2016 Presidential Primaries: Senator Agua Bottle vs Senator Aqua Buddha

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > 2016 Presidential Primaries: Senator Agua Bottle vs Senator Aqua Buddha

axeil: Feb 14, 2006

What about Kirsten Gillibrand? She's been the NY Senator since Clinton became Secretary of State and she won 70% of the vote yesterday. Plus she's only 45 and seems like a good candidate for the more left wing parts of the Democratic Party. I think she'd probably not run due to there not being enough oxygen with 2 other NY politicians running (Clinton and Cuomo) but if one or both of them declines to run she might have a good shot.

I'd be really curious who people were predicting the nominees would be in '08 and '12 immediately after the '04 and '08 elections. If I recall I think a lot of people were talking about Huckabee in '08 and I know people said Obama after '04 but I always thought it was wishful thinking. That turned out to be wrong, but my point is I think we may not even have the eventual nominee on our lists at this point.

# ¿ Nov 7, 2012 22:16

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# ¿ May 8, 2024 17:24

axeil: Feb 14, 2006

JesusSinfulHands posted:

...I suspect the female half (more than that, actually) of the Democratic Party will be highly motivated to put the first female president in the White House in 2016.

This is why I'm very bullish on Gillibrand. Obviously if Clinton runs I think she'll get a lot of women voters instead of Gillibrand but if she declines I think Gillibrand is in a strong position due to her record in the Senate and general likability. I've had a very positive opinion of her every time I've seen her speak. I also think the institutional Democrats would be nuts not to get behind the first woman nominee after the party had such good success with the first black one (2010 excluded).

Really I think the Democratic side is only interesting if both Biden and Clinton make the same decision about running. I worry about a Biden-Clinton primary, that could get long. I don't see it being as contested as Obama-Clinton though. As someone who was very Anti-Clinton in 08 I'd have no reservations about voting for her this time. Surprising what four years as Secretary of State and doing an awesome job with it did to my opinions. However if she ran against Biden it'd be a very tough call. I also have no clue who Obama would endorse in that scenario. Maybe neither?

# ¿ Nov 7, 2012 22:34

axeil: Feb 14, 2006

Joementum posted:

Correct. That said, the Democratic primaries are structured in such a way that they have a better chance of lasting longer. Republicans give each state three "superdelegates", usually the state party chairman and two people he picks. Democrats give all of their nationally elected officials a vote in the nomination contest, meaning that (in 2008 for example) there were 4,233 voting Democratic delegates compared to the 2,380 voting delegates at the RNC. This means that the threshold a Democratic candidate needs to reach in order to lock in the nomination is significantly higher than that for a Republican.

Usually this doesn't matter because by the end of Super Tuesday it's obvious who is going to win, but if there are two strong competitors, as there was in 2008, it will cause the primary to stretch on.

Speaking of this, I remember hearing that the RNC was going to change delegate selection up given how miserable the 2012 primary process was for them. Do we know exactly what they've changed yet? Did they completely get rid of caucuses given the Ron Paul shenanigans? Has Florida tried jumping the line yet again?

I think the DNC still has the same system from 2008 without any major changes but I could be wrong there.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2013 15:14

axeil: Feb 14, 2006

showbiz_liz posted:

Oh, hey, Chris Christie's people shut down traffic on a major bridge just to gently caress with some guy and then lied about it!

http://gothamist.com/2014/01/08/top_christie_aide_emailed_time_for.php

So how bad is this gonna hurt his 2016 stock? The yelling at a schoolteacher stuff you can spin but shutting down traffic on a major road out of spite is a whole different level of petulant and childish.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2014 19:44

axeil: Feb 14, 2006

jeffersonlives posted:

The idea of impeachment or a recall drive is already being floated and Christie is at war with the Republican legislative caucuses, so probably a lot.

Impeachment? :stare:

I thought the NJ GOP loved Christie. Is there any chance that actually ends up happening? Obviously the NJ Dems would be on-board but wouldn't they need a good chunk of the NJ GOP to go along with it?

