �significant nexus� to those other bodies of water.

�Neither the lower courts, nor the agencies, nor the regulated public can agree on what the rule of Rapanos is, much less agree on how to apply any such rule efficiently and consistently,� said a brief from the Pacific Legal Foundation, which represents the property owners, Chantell and Mike Sackett.

The court �should chart a better course for the Clean Water Act by articulating a clear, easily administered, constitutionally sound rule for wetlands jurisdiction, using the surfacewater-connection test set forth� in Scalia�s plurality opinion, the group says.

The Biden administration said that would be the wrong approach. It would mean �agencies would lack authority to protect wetlands separated from a navigable river by a small dune or other natural barrier, even if overwhelming scientific evidence showed that the wetlands significantly affect the river�s �chemical, physical, and biological integrity,� � said a brief filed by the solicitor general.

It said courts have had no trouble applying the Rapanos test, and that judges have consistently found that the wetlands on the Sackett property have a subsurface connection to Priest Lake.

Moreover, it said, the administration is in the midst of writing new rules to implement the Clean Water Act, which almost surely will govern the Sackett property going forward.

But getting rid of Kennedy�s interpretation of the rules is a long-sought goal of business groups, and organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Home Builders urged the court to take the case.

The Sacketts� legal battle has been running since 2007, when the two began to prepare their lot in a subdivision for construction. The EPA said a permit was needed under the Clean Water Act, and threatened the couple with heavy fines if they did not desist.

Supreme Court case involving Idaho lake house ignites conservative cause against EPA

Their case reached the Supreme Court in 2012 on a technical question: Could they challenge the EPA order in federal court before the agency took final action?

The answer for the court was a unanimous yes, and Scalia wrote the opinion. The government had taken the position that such orders were not open to judicial review until the agency took final action.

Scalia joked in summarizing the decision from the bench that the Sacketts were surprised by the EPA�s decision that their land contained �waters of the United States,� since they had �never seen a ship or other vessel cross their yard.�

But on remand to lower courts, judges ruled for the EPA and found that the land did qualify under the federal act.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/24/supreme-court-clean-water-act/

Leon Trotsky 2012 fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Apr 6, 2022

# ? Apr 6, 2022 15:47

Oracle: Oct 9, 2004

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

That's what Eric Adams is doing in NYC. Getting the homeless out of the subway stations, trains, and parks and putting them up in free NYC apartments. They only have 500 units, though.

As long as there aren't more than 500 homeless people in NYC, they should be fine.

Don't they buy them bus tickets to Florida for the winter?

# ? Apr 6, 2022 15:53

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Oracle posted:

Don't they buy them bus tickets to Florida for the winter?

They had a program under DeBlasio from 2017 to 2019 where they gave them a year's rent and a bus ticket to Utah.

They never told Utah and cancelled it when they found out and complained + it came out that the program cost ~$90 million dollars of the city budget.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 15:57

Meatball: Mar 2, 2003; That's a Spicy Meatball; Pillbug

Willa Rogers posted:

Looks like 2022's campaign theme for Dems will be The Year of the Moderate in an attempt to counter the GOP's smears of Dems being radical socialists:

When all their people lose again, their only takeaway will be to get more moderate, and keep taking their base for granted.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 16:01

Bishyaler: Dec 30, 2009; Megamarm

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

They had a program under DeBlasio from 2017 to 2019 where they gave them a year's rent and a bus ticket to Utah.

They never told Utah and cancelled it when they found out and complained + it came out that the program cost ~$90 million dollars of the city budget.

Thinking about how many houses/apartment buildings they could've built with $270 million. Love watching the party of empathy and social justice treating NYC like a sundown town for homeless.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 16:05

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Meatball posted:

When all their people lose again, their only takeaway will be to get more moderate, and keep taking their base for granted.

The Blue Dogs have mostly been dead since 2010. They only endorsed candidates for 9 races out of 435 last election and only have 19 members.

Compare that to 2008, where they made up over 25% of the entire Democratic caucus.

There's still people that listen to them, though.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 16:05

Bishyaler: Dec 30, 2009; Megamarm

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

The Blue Dogs have mostly been dead since 2010. They only endorsed candidates for 9 races out of 435 last election and only have 19 members.

Compare that to 2008, where they made up over 25% of the entire Democratic caucus.

There's still people that listen to them, though.

They aren't dead in red states. The guy Dems are running for House here is extremely anti-abortion and conservative on quite a few issues.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 16:08

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Bishyaler posted:

Thinking about how many houses/apartment buildings they could've built with $270 million. Love watching the party of empathy and social justice treating NYC like a sundown town for homeless.

