Politics Thread - Ka-tet of 19

[Zoraptor]

I don't think it's even possible to uncluster**** the Syria situation. Sure, there was a window where something could have been done, but that closed long ago. Now, there are just way too many actors involved for it to go anywhere good.

 

As for the no-fly zones, just how would those have been enforced anyway? Shoot down Russian planes? What about the Iranians? Syrians? Still, as the incident with Turkey shooting down a Russian plane shows, Putin really doesn't want to get tangled into a fight with the US. So, I think that even with Hillary as President, Putin still wouldn't want to get into a military conflict with the US.

 

It is getting a fair way towards being 'unclustered' now. There's only really two questions left- what happens with the rebel area in the north and the kurd/ sdf area in the north east- and while they're decently large and important questions that's a lot lot less than there was.

 

The no fly zone was always, to coin a phrase, pie in the sky. The Turkish incident was a different scale and could be (and was) dealt with by soft options like sanctions- which saw Erdogan, posturing and strutting like a pearooster immediately after, calling Putin a great friend and apologising a year later. Putin doesn't want a fight with the US as he's neither suicidal nor stupid, but it's also absolutely clear that it isn't the 90s any longer. As much as Trump threatened to bomb Russians in Syria that was in response to Russia saying they'd sink US ships and shoot down US planes if attacked (in theory pretty obvious, but as I said a lot of people seem to think nobody would ever retaliate). Don't think anyone would want to find out if Putin would back down or not if it came right down to it, but I'm thanking Mattis for going option A and making sure we never found out anyway.

 

(Personally, I think Putin absolutely would retaliate if Trump went option C or if Hillary tried an actual no fly zone as well)

[Guard Dog]

Don't forget Gromnir Bush has also been accused of masterminding 9/11 (albeit from folks with less credibility) while still being held in contempt as being a dim bulb by the same people. He'd have to be the greatest criminal master-mind of all time to do all that while appearing an affable dunce. Only in the realm of political analysis, where My Team > Your Team hubris is passed as rational reasoning, can those two conflicting notions be held by the same people simultaneously. 

 

I completely agree with your point. You know that old saying; success has many fathers but failure is an orphan. Had Iraq actually turned into a stable, somewhat egalitarian republic where everyone lives in peace and became a counterbalance to Iran the narrative would be very different and his credit would be diluted in a chorus of "me too". 

 

That was impossible though. Pity more people did not realize that. 

Edited July 21, 2018 by Guard Dog

[HoonDing]

That video of Bush sitting in the classroom when he is informed of the attacks should dispel any notions of Bush as a mastermind.

[rjshae]

Saw this story from Fox News:

 

"Trump calls Cohen's taping of phone call 'inconceivable'"

 

 

You knew it had to happen at some point...

[Guard Dog]

Nothing to worry about here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/deficit-projected-to-top-1-trillion-starting-next-year-1531950742

 

Meanwhile I think I'm going to buy more seeds, chickens, dry food, and ammunition.

[Zoraptor]

Just keep sticking that one trillion on the credit card, what could possibly go wrong?

 

It's not like a lot of that trillion dollar debt will be financed by bonds bought by a country the US is having a trade war with at the moment.

[Elerond]

Just keep sticking that one trillion on the credit card, what could possibly go wrong?

 

It's not like a lot of that trillion dollar debt will be financed by bonds bought by a country the US is having a trade war with at the moment.

 

Best part is that reason for the trade war is that people in USA have so much money to buy stuff from China because of that debt.

 

China loans money to USA -> USA divides it to its population through various methods -> said population buys stuff made in China -> China loans money back to USA -> and so on

[213374U]

Nothing to worry about here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/deficit-projected-to-top-1-trillion-starting-next-year-1531950742

 

Meanwhile I think I'm going to buy more seeds, chickens, dry food, and ammunition.

 

You're right, nothing to worry about. While the USD is still a reserve currency and it's still used to trade oil, the US can keep printing money and sinking ever deeper into debt indefinitely. So long as the US (and NATO toadies) are willing to crush anyone who dare threaten the status of the almighty dollar as dominant global currency, you don't need to bother stockpiling more supplies.

 

Now, if the Chinese start succeeding at trading oil for yuan...