# ¿ Jan 8, 2014 22:35

axeil: Feb 14, 2006

Swan Oat posted:

I dunno what it's like where y'all live but in Houston taxi drivers are legally forbidden from refusing fares and the rates have to be the same at all times. Also, and this is what is actually important, taxi drivers have to carry commercial insurance but Uber drivers do not. That is actually hosed up and bad. I hope future president Joe Biden nationalizes taxi transport and bans Uber.

In DC they'll pull up, lock their doors and won't unlock them till you tell them where you're going. If you're not going somewhere trendy where they can get more fares they'll just speed off. If you try and get a cop to cite them for breaking the law they've already been gone for half an hour and a license plate number isn't good enough.

Uber brought in actual innovation. Smartphone hailing is such a minor difference but it makes life so much easier. You know when the cab will be there. If you call a cab it takes longer and usually doesn't show up. Uber will say "driver will be there in x minutes." They also simplified payment. Everything's auto-calculated and billed to your credit card on file. When you get where you're going you just hop out, no waiting for 5 minutes to pay and backing up traffic. There's also surge pricing, which is controversial, but ensures there's always Ubers on the road for those who absolutely need them. Plus the app warns you twice if surge pricing is in effect so you don't accidentally take a surge ride when you don't want to.

These are useful, customer experience improving innovations and the taxicab industry's response has basically been screaming that they're losing their market. Because their rent is more important than making their passengers happy.

Uber needs to bury the rent-seeking taxicab industry. I'm glad to know that I'm Ayn Rand for having this opinion though. You know, because breaking up monopolies and preventing rent-seeking is a very libertarian.

joeburz posted:

Are the taxes/fees on DC taxis similar to NYC level? I know the medallion situation makes comparison a bit difficult but just looking for a rough estimate.

No idea what the prices are in NYC, but here's DC's price structure courtesy of the DC Taxicab Commission.

http://dctaxi.dc.gov/page/taxicab-fares

Fares:

First 1/8 mile: $3.25

Each additional 1/8 mile: $0.27

Wait rate per hour: $35.00
Wait time begins five (5) minutes after time of arrival at dispatch location.
No wait time charged for premature response to a dispatch.
Wait time charged while taxicab is stopped or slowed to less than ten (10) miles per hour for longer than sixty (60) seconds.
Wait time charged for delays or stopovers at the direction of the passenger.

Hourly Contract Rate
$35.00 for the first one (1) hour or fraction thereof.
$8.75 for each additional fifteen (15) minutes or fraction thereof.

Extras:

Taxicab passenger surcharge, twenty-five cents per trip $0.25
Telephone Dispatch, two dollars $2.00
Additional passenger, one dollar $1.00
(regardless of the number of additional passengers)

Declared Snow Emergency Fee, fifteen dollars $15.00

axeil fucked around with this message at 20:47 on Jul 22, 2014

# ¿ Jul 22, 2014 20:45

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# ¿ May 8, 2024 17:24

axeil: Feb 14, 2006

Wanamingo posted:

Isn't Uber's whole deal basically that it's cheaper than a normal taxi service because none of the drivers are insured?

Not really. If I recall correctly, the $1 million they have in insurance is more than they're required to actually carry. The issue the cab companies have been raising is that it's not quite structured the same as cab insurance, but it seems like it's functionally equivalent.

http://blog.uber.com/ridesharinginsurancepolicy

Uber posted:

Since launching ridesharing in early 2013, Uber has put industry-leading insurance policies in place to cover every ridesharing trip on the Uber platform throughout the U.S. Over time we have added more coverage to include the time between trips and to cover comprehensive and collision.

Throughout, we have shared our $1 million commercial liability policy in full with policymakers and regulators upon request. We are proud to share it publicly here and answer some important questions.

Why hasn�t Uber shared this policy before?

