US Politics, April 2024: "Are You Better Off Today Than You Were <Checks Notes> Four Years Ago?"

Four Years Ago:

I can’t believe I have to say this, but please don’t drink bleach.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 24, 2020

More ppls shd have consumed bleach imo

And aquarium cleaner and horse paste

I’m certainly older

Good afternoon!

Where’s the rush order of Wendy’s hamberders?

Abortion and marijuana legalization initiatives survived challenges and will be on the ballot in Florida in November.

Although the Florida Legislature has shown what it thinks of ballot measures. If one passes they disagree with, they will fuck with it any way they can.

Great news. We're already strategizing on turnout.

👍🏽

There's gonna be an abortion ballot initiative in Montana this year, too:

#mtpol #mtnews pic.twitter.com/YAS54mlnXA

— Holly Michels (@hollykmichels) April 1, 2024

For those who can't see it, the language reads:

CI-_____ would amend the Montana Constitution to expressly provide a right to make and carry out decisions about one's own pregnancy, including the right to abortion. It would prohibit the government from denying or burdening the right to abortion before fetal viability. It would also prohibit the government from denying or burdening access to an abortion when a treating healthcare professional determines it is medically indicated to protect the pregnant patient's life or health. CI-_____ prevents the government from penalizing patients, healthcare providers, or anyone who assists someone in exercising their right to make and carry out voluntary decisions about their pregnancy.

Great to see!

Not to be too much of a downer, but Mississippians got medical marijuana on the ballot and passed in 2020. Republicans were so outraged at the electorate taking charge of their lives that they ginned up a pretense to throw out the cannabis vote AND the ballot initiative process. The state legislature (GOP supermajority) later passed a more constrained MedMJ law but made it clear all the while that voters are not to be trusted with decision-making.

Well, there's a good chance we're going to throw our piece of shit governor out in November — he and his cronies basically doubled everyone's property taxes and people are pissed. So if that pissed-offness carries over to other issues... and it's worth bearing in mind that Montana's constitution already contains the following language:

Section 10. RIGHT OF PRIVACY. The right of individual privacy is essential to the well-being of a free society and shall not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest.

Because of that section, abortion is already legal in Montana. So the new language is basically a way of pre-empting Gianforte from trying to ban it in the future, should he be re-elected.

he and his cronies basically doubled everyone's property taxes

I don't get it, how does a GOP guy actually go ahead and do that and not think that a slew of his base is immediately going to drag him to hell for it?

In the 2018 General Election, Florida voters passed an amendment to the Florida Constitution with 65% of voters (AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION) that automatically restored voting rights to felons once they had completed their sentences.

GOP Florida legislators were also so outraged by that they decided to qualify it to include only those who had repaid their "fines and fees", meaning any debts to the state prison system or otherwise.

Some bitter as fuck statehouses in this country

Guys, I'm perfectly aware of the stakes. We fight anyway.

I don't get it, how does a GOP guy actually go ahead and do that and not think that a slew of his base is immediately going to drag him to hell for it?

It's really a stunning own goal. This article explains it pretty well, including the fact that taxes for business property went up much less than for houses. And I don't know how he's gonna counterbalance it — I mean, this is Montana. There is no "wokeness" to threaten people with, especially not in a year when the entire state is united in its love of Lily Gladstone. Plus, the Democratic candidate is a former gun executive. From my POV, Gianforte's in real danger.

From here:

Gianforte’s approval rating is neutral – 37% approved and disapproved of the job he was doing running Montana – but 41% of respondents said they think Montana is on the wrong track, compared to 31% who said it is on the right track.

Sixteen percent of Republicans disapproved of Gianforte’s performance, while 12% of Democrats approved of it. Among independents, 33% said they approved of the job the governor was doing, while 38% said they disapproved.

Forty-two percent of women said they disapproved of Gianforte’s performance, compared to 31% who approved, while among men, 45% approve and 32% disapprove, per the poll.

On the direction the state is headed, 31% of Republicans and 38% of independents said they felt the state was on the wrong track, along with 61% of Democrats. Just 24% of independents said the state is on the right track, along with 43% of Republicans and 22% of Democrats.

Yeah I didn't mean my cynicism about the Florida statehouse to sound anti-ballot referendum. Referendums that get people fired up are good, they drive turnout regardless of their outcome.

they could be good, but when the statehouse finds a way to squash them no matter how fired up people are and what the vote is - that's not good, so I'm very cynical

interesting NJ context (I know nothing, apologies if this is bs)

https://primaries.substack.com/i/143156084/nj-sen

We were going to go long on the last few county party conventions—one of us even made the trip to observe one in person, and another convention made headlines when candidate Patricia Campos-Medina was physically barred from entering by machine henchmen. But several news events have made those entirely irrelevant now.

First, Tammy Murphy dropped out of the race right before the filing deadline. The Murphy camp’s reported reasoning was that they thought victory was too remote a possibility—which we frankly don’t believe, given Murphy had the line in counties home to more than 60% of Democratic primary voters. It seemed more likely that the party bosses who pull the strings in New Jersey had made it clear to the Murphys that they valued the continued existence of the party line system more than they valued the prospect of Senator Tammy Murphy, and they were making a last-ditch effort to escape an unfavorable ruling from federal judge Zahid Quraishi, who is hearing a case challenging the constitutionality of the line brought by Senate candidate Andy Kim and several other candidates. They confirmed as much when they argued to Quraishi that Murphy’s withdrawal reduced the urgency of the lawsuit—and Quraishi confirmed the bosses’ fears when he rejected that argument as “specious at best” and issued a ruling blocking the use of the county line system on New Jersey’s primary ballots this year. (Quraishi later limited the ruling to the Democratic primary because no Republicans joined the initial lawsuit.) While Quraishi has not formally ruled on the merits, granting the injunction required Quraishi to find that Kim and the other plaintiffs had a good likelihood of success on the merits—and the judge who hears the merits will be Zahid Quraishi. In other words, unless the lawyers for New Jersey’s county clerks come up with a new, more convincing argument as to why the state’s system of slate-oriented ballot design is not unconstitutional, the line is likely dead for good. The implications for the Senate race are minimal now that Murphy is out—Kim is the overwhelming favorite against Campos-Medina and former Newark school board member Larry Hamm, and Democratic establishment figures who had been backing Murphy are beginning to come around to Kim’s side. The implications for New Jersey politics beyond the Senate race, however, cannot be overstated.

NJ-08

Nobody benefits more from the apparent demise of the line than Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla. First-term Rep. Rob Menendez Jr., the son of the twice-indicted senator, had the line in all three of NJ-08’s counties. Now, he won’t have it anywhere—which means that rather than getting voters to vote the line from Joe Biden on down, he’ll have to convince voters to seek out the name “Rob Menendez Jr.” and fill in the bubble next to it. The machine is strong enough to deliver for Menendez Jr. without the line in the northern half of Hudson County—but in Jersey City, Newark, Elizabeth, and Bayonne, the machine’s capabilities have atrophied, and no longer being visually associated with bigger-name Democrats on the ballot could cost Menendez Jr. dearly, particularly with Senator Menendez still threatening to run as an independent.

I can’t believe RFK Jr is being taken seriously enough for CNN to interview him. This man is deeply mentally unwell and stupid.