[Guard Dog]

The California congressional delegation is proposing a tax credit for California residents dealing with excessive rent costs. https://www.harris.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/OTT182191.7.19.pdf

 

Since taxation is nothing less than legalized theft, and is in and of itself immoral, I have no issue with giving people their money back. The thing is, it won't help the problem. If a widget is too expensive the only way to bring the price down is to stop buying widgets. When supply exceeds demand the price drops. Artificially helping people pay the high cost of widgets circumvents that. Plus landlords will be inclined to raise rents because of this. So it will likely exacerbate the problem it's trying to relieve.

[Hurlshort]

I pay $4200 a month on a single family home in rent. Send help. 

 

 

Oh and I don't qualify for the credit because it cuts off at 125k, and my gross is about 130k. Yay. 

[Azdeus]

I pay $4200 a month on a single family home in rent. Send help. 

 

 

Oh and I don't qualify for the credit because it cuts off at 125k, and my gross is about 130k. Yay. 

 

I pay that much aswell! But in SEK >_>

[Guard Dog]

I pay $4200 a month on a single family home in rent. Send help. 

 

 

Oh and I don't qualify for the credit because it cuts off at 125k, and my gross is about 130k. Yay. 

Well, I'm sure the people who make slightly less than you do will be appreciative of the sacrifices you make so they can pay less to probably live somewhere nicer. Yeah.... real sure. 

 

Of course if this happens their landlords are going to think "Hmmm.... they were paying on time when rent was 60% of their pay. But with this tax credit it's now 55% of their pay. Well, my taxes are going up to pay for this so I'll just raise their rent so it's 60% again". 

 

And of course rent hikes are not targeted (that would be illegal) so everyone's rent goes up 5% whether you qualified or not! See? Ain't economics fun? So a big hearty congrats to future Presidential candidate Kamala Harris for helping everyone out. Somehow she got a law degree without taking any classes on finance, real estate, and basic econ. But, as our current FEARLESS LEADER demonstrates, knowledge and experience are not a requirement for that job. 

 

As Fredric Bastiat once wrote “Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.”

Edited July 24, 2018 by Guard Dog

[aluminiumtrioxid]

to be fair economics is a pseudoscience anyway

[213374U]

I love how basic housing is a "widget", and the solution to the problem of artificially inflated prices of basic necessities is to simply stop buying. Because homelessness is a perfectly valid lifestyle choice, guys.

 

And, no. Simply not buying isn't enough to bring prices down.

[Guard Dog]

I love how basic housing is a "widget", and the solution to the problem of artificially inflated prices of basic necessities is to simply stop buying. Because homelessness is a perfectly valid lifestyle choice, guys.

 

And, no. Simply not buying isn't enough to bring prices down.

Here is is YOUR responsibility to secure housing for yourself and your family. It is a commodity which means it IS a widget. And the neat thing about it is there is a hell of a lot of it. I own a townhouse that I'm renting to a family for less than the monthly mortgage. Not out of the goodness of my heart. That is the going rate for a 2B 2B townhouse in Bartlett TN. I could raise the rent but then I might never find a tenant. But I imagine my tenants live in Bartlett because the same house in Memphis would cost a lot more. If rent is too expensive where you are looking, look somewhere else. The further you get from the center of a city the more the prices drop. You don't have a RIGHT to an apartment. And you sure as hell don't have a RIGHT to one exactly where you want it for the price you want it. If you like the location pay what it costs. If not, look elsewhere.

[Bartimaeus]

The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.

 

Trump: What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening.

[HoonDing]

Problem with capitalism is eventually all money ends up in Panama.

Edited July 25, 2018 by HoonDing

[Lexx]

Weird. The older I get, the more I just want everything to crash and burn.

[Guard Dog]

US Politics summed up in one cartoon strip

 

[injurai]

US Politics summed up in one cartoon strip

 

 

When your enemy is the other half of the country and not foreign threats, then wonder why your policies aren't working. Goes for both parties.

[Gfted1]

When your "enemy" is a different political party and you are purposely trying to sabotage every single effort at governance, you are a toolbag. It has absolutely nothing to do with "policies".

[Agiel]

Frankly Trump himself is to blame for sabotaging his own legislative efforts, if purely by negligence. He has neither the inclination nor energy to lobby members of congress, attempted to drive a wedge between red state democrats and the party leadership, or bothered to visit Maine, Alaska, or Arizona while AHCA and the Skinny Repeal was on the line. Hell, he doubled down on divisiveness on an issue that could have gotten bi-partisan support: Immigration (even Cesar Chavez, nominal saint of the left, came out as a hardliner against illegal immigration).