It was $90 million over the course of the program and not per year. So, a little less than $30 million per year.

Your point still stands, though!

Building new housing stock in NYC is so impossible that if even construction companies and rich people in Manhattan who want to build a room on top of their garage can't get approval, then there is no way that they were going to approve apartments for homeless people using public money.

Eric Adams' housing plan was the one part of his platform that was genuinely very good, but it depended on money and zoning changes from the state legislature, and they already killed it dead.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 16:10

Freakazoid_: Jul 5, 2013; Buglord

Kalit posted:

Oh god, please don't have us follow in the footsteps of Sweden: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58317555.

The actual helpful thing to do would be to offer a huge increase in government owned/subsidized housing. Which would predictably fail to pass anyways

It is unlikely for either rent control or government subsidized housing to pass anyway. I said rent control because it's the most threatening to landlords. In reality, a combination of rent control, more housing, and several other tenant favorable laws are needed to make rent more affordable.

BougieBitch posted:

The policy move for gas prices was opening the strategic reserve. There are also the international overtures to Venezuela and Iran, which are clearly calculated to improve the situation in the mid- to long-term. We will also get the cyclical lower prices for summer gas (idr the specifics, something about the blend?), so it is possible that prices will nudge downwards in the next couple months.

On the flip side though, there is an actual supply crunch on gas globally, so doing things that will increase use (like lowering the price by fiat) is probably not good policy. We likely need to step up exports to Europe from an international security perspective, so increasing domestic use is counterproductive. With that in mind, we need the Carter-level "start wearing sweaters" messaging from the government, and we need consumers to start viewing renewables with more enthusiasm (and frankly we have needed it for decades, climate change isn't going away).

Meanwhile, much of europe is pushing for gas caps and kazakhstan ousted their leader for removing their country's caps.

How badly would the oil industry be affected by, say, a 4 dollar cap per gallon? Seems high enough to prevent increased domestic use and would curb oil industry greed.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 16:41

Ghost Leviathan: Mar 2, 2017; Exploration is ill-advised.

Bishyaler posted:

They aren't dead in red states. The guy Dems are running for House here is extremely anti-abortion and conservative on quite a few issues.

They are going to completely eat poo poo the moment voters read the (D) on the ballots. Republican rhetoric and policy is total war.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 16:48

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Freakazoid_ posted:

It is unlikely for either rent control or government subsidized housing to pass anyway. I said rent control because it's the most threatening to landlords. In reality, a combination of rent control, more housing, and several other tenant favorable laws are needed to make rent more affordable.

Meanwhile, much of europe is pushing for gas caps and kazakhstan ousted their leader for removing their country's caps.

How badly would the oil industry be affected by, say, a 4 dollar cap per gallon? Seems high enough to prevent increased domestic use and would curb oil industry greed.

There are some things you could do, but each of them have their specific drawbacks. So, you'd have to decide which one you were okay with. But, since it is largely a supply issue, there isn't a ton you can do in the short-term that will result in a large change in gas prices. All the big solutions are medium to long term solutions.

A $4 cap on gas probably wouldn't have a huge impact either way. It wouldn't save consumers a ton.

If you had a dramatic and seriously low cap on prices on a supply limited thing like gasoline, then it could cause shortages because producers would just sell more to places paying higher amounts.

If the government subsidizes gas costs, then you are effectively subsidizing the gas industry and incentivizing more use of gas and extraction.

If you allow more domestic production, then you will drive down the price of gas, but you will also incentivize more use of gas and extraction. Processing is also a key part and refineries might need months or years to scale up production even with increased extraction.

If you just give people money directly for gas, then you contribute to higher inflation and also directly incentivize more of use of gas and extraction.

And Europe isn't actually implementing gasoline price caps. Plus, you have to remember that current U.S. gas prices are still below where they were in Europe 5 years ago. In Sweden, gas is the equivalent of ~$8.70 per gallon right now. So, they aren't at the same point as the U.S. in terms of prices.

So far, we are just trying to increase the supply by releasing from the strategic reserve and then hoping Ukraine sorts itself out soon because we don't want to pull the trigger on any of the specific downsides of the other options.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 17:02

VitalSigns: Sep 3, 2011

Woof

https://mobile.twitter.com/eyokley/status/1511736140520472588

Unbelievable. This one policy might have secured Democratic dominance for a generation, oh well

# ? Apr 6, 2022 17:21

Mellow Seas: Oct 9, 2012; Can't post for 10 years!