Yea I realize we just had a president who also fits that description

A HarrisX/Forbes poll taken March 25 found Trump leading Biden in a head-to-head match-up by 3 points, 46 percent to 43 percent. But with Kennedy, West and Stein in the race, Kennedy receives 12 percent and Trump still leads Biden by 3 points.

Meanwhile, other polls have shown some concern for Biden when third-party candidates are factored in. A Quinnipiac University poll taken March 21-25 showed Biden ahead by 3 points when only facing Trump. But Trump took a 1-point lead when Kennedy, who received 13 percent support, West and Stein were included.

I keep seeing people say that RFK’s support will collapse when people find out what a crank he is. However attempting to inform people of that will end up giving him greater exposure.

that will end up giving him greater exposure.

Realistically speaking, the name RFK Jr. is so widely recognized from RFK Sr. that giving him exposure isn't remotely an issue. Exposing him as a crank who's never held any public office can only help Biden - and Trump won't do it, because there's nothing in it for him.

How many of these poll respondents know RFK Jr. as:

- a conspiracy nutjob (his Wikipedia page is an absolute horrorshow)
- a former longtime heroin addict
- a serial adulterer whose second ex-wife committed suicide after finding his diary in which he documented 37 different affairs

If he ever becomes a serious threat to Biden, the Democratic Party will rise up as one and burn him to the ground in a weekend.

Honestly, though, the American public is incredibly superficial, and I don't think more than 1% of voters could stand to hear that voice croaking at them for four years.

I wonder what percentage of potential voters even know that RFK is running.

yeah was gonna say he's polling as high as he is because no one's heard him talk yet

Lol at the Democratic Party burning him down in a weekend. Let’s deploy Carville to the Sunday shows!

As if all the shit I listed isn't enough, the guy is into falconry, one of the weirdest hobbies of all time. He's a complete fucking joke and his "campaign" is going nowhere. The thing is, he's so insane it might actually not be a scam. He might be a true believer. In which case he'll have to be dealt with the way this country traditionally deals with Kennedys...

Let’s deploy Carville to the Sunday shows!

Even better, we could all write sharply-worded letters to the editor of our local newspapers!

I think, like what happened to Ron DeSantis, is that the more people are exposed to Junior the less they will like him.

The guy is obviously not going to become President, but polling at 13% seven months away from the election is something.

If RFK became a danger I think he’d collapse in the same way so many of the 2020-2022 cycle MAGA freaks did - in the abstract people might be open to it but his personal affect is so off-putting he wouldn’t survive serious national exposure. If he got into the debates his support would crumble to 1% immediately afterward.

he's not fake rich enough or fake successful enough to sell it. i'm not even sure he's real asshole enough, he seems more of a legit unwell person type. i was so stupendously wrong more than once in getting to here, i'm so scarred.

Doesn’t his vp candidate believe ivf should be illegal (or compulsory, I forget which, something weird though)?

he's the new Desantis, he's a weirdo freak and the more people learn about him the lower his numbers will go

remember everyone in the media creaming their jeans about Florida Ron, a real freak who eats pudding with his fingers

I did see my first local (Chicago area) Trump sign, off the highway. Very weird and both self aware and deluded. It was a flag that said something like "Do you miss $1.39 gas and angry tweets? Vote Trump 2024." When was the last time gas (particularly here) was even that cheap? 1995 or something? And this might be the first time I've seen assholery as an explicit selling point.

xpost Except the media would rather not talk about RFK and his support is driven by Rogan appearances and whatnot.

he was on CNN last night

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/01/politics/rfk-jr-cnntv-interview/index.html

He really think his cansidacy was propped up by Beltway reporters and consultants like DeSantis’ was?

i'm saying he's not going to survive national exposure.

trump is going to have to go on the record with how he personally votes in the florida abortion ballot measure.

Does he actually vote?

trump knows which side of the abortion issue his bread is buttered on, but I don't think he'll 'have to go on record' with his vote on the florida measure. after delivering on three(!) SCOTUS nominations and the subsequent repeal of Roe v Wade, he can fudge his statements all he wants to and the anti-abortion voters won't mind. they'll mostly hope that his fudging improves his chance of winning a second term.

“He’s a freak that Florida Ron, a real freak that eats puddin’ with his fingers…”

lost Shock G line

"Do you miss $1.39 gas and angry tweets? Vote Trump 2024." When was the last time gas (particularly here) was even that cheap? 1995 or something?

Gas got that low in the early pandemic months of 2020. In Minneapolis the lowest I remember seeing was $1.16, Chicago can't be too far off that. Not that I would give anyone with a Trump anything the credence of critical thought regarding those numbers and why they were low, but still.

RFK is going to crater eventually.

Gary Johnson had a similar trajectory in 2016 being posed as a suitable alternative to two awful candidates, and he even came within two percentage points in the polls of being invited to the debates, hitting a high of 13% in July of that year, hovering between 8-10% after that. Then "uh, what is Aleppo?" happened and he wound up at 3.3% of the national vote.

Which wasn't nothing, in fact, was the most a third party candidate had drawn since Perot. But illustrates that they often poll way higher than they will eventually die to unforced errors, lack of funds, protest poll responses, etc.

Still, Gary was disruptive to the end result in 2016 in several battleground states so I don't wanna downplay it. I'm also not convinced by the narrative that he helps Biden by staying in.

Perhaps if he freefalls enough he might just bow out, but he'd probably have to dip to levels like 1%. And idk that he'll go that low.

What I think is the wildcard is who he loses in support. If the section of his voters that typically lean Democrat are the majority of eventual defectors, and most of them go back to Biden as opposed to another third party or staying home, his dip could be a boon.

But the type that vote RFK aren't going to be "vote Blue no matter who" types so those are a lot of loaded ifs. Think it to be more likely that he loses support proportionately across the aisle.

All's I know is there will probably be a funny smear campaign coming his way

lol the chi tribune endorsed Johnson over Clinton and Trump even *after* the Aleppo gaffe.

lol I totally forgot Gary Johnson ever existed until right now

Gas got that low in the early pandemic months of 2020

Even more remarkably, oil futures contracts slipped into negative territory for a couple of weeks around the same time. essentially you could be paid good money if you were willing to take delivery of crude oil because the world had run out of places to store it!

Booed by his party for being fine with drivers licenses

Gas got that low in the early pandemic months of 2020. In Minneapolis the lowest I remember seeing was $1.16, Chicago can't be too far off that. Not that I would give anyone with a Trump anything the credence of critical thought regarding those numbers and why they were low, but still.

lowest it's been in chicago the past 10 years is $1.61 in winter 2015/2016. it broke $2 (just) in march 2020. https://www.gasbuddy.com/charts.

Not that I would give anyone with a Trump anything the credence of critical thought regarding those numbers and why they were low, but still.

Hence this month's thread title.

https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/dde94a2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6016x4011+0+3/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F71%2Ff2%2Fe4874b6748398339eb76e9adef54%2F51131469478-f9ab64d5d2-o.jpg

XP "Cheap gas and a mean tweet" has been a meme dating back to whenever the first fuel price spike during the Biden administration was.

I've seen way more of those sticker in the Chicago area than I would have expected.

I thought I saw them first pop up when the prices went down actually.

I saw those all over South Florida.

