US Politics April: A Series of Fantastically Bad Ideas

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > US Politics April: A Series of Fantastically Bad Ideas

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Peven Stan posted:

I think a wapo comment just broke my brain:

Frank Luntz has truly created a monster, no wonder he went into hiding. When the bad people who I don't like spend their money accuse them of being on the moral equivalent of public assistance

That's a load of bull anyways. Zingerman's sandwiches are a bit more pricey than elsewhere, but only by a buck or two. If you want to get something fancier, yeah, you'll pay more, but you can get a sandwich, drink and a side for less than $10 there.

Plus they're really good sandwiches, who the gently caress would speak ill of them.

# ¿ Apr 3, 2014 02:34

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 12:51

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

mdemone posted:

I was just eye-rolling to myself about how it seems like the CIA has never done anything useful, but then I realized that it may be literally true. Can anyone name a morally-defensible operation they haven't hosed up?

They sent Ben Affleck to Iran once, does that count?

Also helping various defectors leave the USSR is at least not morally indefensible.

# ¿ Apr 3, 2014 22:18

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Grand Theft Autobot posted:

According to the Heritage Foundation, the middle class is everyone with a household income between $71k and $613k

loving hell and goddamn. I went to Mitt Romney's old private school (with a scholarship bringing the cost down tolerably) and the moment from that which sticks out the most was during a class discussion on social divisions, income and so forth, one bright student from a monied family confidently stated that the middle class began at $250k a year. This has a slightly lower bound than that, but goddamn, how far out do you have to be to seriously think that everyone below $71k are the poors? How can people be so out of it?

# ¿ Apr 5, 2014 05:28

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Slo-Tek posted:

71k as a household income with two earners isn't exactly balling. Two 35k incomes is keeping up with your rent and two running cars, but if you've got kids, and the sort of insurance you get with a 15$ an hour job, and anything that goes wrong, that is not a lot of cushion.

Household income, not "job out of college wage"

Median household income from 2008-2012 was $53000, and $71k is certainly above that.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2014 05:55

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

So speaking of action and not just words, if nobody has yet filed for a local township supervisor position at this late date, that's something that politically-aware people who want to make a difference should go for, right? If as nothing else than as a starting point.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2014 20:30

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Gygaxian posted:

So I went to the Salt Lake County Democratic convention the other day, and will go to the Utah Democratic State Convention in a couple of weeks. Spoiler alert, we're still screwed and will probably lose more legislative seats and Jim Matheson's seat. But hey, at least we have our ideological squabbling between the Republican-lites and the lefties!

The Michigan Democratic Party has been organizing some training sessions for mid-level volunteers and hired campaign guns; so far, I have learned that the optimal organization structure is not too centralized or decentralized(!!!), and that before I can tell the narrative of any candidate's campaign I must learn the story of self and the theory of change.

The MDP at least also spent a whole session talking about number-crunching and how relatively useless yard signs are these days. Robo-calls apparently are only half-effective with senior citizens- everybody just ignores them, and they end up being a huge waste of money.

# ¿ Apr 14, 2014 05:06

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Defenestration posted:

The NYT is adding a new angle to their "pissing on millennials" rotation: kids these days aren't using Obama as a political role model enough; they lack the ambition to run for office thanks to Twitter.

Or it could be that the Obama campaign rode to power on the youth vote then completely betrayed us by dropping every reformist platform and abandoning the grassroots network.

[quote]Yes, electoral politics these days are so noble, why can't those twitter-addled teens see it? brb going to eschew a "high-paying consultant job" to haul bags for team obama

I've had some friends encourage me to run for local township supervisor in a special election for a two-year term. After a recent 27%(!) increase in pay, approved by the township board, the pay is somewhere around $30k a year, which is pretty nice for a twentysomething and is probably quite comfortable for the retirees who usually hold that role.

The main decentive to running this time around is that local politics have gotten nasty since 2012. The partisan divide in the township board got ugly very quickly somehow, and the township supervisor just up and resigned out of sheer frustration with the obstructionism going on-- which is why there's an upcoming special election for a two-year term township supervisor in the first place.

Essentially, even local politics are particularly ugly right now and few people want to wade into that mess.

e: I asked the former supervisor directly for some advice about running, and her words basically boiled down to "Don't do it, wait until 2016 and hope the board members quit".