It seems like the Dems are reacting to polls like this one.

The Hill posted:

Indeed, a majority of voters (54 percent) � including 56 percent of independents � explicitly say that they want Biden and Democrats to move closer to the center and embrace more moderate policies versus embracing more liberal policies (18 percent) or staying where they are politically (13 percent).

Most voters (61 percent) also agree that Biden and Democrats are �out of touch with hardworking Americans� and �have been so focused on catering to the far-left wing of the party that they�re ignoring Americans� day to day concerns� such as �rising prices� and �combatting violent crime.�

I kind of question whether that's the right move, given that obviously every Republican voter is going to say "he should move to the center", which means that if you take out the 47% (Trump % in both '16 and '20) of respondents who would never vote for a Democrat in a million years, you end up with 7% who want moderation, 13% who want more of the same, and 14% more who want more "liberal" policy. (They probably would like to peel off some Trump voters, many of whom voted for Democrats at some point or another, but I'm not sure if they're going to have much success in a midterm with a Democratic president.)

Now, it remains to be seen how exactly how this messaging shakes out. If "moderate" means "white kids shouldn't learn to feel bad about themselves at school" and "parents should have a say" and "police keep our neighborhoods safe" and "cancel culture is out of control," then that's probably fine - because those things have next to nothing to do with federal policy, and are extremely unpopular. If it means "the CTC was a mistake, and actually we don't think the government should help with childcare" then not so much.

I mean, keep in mind that if many voters think the Democrats are left-wing radicals, then simply restating their existing positions on things like climate change, education and wealth distribution could be seen as "moderate."

I think it's pretty clear that they would rather have things like the CTC and subsidized childcare as established "moderate" policies that they had brought into being, rather than just proposed and failed to pass, but they just didn't have the votes. It might be about time to start making some "we didn't really have control"-type arguments, as tough of a sell as that is.

Mellow Seas fucked around with this message at 17:56 on Apr 6, 2022

# ? Apr 6, 2022 17:52

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

That poll doesn�t define what �moderate� policies even are, and several of those other questions are very leading

# ? Apr 6, 2022 17:56

Jaxyon: Mar 7, 2016; I’m just saying I would like to see a man beat a woman in a cage. Just to be sure.

Ghost Leviathan posted:

Is this the new Hamilton?

The biggest reason why Hamilton was popular was not that it was historical, its that it was good. It was one of the best made musicals in decades.

This seems like someone trying to cargo cult it's success.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 17:56

Mellow Seas: Oct 9, 2012; Can't post for 10 years!

FlamingLiberal posted:

That poll doesn�t define what �moderate� policies even are, and several of those other questions are very leading

Yeah, there's basically no question that the pollster in question is ideologically centrist, and they were looking for this result. The poll was done by Schoen-Cooperman Research.

Doug Schoen's Bio posted:

Widely recognized as a co-inventor of overnight polling, Schoen was credited by The New York Times for �one of the most ambitious pollings of an electorate ever undertaken.�

Named �Pollster of the Year� by the American Association of Political Consultants for his work on President Bill Clinton�s 1996 reelection campaign, Schoen created and effectively communicated the message that turned around the President�s political fortunes between 1994 and 1996. As a result, he was profiled in Time magazine�s �Masters of the Message.�

Schoen has been Mike Bloomberg�s pollster and senior advisor for 20 years, helping him win three elections as New York City Mayor, working closely on his 2020 Presidential bid, and advancing political reforms through his Super PAC, Independence USA.

Schoen is the author of 15 books and is a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NY Daily News, The Hill, Forbes, Fox News, and various other publications.

https://schoencooperman.com/our-team/

"Moderate" obviously means a lot of different things to different people, and it's not like the Dems are going to be running national TV ads that say "Dems: they're moderate!" so what this messaging priority means is unclear, and will vary from district to district. One thing I am 115% sure of is that they really, really don't want any candidates talking about "defunding" the police.

Mellow Seas fucked around with this message at 18:02 on Apr 6, 2022

# ? Apr 6, 2022 17:59

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# ? May 23, 2024 22:09

Jaxyon: Mar 7, 2016; I’m just saying I would like to see a man beat a woman in a cage. Just to be sure.

VitalSigns posted:

Woof

https://mobile.twitter.com/eyokley/status/1511736140520472588

Unbelievable. This one policy might have secured Democratic dominance for a generation, oh well

Gotta say, that's gonna go down as one historical shot in the foot.

# ? Apr 6, 2022 18:22

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > US CE Spring 2022: I'm convinced it's useless which is why I argue about it all day every day

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