Gas hovered around $1.80 and $2.20 from March 2020 to about December-January 2021.

the migrants who were flown to martha's vineyard as a racist PR stunt for DeSantis are allowed to sue the company that flew them there. the claims against desantis and the horrible people who work from him were dismissed, although there's a possibility that they can be brought back into the lawsuit later*

https://www.npr.org/2024/04/01/1242131130/migrants-lawsuit-flown-marthas-vineyard-texas-florida-governor-ron-desantis

MIAMI — A federal judge in Boston has ruled that migrants flown from Texas to Martha's Vineyard in 2022 can proceed with a lawsuit against the Florida company that took them there.

The judge also dismissed claims against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other officials named in the suit.

Three migrants from Venezuela, along with an immigrant rights group, filed the lawsuit. They say that Florida's governor, others in his administration and an air transport company conspired to mislead them and deprive them of their civil rights when they recruited and flew them to Martha's Vineyard in 2022.

In their lawsuit, the migrants, identified as Yanet, Pablo and Jesus say they were told they were going to Massachusetts, but didn't know their final destination was Martha's Vineyard until shortly before landing.

The plaintiffs say a videographer hired by the DeSantis administration recorded them arriving and boarding vans. But apart from the videographer and van drivers, the plaintiffs say no one else in Martha's Vineyard had any advance notice of their arrival.

In her order, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs says the case can proceed against the air transport company, Vertol. Judge Burroughs dismissed claims against Gov. DeSantis and other members of his administration out of jurisdictional concerns, but did so "without prejudice." That means the legal team representing the migrants can seek to bring DeSantis and others back into the case as it goes forward.

*yeah right

I guess it's just been so long since I saw prices that consistently low that if I did indeed see them just a couple years ago, I immediately forgot about them, because they were covid era outliers.

No doubt if Trump is elected again we will get some other fresh disaster and they will be similarly forced to artificially support the economy.

https://electionlawblog.org/?p=142287

i mean, what are the chances that failing to reform the electoral college or even talk about the issue out loud would come back to burn the democrats again?

Electoral college reform is going to end up with the Red States being Winner Take All and the Blue States proportional by district.

that NE proposal hasn't even left committee yet and the legislature only has a few more days

would be nice to have some electoral college reform tho

This seems very, very bad.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/wisconsin-ballot-measures-republican-backed-voting-results-rcna145913

it is

Seems bad man

The fuck? https://t.co/pZsUBB24YN pic.twitter.com/HxRiOWj9LL

— ettingermentum🥥🌴 (@ettingermentum) April 2, 2024

Apparently Fetterman went on the radio responding to the murder of aid workers with some whining about Hamas hiding behind civilians. Hope he has another stroke.

Fetterman can rot

https://i.imgur.com/zHX7LJ0.jpeg

democracy dies in darkness

https://149674310.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Buddy+Christ-11.jpg

Good news:

Nebraska legislators on Wednesday night blocked a late effort to change how the state allocates its Electoral College votes, despite public pressure from former President Donald Trump to shift to a winner-take-all system that would likely benefit him in the fall.

The measure fell short, 8-36, in a procedural vote. While it’s possible supporters could take another stab at advancing the proposal, there remain serious hurdles as the legislative session draws to a close, and it’s unclear whether the proposal has enough support to get across the finish line and become law.

8-36 is not close. Good.

It won’t come up for a vote again. I know that’s what was promised, but there are no vehicles on which it could attach. Winner Takes All isn’t moving in 2024.

— Senator Julie Slama (@SenatorSlama) April 4, 2024

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/04/pink-slime-local-news-outlets-erupt-all-over-us-during-election-year/

PINK SLIME!

The number of partisan news outlets in the US masquerading as legitimate journalism now equals genuine local newspaper sites, researchers say, as so-called pink slime operators gear up ahead of November’s presidential election.

Pink slime sites mimic local news providers but are highly partisan and tend to bury their deep ties to dark money, lobbying groups, and special interests.

NewsGuard, which rates the quality and trustworthiness of news sites, has identified 1,197 pink slime sites operating in the US as of April 1—about as many as the estimated 1,200 real news sites operated by daily local newspapers.

I get my news from traditional blue slime sources only.

wake up early, clear out the encroaching gray goo from the window sill, delete new emails from pink slime mailing lists i didn't sign up for, then i play with gak all day, and i don't even wash my hands

… such sites have filled a vacuum left as traditional local news has been decimated by brands moving their advertising dollars into digital spending at Silicon Valley groups such as Meta and Google

I would propose this is the key bit of the dynamic even tho it’s not the focus of the article

Also the phrase “partisan outlet” is doing a lot of work here

Seems like a real professional operation... RFK Jr's campaign has walked back a fundraising email that referred to January 6 insurrectionists as "activists":

In the appeal sent to supporters, signed by "Team Kennedy," the campaign called for the exoneration of "political prisoner Julian Assange," the founder of WikiLeaks, suggesting he and Jan. 6 defendants are victims of prosecutorial abuse.

"This is the reality that every American Citizen faces — from Ed Snowden, to Julian Assange to the J6 activists sitting in a Washington DC jail cell stripped of their Constitutional liberties. Please help our campaign call out the illiberal actions of our very own government," the fundraising email read.

...

After publication of this piece, Kennedy spokesperson Stephanie Spear told NBC News that the language was an "error."

“That statement was an error that does not reflect Mr. Kennedy’s views. It was inserted by a new marketing contractor and slipped through the normal approval process,” she said.

“All that stuff was a typo”

The two most pertinent questions about RFK Jr's crappy vanity project are how many ballots will he be on in November? and how many of those will be in critical swing states? The process of qualifying for the general election ballot is usually much simpler in the more liberal states than in conservative ones, but every one of the 50 states and multiple territories has a different process for qualifying and his campaign seems far too slapdash to get on more than a dozen or so ballots.

I sure hope so, and I hope none of those are in swing states

In my (admittedly limited) experience so far, it seems like the only people excited about RFKJ are antivaxx moms and general Qfools who don't like Trump embracing the creation of the COVID vaxx and stuff like that.

He might be able to piggyback onto some ballots via a formal Libertarian Party nomination (or a similar fringe party), but I haven't heard that they or the No Labels scammers have expressed interest in him. If it weren't for his name you'd need an electron microscope to see his campaign.

i also don't get why the fuck RFK is even doing this. He has no chance of winning. Does he simply want Biden to lose?

money i guess

the other day, there was a dude in front of my local post office getting signatures to put RFK jr on the ballot, had to resist the urge to give him shit

he’d probably accept your shit as safer than vaccines

lol

No Labels, no candidate, no surprise

https://apnews.com/article/no-labels-2024-third-party-biden-trump-c7477857e1dd05535326b8850f4500a1

money i guess

good morning!

Where’s the presidential debate schedule?

Boom: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/05/business/jobs-report-march-economy

yeah but the vibes are off

Unemployment vibe rate up 4.5%

i got hired for a part time job, which makes teaching three classes and working 25 hours a week at the gym front desk. “the economy is great” my ass— if i have to work as much as i am to reach a modest standard of living, then the economy is shit. period.

like, i know my experience isn’t universal, obviously, but truly find it bizarre that a bunch of people with pretty decent jobs on a message board would essentially mock those who don’t feel like they’re doing that well, despite the figures from economists. it might not be meant that way but that is the way it appears!

Table, I apologize, I wasn't thinking of people in your situation. I think it's obscene you literally need five part-time jobs just to keep your head above water. I know I'm lucky in the job situation (it's certainly not due to my tact or charm).