Ofaloaf fucked around with this message at 20:07 on Apr 14, 2014

# ¿ Apr 14, 2014 20:05

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Defenestration posted:

I just imagine running for anything and having to show up to a debate and seriously defend why maybe women aren't second class citizens and no the obama isn't poisoning your water supply with fluoride etc etc. 30k is nowhere near enough money for that

We all use well water out here anyways. If anything, the water issue has recently fired up the Democrats, as a nearby company wants to dig a gravel pit, the likes of which have caused groundwater issues in nearby areas already. The local Dems have seized upon the NIMBY reaction to it, tied it in with good environmentalism and have been riding that wave for the past month or so. Lord knows how much it'll help out by November, but at least it's something.

Also means that when people get paranoid about chemicals in the water they're more afraid of companies doing it, rather than the government, which is a nice change of pace.

# ¿ Apr 14, 2014 20:55

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Joementum posted:

Look, sometimes the Federal government is just tyrannical and you kind of have to secede, so Wisconsin Republicans need to make clear that option is totally on the table. An example of that tyranny? How about the recent budget agreement between the House and the Senate, which they have also drafted a resolution to condemn? The resolution does not mention the House member who was a party to that agreement, because his name is Paul Ryan (R-WI).

Republicans arguing that states have the right to secede. :irony:

# ¿ Apr 15, 2014 00:21

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

So I've filed to run for local township supervisor, the filing deadline is today, and the township office closes in less than one hour. Thus far, I'm the only one, either Dem or Republican, who's filed for this. What are the chances that another person will rush in and file within an hour of the deadline?

Do you even know how intensely I'm smashing F5 to see if the county clerk's updated and listed any other candidates? The difference between running unopposed and having to run an uphill campaign is huge. Goddamn, this is tense.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2014 20:40

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Pretty unlikely. Congrats on winning in November.

Phone posted:

Have fun being a fat cat township supervisor.

I'm probably going to cut my own wages, though. The interim township supervisor* convinced the board to give him a 27% pay raise. While, to be fair, the last time the supervisor got a raise was in 2006 and inflation's carried on since then, 27% is still absurd, and I've already begun making noises about getting the board to rescind the 27% for supervisor if elected.

AATREK CURES KIDS posted:

What is that job? Is it a full-time thing or will you be taking a couple hours out of your week to go supervise the township?

Even without the 27% I can still treat it as a full-time, if low-paying, job-- monthly pay pre-27% raise was $1,991 for township supervisor, iirc. It's generally treated as supplementary income and part-time work, though. The main things are to bring board meetings to order, oversee township assessments (although I need not do them myself) and vote with the board as proposals come up.

Beyond that it's pretty nebulous, though. The previous elected supervisor was spending a lot of her time trying to get our township's emergency services coordinated with a neighboring township's emergency services, and also consolidated local fire services into a single combination fire department.

*_{The previous elected supervisor resigned due to obstructionism in the township government, I'm gunning for just a two-year partial term.}

# ¿ Apr 22, 2014 21:06

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Welp, the deadline's come and gone and no one else has filed. Guess I got a job come November.

Funniest thing about this is that a month ago, the idea of running hadn't even crossed my mind.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2014 21:30

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Mecca-Benghazi posted:

Please do a thread documenting your trials and tribulations.

I'm game. Would such a thing be more appropriate for D&D or A/T?

# ¿ Apr 22, 2014 21:48

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Ofaloaf posted:

Welp, the deadline's come and gone and no one else has filed. Guess I got a job come November.

Funniest thing about this is that a month ago, the idea of running hadn't even crossed my mind.

Spoke too soon! County clerk took a little longer than expected-- there's two Republicans who've filed for the Aug. 5th primary, and I'm squaring off against one of 'em in November. Funnily enough, one of the republicans is the township clerk I filed my paperwork with.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2014 22:42

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

zoux posted:

If he's facing a Republican in the primary.....

Nonono, there's two republicans, and they're squaring off against each other in the Aug. 5 primary. I'm in the Aug. 5 primary as a Dem, but being I'm the only Democratic candidate that vote won't be much of an issue.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2014 23:15

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Nessus posted:

How liberal is your local area? Are you going to have to actually campaign?