Edited July 25, 2018 by Agiel

[Malcador]

Weird. The older I get, the more I just want everything to crash and burn.

 

Apathy is death.

[213374U]

 

I love how basic housing is a "widget", and the solution to the problem of artificially inflated prices of basic necessities is to simply stop buying. Because homelessness is a perfectly valid lifestyle choice, guys.

 

And, no. Simply not buying isn't enough to bring prices down.

Here is is YOUR responsibility to secure housing for yourself and your family. It is a commodity which means it IS a widget. And the neat thing about it is there is a hell of a lot of it. I own a townhouse that I'm renting to a family for less than the monthly mortgage. Not out of the goodness of my heart. That is the going rate for a 2B 2B townhouse in Bartlett TN. I could raise the rent but then I might never find a tenant. But I imagine my tenants live in Bartlett because the same house in Memphis would cost a lot more. If rent is too expensive where you are looking, look somewhere else. The further you get from the center of a city the more the prices drop. You don't have a RIGHT to an apartment. And you sure as hell don't have a RIGHT to one exactly where you want it for the price you want it. If you like the location pay what it costs. If not, look elsewhere.

 

Nice strawman. We go from high housing prices in general and housing not really being optional to "I don't have to subsidize your downtown apartment". Which I agree with, but is not the point. Looking elsewhere may be a solution short-term for some people but it doesn't address the root cause. People start moving en masse to nowhereville that currently has great rent, and thanks to houses being just another commodity as you so keenly noted, "investors" will simply start gobbling up real estate there and start another bubble.

 

I'm not defending it, but subsidizing rent is one of the few things that the state can do towards ensuring affordable housing, without going full commie and infringing on your muh property rights. Public housing is another, but then that's unfair competition and the state meddling with muh free markets. Do you have a better alternative?

 

And by the way, it appears you are wrong about rent. A cursory search reveals that median rent prices in Bartlett TN are actually higher than in Memphis.

[Gromnir]

When your "enemy" is a different political party and you are purposely trying to sabotage every single effort at governance, you are a toolbag. It has absolutely nothing to do with "policies".

 

am wondering if we can find a similar post from gifted from a few years ago when republicans were doing their bestest to hold up every Obama effort and appointment. 

 

hypocrisy aside, governmental gridlock as gifted describes is the single most important reason for continued protection o' fundamental American freedoms.  is not Bill of Rights which protects freedoms. the soviet union had more freedoms guaranteed to citizens via controlling documents.  on paper, China has more significant personal speech freedom protections than does the US.  every sub-Saharan dictatorship has got the equivalent o' a Bill of Rights.  an executive separate from legislature along with a genuine bicameral legislature (not like English house o' lords nonsense) and an independent judiciary, all designed to maximize gridlock arising from petty discord, is precise why gifted's freedoms is protected.  an effective democracy is the single greatest threat to your freedoms as any bare majority may alter such 'cause o' momentary whim or even bare-naked malevolence.  because o' gridlock, is much more difficult for legislature to respond immediate to mood o' the people, and as we is able to see, a chief executive is unlikely able to impose his will on a nation by fiat or decree thanks to gridlock. 

 

bill o rights is words-- is admirable words.  nevertheless, in addition to the near universal American belief in the importance o' fundamental rights, the real protection o' your freedoms is precise the gridlock which gifted laments.  if a slim majority in Congress backed by chief executive power and influence cannot convince the minority o' the wisdom o' _______, then such stuff should not become law.  such gridlock is a founding principle and perhaps the greatest gift o' the Constitution.

 

…

 

thank God for mitch mcconnel.   am not a fan o' the man, but thank God even so.  mitch could very easily go along with trump demands to alter the filibuster rules.  democrats started the "nuclear option" nonsense during Obama administration regarding all appointments save Supreme Court Justices, and republicans responded in kind with Gorsuch appointment. mitch has refused to budge on filibuster and other efforts which would diminish gridlock.  thank God.  am suspecting 100 years from now, when trump is not but a footnote, mitch may get proper respect for his efforts.  maybe not.  even so, as unpopular as protecting gridlock is, doing so is the most important means o' guaranteeing gifted freedoms today and in the decades yet to come.  

 

HA! Good Fun!