I've learned that the general state of the economy has little to do with my personal situation. I was at my lowest during the "boom years" on the late 90s, and I basically doubled my income in the middle of the economic collapse of 2009. Of course I don't deny that that was generally a bad time for a lot of other people.

The biggest income jump of my life coincided with the Trump years.

Most of my friends seem to be doing OK in their various fields, but I know at least a couple of them (especially in media and marketing/advertising) have been wrestling with some serious worries that their ride could end with no warning. Kind of like when the Coyote launches himself off a cliff at high speed but doesn't actually fall until he looks down.

My media friends, yeah, are the most unstable.

I think academia and particularly teaching are undervalued but I don't see that as a function of the current economy as much as I see it as a decay and reconfiguration of the social structures of our society.

I was in college 20 years ago and back then, the main trend was the hiring of adjunct professors and instructors who had no real path to a permanent job position or a decent salary. Partly due to the devaluation of education, more so the burgeoning number of students and emphasis on postsecondary education as a path to a majority of jobs in the labor market. Teaching should be a valued position with a livable wage.

There is lots of shifting sands out there. In the past week I've had conversations with two different physicians bemoaning the state of their profession in the corporate era. They feel undervalued and under-appreciated, just cogs in a machine that more or less looks at them interchangeably, as a set quantity that can be replaced with little to no though, there just to say yes or no to things. Woah is me, right? They are of course doing fine financially, but they work really hard, and if the standard-bearer of education and success is feeling the squeeze and stress in the fight against burnout, it does not bode well.

Which is wild, because (at least when I was coming up), education and healthcare had a patina of reliability and sustainment. Like, get into those careers and you’ll be OK.

well, the more people who go into attractive professions, the greater the leverage of the employers becomes

after 30 years as a translator Maria has to make ends meet working in a cruddy used record store in Western Mass. the robots took all her work. thanks, obama!

xxpost Exactly. As I understand it, part of the shift hinges on a bigger focus on nurses, PAs, etc. (who in turn have themselves seen, yes, higher wages and more or less 100% employment, but with more than their own share of burnout).

but seriously she was just getting jobs proofreading machine translations for no money and for a highly-skilled human that was too depressing for words. i kinda wonder about all those medical documents getting translated by AI now. maria will tell you. they make tons of mistakes.

Did I or someone post the news piece about doctors using AI to dumb down medical results and instructions, to match the average level of reading comprehension in this country?

☹️

Biden’s been great for govt employees. Two of the biggest standard of living increases since the 80’s

xps - Corporation-controlled medicine is a great example of how information aggregation is devaluing individual training and experience. My primary care physician is required to work from a what amounts to an imposed script designed to deliver statistically-approved 'care'. According to this script my therapeutic needs are adequately defined by a few neat categories that correspond to the categories that were defined within published studies. Whatever the peer-reviewed study discovered within those confines, it must be applied to my case or else the doctor becomes a renegade who exposes the corporation to the dreaded risk of malpractice litigation.

The only avenue open to her for using her years of specialized training consists of deciding which script best fits the symptoms I'm "presenting" during my exam. Because I'm pretty healthy, my major symptoms are that I'm a white male, 69 years old, and whatever my BMI and BP happens to be on the day of my annual exam (hint: my BMI & BP are fine). But the script spits out its recommendations anyway, which she duly recites to me.

Hey, remember how 24 hours ago RFK's campaign was swearing they didn't mean to defend January 6 rioters? Well, today the candidate announced he'd appoint a special counsel to investigate how their rights may have been violated.

that's literally 'defending' them

He's going to get to the bottom of everything

posted in another thread:

Entirely reasonable description of January 6 as an event in which 'many of the...protesters broke the law in what may have started as a protest but turned into a riot.' Especially so in light of absence of DOJ insurrection charges against anyone involved. https://t.co/FfQfKTjYet

— Byron York (@ByronYork) April 5, 2024

Maybe he *is* a Dem plant, to draw votes from Trump.

RFK is almost Trump-like in that the constant tripping over his own dick doesn't seem to change his numbers. Like you'd think he'd have been done after that "Oh I didn't just hang out with Epstein, but also Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, OJ Simpson, etc." thing. He just has a new gaffe a few days later and keeps on going.

OK, well "carried no weapons" is a lie, and "had no plans or ability to seize the reins of government" does not mean they lacked the intention to do those things — their lack of plans or ability to carry out any hypothetical plan is more due to their own stupidity and insanity than anything else, and is thus not at all exculpatory. (Plus, we all saw the video of a subset of the rioters moving in a very disciplined and militaristic fashion through the mob. Those motherfuckers had a plan, you can bet on it.

Also, "an individual respected by all sides" doesn't exist.

does not mean they lacked the intention to do those things — their lack of plans or ability to carry out any hypothetical plan is more due to their own stupidity and insanity than anything else, and is thus not at all exculpatory.

otm, colossally fucking up an attempt to kidnap and murder someone doesn't magically absolve one of all crimes.

when a woke person breaks a window at a CVS, they should be shot and hung in a town square.

when a right-wing MAGA dick kills a cop en route to breaking into the Capitol building, he was just exercising his First Amendment rights

Woken window theory?

omg

when a right-wing MAGA dick kills a cop en route to breaking into the Capitol building, he was just exercising his First Amendment rights

I'm sorry, you mean his 2A rights. The First Amendment is so you can hate people with your sincerely held religious beliefs. For killing Deep State thugs, you need your trusty 2A.

no, no, I meant the murder was simply their artistic expression

(All) These Fuckin Guys. Like, wtf at this story ...

Montana GOP Senate candidate says he lied to ranger about gunshot wound in 2015. Tim Sheehy was cited for illegally discharging a weapon in a national park but says he made up the gunshot to cover up a bullet wound he received as a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan that he never reported to superiors

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/06/tim-sheehy-montana-senate-gunshot-wound-national-park

That does not make any sense at all

He's lying desperately, in the hope of covering up the real truth: that his gunshot wound was actually received at the hands of former Vice President Cheney.

As noted by someone:

"In case you’re wondering, no, reading the whole thing doesn’t help it make sense.

A genuine decorated veteran fakes being clumsy and irresponsible to cover up being wounded in combat?"

Sheehy seems like a real asshole, above and beyond the baseline level of assholism required to be a Republican Senate candidate.

kennedy: "I have not examined the evidence in detail..."

they had fucking live hearings on television, dipshit. you can read the report online!

i hate these assholes with names that allow them to spew crap that people actually hear and believe. so dangerous. trump is more than enough when it comes to batshit stupid. this guy needs to go far far away. when is cheryl hines gonna divorce this creep?

I’m cool with Kennedy trying to peel away Trump votes.

Kennedy's not consciously trying to peel away Trump votes, or Biden votes, any more than when a dog makes a noise that resembles "I love you" he's actually telling you he loves you. Kennedy is totally insane, and attempting to put anything he says or does into a conventional political framework makes you, the sane person, the sucker at the table. He's going to self-immolate in a completely and permanently humiliating manner, and a year from now people are going to care what he thinks exactly as much as they care what Dennis Kucinich or Vermin Supreme thinks. He's going to be the answer to a particularly uninteresting trivia question.

^ha ha, agree!

I laughed when RFK said we shouldn’t write off somebody just because they say an election was stolen because I believe the 2000 and 2004 elections were stolen.

xxpost I think this “self-immolation” stuff is wishful thinking. People have thought RFK was a crack for a long time. When his support collapses it will just be people running back to Trump.