It's at the periphery of a nearby college town's pull, so it's got a mix of stodgy conservatives and well-educated liberals, both sorts tending to be middle class. There's some subdivisions, but they're older, more-varied sorts, so I dunno how that'll work out.

One of the township board members and I talked a few days ago, and he figured that if actual campaigning were to be had, it'd probably cost somewhere near $1k all told. Mostly there'll be some mailings and lawn signs, and the rest of it will be up to me to actually get out there and talk with people.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2014 23:24

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

The-Mole posted:

Hahahaha lawn signs.

We both acknowledged that they are mostly useless, but supporters tend to still think they're useful. They're more for the base than they are for outreach.

Getting my name out there is also pretty key. I'm not well-known (although I still certainly know some key folks), and my parents endowed me with a hyphenated surname comprised of two Slavic family names, so that makes it a little trickier.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2014 23:34

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Infrastructure? poo poo, turns out I've been imagining the road in front of my house this whole time.

# ¿ Apr 27, 2014 13:10

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

It's still worth trying to get some sort of additional legislation, regulation or licensing or something, because goddamn, we do tend to kill more people with guns here in America than elsewhere. Trying to lower the rate of gun deaths (and lowering the rate of murder overall, ofc) should be considered a worthy aspiration by everyone, surely, because dying early sucks.

I don't know if there's any way to approach that without stirring up a hornet's nest, though, which also sucks.

# ¿ Apr 28, 2014 18:53

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Relentlessboredomm posted:

Nothing says America is an oligarchy like having two families hold the Oval office for 20 of the past 28 years with a member of each running in the general to make it 24 of the past 32.

The prospect of being 34 in 2024 and having spent 26 of those years in either a Bush or Clinton presidency just makes me feel real uncomfortable whenever I think about it. I know surnames are not the end-all-be-all of what makes a politician, but it just really doesn't seem like a healthy thing for a republican form of government.

# ¿ Apr 28, 2014 21:29

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Fried Chicken posted:

No article yet because it is from The Atlantic Conference live tweets, but Kerry just went off on the rest of NATO about how only Turkey is honoring the 2% pledge and the rest of them need to obey the treaty and increase defense spending.

Given that the current gap in what is dictated by treaty and what the US spends works out to the US government cutting every individual in the NATO countries a $600 check each year, I'm totally cool with making them pony up so we can scale back. We should stop projecting power alone, they should pick up the slack

Man, I would love it if other NATO members had a military worth a drat. Like you say, it'd allow us to cut back a bit on our own military spending, and it'd let them have some power projection capabilities so future military interventions could rely less on us.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2014 19:30

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Nonsense posted:

Reminder George W. Bush was underestimated, was the underdog throughout his life, and in general the only people who opposed him in 2000 were smarmy know it all liberals that work for Huffington Post now.

Except for the bit where he was Governor of Texas, and then President of the United States.

# ¿ May 3, 2014 04:50

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 12:51

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Amergin posted:

But (and I know this is a horrible analogy) my experience in working in businesses large and small is that, yes you will always have inefficiencies, but in larger companies with more siloed employees and responsibility distributed wider, things are less efficient. Smaller companies, smaller pool of employees, more hats worn by everyone, it's more stressful BUT poo poo gets done quickly.

poo poo gets done quickly when everybody is on top of their game-- I've worked in a few small businesses, and those things can be fragile, even just organizationally. One guy falling, either due to succumbing to the stress or falling ill or mom/son/nephew died/was arrested/escaped from the facility, and those logjams can build up pretty quick while the role only he did is left vacant.

My dad, by contrast, works for the hospital system of a local big university. The CIO quit abruptly and my dad's direct superior has fallen off the face of the earth. Nonetheless, operations and work have continued without interruption. The bureaucratic structure kept everything running while the med center hustled to get a new CIO, and my dad's been getting direction from both his (ex-)boss' boss and from what filed paperwork his boss left behind, which combined together was enough to provide guidance on what to do for the foreseeable future. The bureaucracy is sometimes a pain, but it can keep everything cohesive when things get shaky, too.

# ¿ May 6, 2014 18:10

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