Uber has shared this policy before, doing detailed reviews with city officials and regulators across the country. We have also previously posted the Certificate of Insurance along with details about the policy. This is, however, the first time we have published the entire policy for the public at large. We are confident it is a best-in-class policy and hope that this additional transparency addresses any remaining questions about the insurance provided to ridesharing partners on our platform.

When did this policy go into effect?

Ridesharing coordinated through Uber technology has had similar coverage since the very beginning. Of course, we are constantly looking to upgrade and enhance the coverage afforded our partners and the riders. This insurance policy reflects the broad coverage in place today for trips that happens through the coordination of Uber�s technology platform.

Who is the insurer?

The policy is issued by James River Insurance Company, which is rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best, the industry standard rating agency for the financial strength of insurance companies.

The insured parties are listed as �Rasier�, etc. What is Rasier?

Rasier is a wholly owned subsidiary of Uber Technologies Inc. that partners with ridesharing drivers. All ridesharing drivers have a contract with Rasier.

Who and what are covered by this policy?

This policy covers the liability of 1) ridesharing drivers (described as �Named Operators� in the policy) who have accepted a trip and are en route to pick up passengers or that are transporting passengers to their destination 2) Rasier and 3) Uber Technologies, Inc. Liability coverage is up to $1 million per incident for bodily injury or property damage to passengers or any other third parties, such as pedestrians, other vehicles, buildings, etc. The policy also covers bodily injury caused by uninsured and underinsured motorists up to $1 million/incident, so that no matter who is at fault, coverage is in place.

Is there an aggregate limit to the policy?

No. This policy provides up to $1 million in coverage for each and every incident that occurs from the time a driver has accepted a trip and is en route to pick up passengers or is transporting passengers to their destination.

How does this policy work?

From the moment a driver accepts a trip to conclusion, primary liability coverage is in place and applies up to $1 million coverage per incident. Specifically, this policy is primary to your personal auto insurance policy but remains excess to any commercial auto insurance you may have for the vehicle.1

Does this policy cover collision insurance?

Comprehensive and collision are covered under a separate policy and include $50,000 of contingent comprehensive and collision insurance. If a ridesharing driver maintains personal comprehensive and collision insurance, this policy covers physical damage to that vehicle that occurs during a trip, for any reason, up to $50,000 and with a $1,000 deductible.

What about a driver�s time between trips?

Most personal auto policies cover the period of time when a driver is between commercial trips and not carrying a passenger. However, we have also recently added a separate commercial insurance policy that went into effect on March 14, 2014 in order to add commercial liability coverage to this period of time between trips and eliminate any ambiguity. More details here.

What else is important?

Some states have specific local regulatory needs and have additional endorsements or separate policy numbers. These policies have the same structure and provide equivalent or greater coverage. No fault coverage (e.g., Personal Injury Protection) is provided in certain states at similar levels as limos or taxis in those cities.

THIS POST PROVIDES AN INFORMATIONAL SUMMARY OF INSURANCE POLICIES FOR QUICK REFERENCE AND DOES NOT AFFIRMATIVELY OR NEGATIVELY AMEND, EXTEND, OR ALTER THE COVERAGE AFFORDED BY THOSE POLICIES.

edit: Here are the required coverages for each city:

Maximum Coverage for Taxis by City

Atlanta: $50K
Baltimore: $60K
Boston: $40K
Chicago: $350K
San Francisco: $1000K
Washington DC: $50K

As for the frequently mentioned "insurance gap":

Uber posted:

Starting today, if a driver�s personal insurance policy is found not to cover an accident during this period, this new policy will provide contingent coverage for a driver�s liability at the highest requirement of any state in the U.S: $50,000/individual/incident for bodily injury, $100,000 total/incident for bodily injury and $25,000/incident for property damage.

http://blog.uber.com/uberXridesharinginsurance

That was posted on March 14th.

edit: I made a new thread to talk about this: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3652587

axeil fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Jul 22, 2014

# ¿ Jul 22, 2014 21:01

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > 2016 Presidential Primaries: Senator Agua Bottle vs Senator Aqua Buddha