People have thought RFK was a crack for a long time. When his support collapses it will just be people running back to Trump.

Before he started running for president people would take his phone calls. When this campaign ends, no one of any influence will ever be seen with him in public again, because there will be nothing to gain from it.

Good afternoon!

wow, two whole days!

https://i.imgflip.com/23ja0p.jpg

*snort*

I feel like this exchange from the DJT thread should go here, plus I have a postscript/chaser

abortion is a huge election winner for dems right now, not hard to see how it could hand trump a loss, which is nice for national dems who did nothing to protect it talked about safe legal and rare and in fact wouldnt even say the word, sometimes its good to be the lesser of two evils

― lag∞n, Monday, April 8, 2024 1:08 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I've already gotten two fundraising emails/texts since the Trump "news."

― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, April 8, 2024 1:09 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

and it should be noted are still doing nothing, state level people passing constitutional amendments thats whats up xp self

― lag∞n, Monday, April 8, 2024 1:10 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

betting markets and polls shifting slightly to Biden in the last week.

― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Monday, April 8, 2024 1:15 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

An Emerson College poll of 1,438 registered voters, conducted from April 2 to 3, put Trump at 43 percent against 42 percent for Biden and 8 percent for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In a straight head-to-head with all other candidates and undecided voters removed, the Republican challenger had 51 percent of the vote against 49 percent for the Democratic incumbent. However, among very likely voters, Biden is ahead 51 to 49, said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling.

A YouGov survey, conducted for The Economist, had Trump and Biden tied at 43 percent each with Kennedy Jr. third at 2 percent. This survey of 1,601 registered voters took place between March 30 and April 2.

still way too close

― President Keyes, Monday, April 8, 2024 1:17 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

if theres any bright side to the whole fucked situation of roe getting axed its that it might teach dems to talk about abortion as healthcare instead of choice, and maybe healthcare as a right idk

― lag∞n, Monday, April 8, 2024 1:19 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

likely as opposed to very likely

― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, April 8, 2024 1:20 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I remember this 2021 bill

(1) Abortion services are essential to health care and access to those services is central to people’s ability to participate equally in the economic and social life of the United States. Abortion access allows people who are pregnant to make their own decisions about their pregnancies, their families, and their lives.

― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, April 8, 2024 1:23 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is a weird cycle its a rematch with no meaningful primaries, feels like it hasnt started yet when usually wed be deep in "election season"

― lag∞n, Monday, April 8, 2024 1:24 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

and I just saw this posted by the ACLU:

"Every single abortion rights initiative that has been on the ballot since Roe was overturned has passed."

https://i.imgur.com/MEjNbJt.jpg

Trump betrayed his deeply held personal principle of being staunchly pro-life?

wtf is the word "principles" doing in a headline of a story about Trump, that just seems politically illiterate.

I loved it, got hard just staring at the headline

quiddities and hard-ons of the NYT

how many abortions do we think Trump has paid for

well, how many did he say he would pay for but never did?

five hundred twenty five thousands six hundred 'bortions

...and yet Eric & DJTJ made it through.

Yep first of many “Trump is really a moderate on abortion” articles written by people who just fell off the turnip truck.

xpost so maybe it didn't take?

lol, was gonna say. They both have a decided air of non-viable fetus about them.

Will the nyt crack new analyzers put the "states decide" position in real perspective?

https://www.npr.org/2024/04/09/1243679136/arizona-abortion-court-decision-ban

outside of the general awfulness of that ruling, it's gonna light a political fire in the suburbs that the GOP won't be able to extinguish

yeah that ruling plus https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/arizona-abortion-rights-amendment-backers-says-gathered-signatures-nee-rcna145922

Looks similar to what happened in Florida.

since the SCOTUS ruling, every time that restoring reproductive rights have been put to the voters, they've won

Apparently Arizonans need 400k signatures by July to get it on the ballot, but already have over 500k, and it just needs a simple majority to pass.

I won’t let Kari Lake distort the record.

She called this law a “great law” - even though it will ban nearly all abortions, including in cases of rape or incest. pic.twitter.com/lXmtShrtSG

— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) April 9, 2024

they are continuing to run up the score on signatures to drive turnout iiuc, which seems smart.

I like to see the Dems immediately tying the GOP to this law

As in, literally yesterday Trump endorsed leaving these decisions up to the states. Well, there you go.

they should start calling Kari Lake 'pro-incest'

Ol' Incest Lake

Lake Voters

https://media.gq.com/photos/5df3df184545e00008b8c3a1/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/An-Oral-History-of-the-Folgers-Incest-Ad-01.jpg

The Arizona AG has announced that she will not enforce the ban.

Lake 2024: You're My Present This Year

Incest, Lake & Trumper

lol

Pictures At An Atrocity Exhibition

A lot of online right-wingers think the inbred-as-fuck Habsburgs and Romanovs were the peak of Aryan genetic purity.

Their blood was so pure it did not clot!

seems like pure aryans should be out singing Wagner on an icy crag, not hanging out in a chatroom idk

Jamelle Bouie on Trump's abortion speech (gift link)

The Man Who Snuffed Out Abortion Rights Is Here to Tell You He Is a Moderate

Donald Trump does not speak from conviction. He does not speak from belief or at least any belief other than self-obsession. He certainly does not speak from anything we might recognize as reason; when he’s holding forth from a podium, even the most careful students of Trump the rhetorician will struggle to find the light of complex thought.

You should think of Trump instead as a purely instrumental speaker. It does not matter to him whether a statement is true or false. It does not matter if one statement contradicts another, in the same speech or in the same paragraph or in the same sentence. What matters to Trump is whether the words serve the purpose at hand. He will say anything if it’s what he feels an audience wants to hear or if it moves him one step closer to a personal or political goal.

Trump’s fundamental disinterest in the truth value of his words is the only context that matters for his comments on abortion Monday morning. In a direct-to-camera statement on Truth Social, the former president told his audience that he does not support a national ban on abortion. “My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint,” Trump said. “The states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case, the law of the state.”

...

If you’re not inclined to put Trump’s abortion comments in the context of his habitual disregard for the truth, then you should at least put them in the context of his political coalition, which is dominated by forces and constituencies that want nothing less than the criminalization of abortion, the constitutional protection of fetal life and state regulation of bodily autonomy for the sake of patriarchal gender norms.

Trump embraced this movement and its demands as president, and there’s every reason to believe he’ll do the same with another four years in office. Put another way, when has Trump ever bucked anyone who defends him, supports him and showers him with praise?

We do not have to speculate about Trump’s relationship to abortion and reproductive rights as leader of the Republican Party. He is, after all, a former president of the United States. We already know what he wants, what he’ll do and what he’ll sign. Trump landed a major blow against legal abortion during his first term. If given a second, he will land another.

Arizona Republican Reps. Juan Ciscomani and David Schweikert react to the Arizona Supreme Court ruling reviving an abortion ban that traces back to the 1800s. Both represent swing districts up for grabs this fall. pic.twitter.com/0G5Ry5oxws

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) April 9, 2024

yeah, this is a big 'dog catches bus' moment and it's fun to watch them squirm

was thinking that exact thing earlier today

The man will say anything to stay out of prison, and could care less what the consequences are.

David Schweikert and Juan Ciscomani are abortion extremists who are now masquerading as moderates

And Kari Lake, who praised the 1864 law in her race for Governor in 2022 (it's on video), has done an about-face now that it is in effect. Like them she has no principles, the position will be whatever gets her elected

Life in Texas? Kinda shitty! (Rick Perlstein interviews an unnamed TX journalist.)

I was having beers with another guy and...We’re both Democrats, and we were both saying we figured we’d stay here until, you know, Texas decided to change on us. I’m not resigned yet, but I don’t feel very good about it. Watching this last election, and watching the final guardrails come off the system was not uplifting. And then, honestly, I think fellow Democrats’ refusal to really recognize how bad things are about to get is in its own way kind of depressing. Talking to a lot of people, and hearing them say, “Well, we didn’t do well in this election, we’ll keep coalition-building and hope for better in the future!” It’s like, we might be about to see public education as we know it not exist anymore—it feels like we ought to have more alarm bells ringing than we do.

Arizona GOP just voted unanimously to block Dem attempt to repeal the abortion law. And assholes like Joni Ernst going all in on supporting it, too: "I am a mom; I am a brand-new grandma. and I support life. Senate Republicans, the GOP, and President Trump really worked hard to overturn Roe v Wade. So, we returned that back to the states. That is the law of the land with that Supreme Court decision. So, the states are handling that. But again, we worked very hard to get this result." These goons can't help themselves. Very "he admit it!" meme.

How far away are we from one of these States just full on voting to say "Democrats can't have any say in government at all"?

Hi from Florida!

lol (but not really), I just meant even more openly and blatantly than the barely disguised ways they've been doing so far!

The situation in TN: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-04-05/tennessee-legislature-s-2024-session-is-a-lesson-in-extremist-politics

With a Republican governor and a supermajority in the state House and Senate, the party’s near-absolute control of the state allows lawmakers to pretend they are the patriarchs in a long-ago revolution. They act as if they need only listen to those who sound and look like them.

On a more personal level, two of my friends were on a Facebook thread today glumly talking about plans to leave the state with their kids because they don't want to bring them up surrounded by all this terrible shit.

I read those comments, tipsy. Grim.

Damn, that American Prospect piece.

Yeah, fucking bleak.

Another: “I also just finished a story about how domestic violence homicides are through the roof in Texas (even as overall homicide rates have declined), but we don’t have the infrastructure to really know how bad conditions have become. It turns out when you turn women into second-class citizens and make guns easily accessible, that doesn’t go well.”

Ha, I'm loving this new dance: The Arizona Squirm

“I oppose today’s ruling,” added Kari Lake, a Republican running to represent Arizona in the US Senate and a Donald Trump loyalist. Lake called on the state legislature to “come up with an immediate commonsense solution that Arizonans can support

“This is an earthquake that has never been seen in Arizona politics,” said Barrett Marson, a Republican consultant in Arizona, of the decision. “This will shake the ground under every Republican candidate, even those in safe legislative or congressional seats.”

omg they did it again. This feels like trolling at this point.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/10/us/politics/two-imperfect-messengers-take-on-abortion.html

https://i.imgur.com/ASnCh3D.png

truly, who among us is perfect

We need an abortionist president

Trump Modifies Abortion Messaging - and Why This is Bad for Biden

no offense to any NYC ilxors but I am hoping for another earthquake or meteor or something at this point

https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/2024/04/10/arizona-abortion-law-1864-william-claude-jones/

O.J. Simpson Dead, Bringing New Concerns About Biden

Until this second it never occurred to me that Biden might kill OJ, but now that you mention it, open the investigation now.

How long before Trump pays tribute

Just sayin', OJ was still alive under Trump ...

Tbf, OJ was definitely better off four years ago.

Trump scratching O.J. off of his Veep list

ten years ago we had hope, jobs, and OJ

I’d figure next GOP moves is to start bringing back indentured servitude laws from pre-1860 to start filling those open jobs they cannot fill.

That too cynical, they’ve only just started bringing back child labor.

...they should use child labor laws to fill those positions

Children building Teslas

It takes a village

it takes a pillage

Meanwhile, Jan. 6 penalties continue apace. This is one of my recent faves, a guy who must pay $32,000 to a German media company for destroying their equipment. Included in the evidence that led to the decision:

Haynes documented his activities in text messages he sent to associates. Alongside a photo
of himself standing in front of the debris, he wrote that “(w)e attacked the CNN reporters and the
fake news and destroyed tens of thousands of dollars of their video and television equipment here’s
a picture of me behind the pile we made out of it.”

lol

"Hey, come and take a picture of my crime, while I boast about it and provide further corroborrating detail."

The Supreme Court's third AND FINAL opinion of the day in Bissonnette v. LePage Bakeries. Per Roberts, a transportation worker need not work in the formal transportation industry to be exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act. It's unanimous! https://t.co/9XvyrzcuNi pic.twitter.com/RrDwfnsBOZ

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) April 12, 2024

Is that good, I genuinely do not know. I guess MJS is not expressing dismay at it.

He's got a follow up text calling it a victory for workers whose jobs involve transportation of goods

Amendment to Section 702 of FISA that would require the FBI to secure warrants before searching lawfully collected NSA foreign intelligence data for references to Americans, fell one vote short from passing.

FISA as a whole got extended for 2 years.

https://i.imgur.com/qekkh2S.png

lololol never change NYT

That's WaPo!

oh no, it's contagious

tasty hot dogs arrive at just the wrong time for hot dog vendor

I'd usually support clowning on these headlines, but I do think the economy is heading in a direction that will be a problem for Biden. Inflation is remaining stubbornly high, interest rates are too high, stocks recently peaked but are showing signs of shakiness. It might all improve but it might not.

rents have gone completely nuts for people. if they can even find a place to live that is decent since everyone wants to turn their rental into an air B&B. so high everywhere. and that's huge. as far as how people feel about the economy.

agreed

Yep, and mortgages are also impossible because rates are too high, you're basically gambling on the opportunity to refinance at some unknown point in the future.

I guess I don't understand that part, when we bought our house in 2001 it was 9%! now it's what, 5?

Also gas prices. My colleagues at work have been complaining about them lately so there’s a data point for you.

People paid double digit mortgage interest rates in the

Oh fudge..

I meant to conclude with: in the early 1980s. I’d be curious for a comparison between housing costs then and now, adjusted for inflation.

Avg rate for 30 year is around 7%, which is the highest it's been in over 20 years.

Sounds right, our first house (bought in 2003) I think had a 6% 15-year ARM. Mortgage rates have been practically nonexistent for a while now, or at least sub 3%. I think a lot of people got used to cheap money.

My parents bought my childhood home in 1980 with like a 16% mortgage rate, or something like that. Crazy.

yeah I think the problem is more about lagging wages than higher rates

mortgage rate is 7% right now for a 30 year mortgage.

oh didn't see moodles post

i think we pay...4% for our house? something like that. we bought it 12 years ago. 13 years ago. something like that.

same, except it was a refi, probably the same time period

The base problem isn't mortgage rates, but housing costs overall. Houses are too expensive, largely because near-zero interest rates have fueled the hoarding of houses as investments by the wealthy. The entire housing market has been badly warped by the refusal of Congress to supply sufficient spending stimulus after the financial crisis in 2008-09, leading the Fed to compensate via a give-away monetary policy of 'quantitative easing' combined with a zero interest rate.

The reason mortgage rates are a bigger political problem for Biden than the high cost of the house itself is mainly psychological. If you buy a house for $500,000 (that sold for $250,000 just a few years ago), the sales price feels like it equates to its intrinsic value, so you think you're getting $500,000 worth of house for your money. Paying a higher mortgage rate feel like money thrown into a bonfire.

there are very few rentals at any given time where i am and when there is they are 1500/2000 a month for 1br/2br and the pleasure of living in someone's converted attic or hundred year old duplex apartment. its too much. people don't make enough here. i would be so stressed if i had to find an apartment now where i live.

yeah same here, we are one of the worst rental markets in the country for our size

A realtor friend of ours broke some of it down like this:

-house prices got super high because those low interest rates allowed people to get more house for their money
-house prices remain super high in a lot of places because inventory is pretty low, which increases demand, despite the higher rates
-demand is being further inflated by millennials now settling down, starting families and buying homes, while at the same time boomers and retirees (because of those high prices) are sitting on their homes rather than downsizing (and freeing up inventory) because the value keeps going up (and yet, for the same reason, often not investing in upgrades, because the value of their properties is not linked to their condition)
-those relatively new to the job and housing market (Gen Z) face low inventory and high rates, making home ownership pretty unobtainable

I think those are some of the points she made.

I'd say that's an accurate description of our badly warped housing market.

hello from Miami!

-demand is being further inflated by millennials now settling down, starting families and buying homes, while at the same time boomers and retirees (because of those high prices) are sitting on their homes rather than downsizing (and freeing up inventory) because the value keeps going up (and yet, for the same reason, often not investing in upgrades, because the value of their properties is not linked to their condition)

Also because if you can't retire and move to Florida, there's no downgrading path to free up those houses. If you've still got to work there's nothing to buy in the same area if you sell your unnecessarily large raising a family house even if you want to get out from under the upkeep/property taxes.

Monthly rent in my area, even for older slightly tired apartment complexes, for the same type of dwelling unit with the same amenities, is frequently more than the mortgage my wife and I are paying for our condominium.

xxp my in-laws are doing exactly that. They have their second house just sitting on the market and are in no rush to sell until they get the amount they think it’s worth. It is completely impractical for them at their current health but they’re dead set at the moment.

Monthly rent in my area, even for older slightly tired apartment complexes, for the same type of dwelling unit with the same amenities, is frequently more than the mortgage my wife and I are paying for our condominium.

The average rent in Miami is about 150% higher than my mortgage

yeah, speaking of Florida, older people here in the east are not selling their house and getting that sweet condo in Boca. they can't afford to! so they sit in their big pile that is starting to fall apart and they don't fix it up because...they old? why bother? in the not that long ago past those people either moved down south, moved to a smaller place or condo, or died. now they live forever? which is nice. but there is nothing for people younger to buy. i mean, they own these houses. they can live in them forever. but there used to be some natural turnover in housing.

is that harsh? nothing against the olds. its not their fault. i'm sure they would rather be hanging at the beach playing pinochle.

i can't believe the prices here now. double. more than double. houses were so cheap. its nuts. its not exactly the lap of luxury here. it is for a certain kind of person though. someone who likes mud. and kombucha.

Houses are too expensive, largely because near-zero interest rates have fueled the hoarding of houses as investments by the wealthy.

This is a huge problem in Atlanta. These investment funds are pricing lower-income buyers out of the market. And, of course, rents are going up.

I looked up my house on Zillow and they have it estimated at nearly double what we bought it for. And even back then it was way too expensive for a house of its size.

My friend lost the midcentury bungalow she'd been renting for 15 years because a guy who was into commercial real estate came along and made cash offers to every house on her street - 2/3 sold out to him including her landlord. He slapped some paint on the houses, spruced up the yards and doubled rent.

is that harsh? nothing against the olds. its not their fault. i'm sure they would rather be hanging at the beach playing pinochle.

― scott seward, Saturday, April 13, 2024 4:44 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

boomers pretty much ransacked the country so you're not off the mark.

Here in Australia a series of boomer governments have devised and then protected a thing called "negative gearing" where if someone buys an investment property, all of the interest payments can be deducted from their taxable income. It is now a normal middle class thing for that generation to own 2 or 3 properties since it's so cheap to do that. I can't imagine why the Aus housing market is overinflated and undersupplied, and people under 40 have no chance of owning.
Also - after that generation aged past 55 which used to be the earliest age where you can access your retirement fund, they then jacked it up to 65 so that my generation stays in the workforce to pay boomer pensions and healthcare costs.

I think mortgage interest is tax deductible in the US too. Can't say for sure; I would never want to own a house.

it is!

It’s deductible to a point (along with property tax), the max amount was significant reduced several years ago and it sucks

Pretty sure here in the US you cannot deduct the interest payments on the mortgage for an investment property, unlike what seems to be the deal in Australia.

If you have enough money to own investment property, you're guaranteed to be running some kind of tax avoidance scam, or having your accountant run one on your behalf, so it all washes out.

the amt of shit locked down by investment properties and second+ homes is an atrocity

I'd think the amount of very rich buying houses both direct and via funds for rentals is a huge part of the housing crunch in the US. You also have the whole culture of house flipping that has run rampant for the dream to be more wealthy for a couple of decades. This in many markets with the VRBO and AirBNB taking lots of properties out of the pool for people who need to live somewhere adding to the problem. Another one that I think is rampant here is that the very rich own up huge partials of 'farm land' which don't really have to actually do that much rich farming and yet get a huge discount on their property tax bill.

The ultra rich that own all these gargantuan horse farms and bourbon businesses have to be laughing their asses off at the peons while they pay pennies on the dollar for their land in KY. No wonder the schools and services are shit across this state. I am sure this type of rich scum legal tax dodging is probably rampant everywhere in the US, even more so the redder the state.

Pretty sure here in the US you cannot deduct the interest payments on the mortgage for an investment property, unlike what seems to be the deal in Australia.

Yeah. The Aus difference is that if the property makes a loss, the loss comes off the individual’s taxable income - so you can borrow a massive proportion of the property cost more easily, so the market gets inflated.

You can deduct rental losses here too but not directly from other income. You have to carry it over and deduct it against future profits from the same property IIUC.

If you have enough money to own investment property, you're guaranteed to be running some kind of tax avoidance scam, or having your accountant run one on your behalf, so it all washes out.

Lol, or you just live in the Midwest.

Xp: Trump limited the SALT (state and local tax) deduction and mortgage interest deduction, which was a big impact in many higher tax blue states where even a middle income person can easily go over the new limit, especially if they own a home and pay property tax. The SALT limit is only $10,000 and property taxes alone can be higher than that even on a very modest house, not to mention any state or local income tax you might pay. Trump also lowered the mortgage interest deduction cap from $1m in debt to $750k in debt, which is still relatively high even in blue states. Families buying homes that are $800k plus in price are still usually pretty well off, even if not automatically the 1%. The SALT deduction is the bigger problem.

This interview with the author of the new book Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right may be of interest to some.

Thanks. A helluva read.

Totally unrelated, for those wondering where some politic poll numbers come from these days, check out this insanity (which imo affirms their uselessness):

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:iwjcgn5pt2krm2lmav2mdcyz/bafkreihsnod7tgv2sdpf5egtvbomyqd5jh7nbhadqdiqf2cvcv6h2zbd4u@jpeg

Yeah, I've pointed out the absurdity of that poll on Twitter. If you're getting a 1% response rate, just give up already.

About 28% of all U.S. homes with three or more bedrooms are owned by people between the ages of 60 and 78 living by themselves or with another adult, according to a Redfin analysis of 2022 census data. Millennials living with children own just 14% of these bigger homes. A recent Fannie Mae survey found that most Americans 60 and older don’t intend to ever move.

https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing/baby-boomers-big-homes-real-estate-inventory-3a047cb6

timely!

Boomers own half of all of the $32 trillion in home equity in the U.S., according to a Redfin analysis of Federal Reserve data.

I'd forgotten about Trump chipping away at the mortgage interest deduction. No wonder I've owed money the last couple years. Thanks, Trump!

Not a Boomer here but I guess I'm a part of the problem, as someone in the "owns, but can't afford to move" trap. Can't even afford much fixing, so I'm sitting here watching 86-year-old plumbing leak onto ancient carpets. Once the kids are out we can reassess.

I mean it’s kind of inevitable that people who have owned their homes longer are going to have most of the equity, especially with the way equity works in the typical fixed mortgage (you build very little in the first several years and it accelerates as you own longer)

Yeah, I've pointed out the absurdity of that poll on Twitter. If you're getting a 1% response rate, just give up already.

That's pretty much standard these days, isn't it? When NYT/Siena did those "real-time" polls in 2018, the response rate was even lower than that: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/upshot/elections-polls.html

The mortgage interest deduction also of course disproportionately benefits people with more valuable property, because their interest payments are higher. The first year after we bought our house (cheap, at low 2014 interest rates), I ran the math and it was hilarious how far it was from being worth closing. Never bothered since, we just take the standard deduction.

"The mortgage interest deduction also of course disproportionately benefits people with more valuable property, because their interest payments are higher."

I don't understand this post. It is not really true anymore.

the Trump "tax reform", while giving big tax breaks to corporations and the super rich, did away with mortgage interest and state and local income tax deductions beyond a limit of $10,000. As man alive said, that has had a big impact for even middle class folks in blue states

You’re confusing the mortgage interest deduction (allowed on interest on a principal up to 750,000, untouched by trump) and the SALT deduction on local sales and property taxes (capped at 10k by trump).

The mortgage interest deduction became less common to take under trump because he increased the standard deduction, which made itemizing less common. But the deduction is the same. All completely separate from the SALT cap changes.

Also many of us live modestly in very expensive places cause that’s where our jobs/family are. I may get the mortgage interest deduction yes, but I also live in a condo and will never be able to afford a detached home with a yard in this area.

xp, oh I see

In Ghostbusters, Dan Ackroyd gets a mortgage at 19% interest

The SALT changes disproportionately hit people in states with high income taxes, mostly blue states, it was a total partisan fuck-you. (People in my income-taxless state not affected.)

One part of the Trump tax bill I never saw fully explored: In addition to removing the SALT deduction and lowering the mortgage deduction cap, I think it raised the standard deduction.

Which should have reduced incentives for people to donate to charities and (yes) religious organizations.

But did that happen?

(Although thr mortgage thing was a partisan fuck you that hit me hard, on balance it wasn't bad policy)

xp that happened to us - bought our house in 2015 so we had a year or two of enjoying the SALT benefits before all that blue state middle fingering happened. It was hilarious to me because our republican congressman even took heat for voting for it.

The increase in the standard deduction did lessen the blow for some people. It’s now almost $28000 for married filing jointly. That said, it’s really easy for a family in the northeast or California to go over that in state and local taxes alone. Eg two experienced teachers making about $100k each could be paying around $12,000 in total state income tax and could easily have 18000 in property taxes on a small house. They can only deduct 10k out of that 30. Maybe they have 15k in mortgage interest and made 3000 in charitable contributions. That’s about equal to the standard deduction, they can deduct 28k. Under the old system they could deduct 48k. So you have to assume they’re losing thousands of dollars a year that they would have gotten in their rebates.

Fwiw lowering the salt cap also hurt a lot of rich homeowners in Texas because even though they pay not state income tax they pay surprisingly high property taxes.

Shame.

96% of a SALT cap repeal goes to the top 20%

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-dems-can-get-out-of-the-salt-mess-and-save-1-trillion-dollars/

... 18000 in property taxes on a small house ...

This would not be small house in LA/SF/SD, unless it's in a really desirable area. That's a $1.5M house, at least.

In my area that would be common for a $750k house, and if it was bought ten years ago it was probably bought for a lot less than that.

Top 20% is really not rich for a family, especially if you’re talking about nationally but the people live in a high COL state.

Fwiw lowering the salt cap also hurt a lot of rich homeowners in Texas because even though they pay not state income tax they pay surprisingly high property taxes.

It'll probably never actually happen, but Dan Patrick and other prominent Texas Republicans have floated the idea of abolishing (or at least greatly reducing) the property because of (quiet part) shit like that.

<PROPERTY TAX>

“only the little people pay taxes” — some .01% tax cheat

Top 20% is really not rich for a family

You’re adding ‘rich’ but it’s literally the upper quintile of incomes. The very least you can call that is “upper middle class” and beyond that 96% like 80% would go to the top 5%.

It was one of the most insane issue for liberals like Pelosi to obsess over. The only way to go further is to tie it to subsidies for Sub Zero refrigerators or something.

The salt cap decrease had a much smaller impact on CA than on like NJ or CT. One upside of its suicidal approach to property tax.

Jury selection begins today in Trump hush money trial, meanwhile in Trump documents case being presided over by Trump appointed federal judge Aileen Cannon-

Special counsel Smith urges Judge Cannon to reject Trump's latest bid for delay in classified docs case. "Each time the Court sets a new deadline in this case...the defendants reflexively ask for an adjournment. That must stop."

Good morning!

Here we go: Judge Merchan has entered the courtroom.

“Good morning, Mr Trump,” Merchan said after the lawyers introduced themselves.

— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) April 15, 2024

By all accounts jury selection could take days to weeks. Does Don-Don have to be there the whole time?

As a criminal defendant, Trump is required to attend proceedings each day of the trial unless he applies for a waiver.

But does that include jury selection?

It's part of the trial. Why would it be excluded?

The American people must decide…

again

kind of funny dynamic going on with things like this, the way rightwing media covers the Jan 6th stuff has apparently convinced the hardcore Trumpers that all these things are now traps laid by the FBI

A totally pathetic turnout of pro-Trump demonstrators outside the NYC courtroom. pic.twitter.com/aQrrdlR8cB

— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) April 15, 2024

lmao @ Google It

Apparently Trump stock (literal, not figurative) is already down another 16% today. Buy on the dip!

As someone who was almost seated on a murder trial last week (no joke, check the jury duty thread on here), I can very much confirm that a defendant does have to be there for jury selection.

yeah but he was the preznit!

lol so he has to sit there and stew. I love it.

How is he going to stop himself from attacking individual jurors?

It would probably benefit him to cause a mistrial
More delays

its a pretty funny situation because obviously he needs to be out there campaigning but he can't because finding people impartial to him is nearly impossible

it's not stopping him from denouncing the judge.

oh shit that guy with the huge fucking crucifix around his neck is a massive Trad Cath anti-Semite who tried marching with pro-Gaza protestors (and was rightly shunned by them).

its a pretty funny situation because obviously he needs to be out there campaigning but he can't because finding people impartial to him is nearly impossible

I thought the more campaigning he does in-person, the worse he has been polling

haha I wouldn't doubt it!

He's being widely ridiculed for his speech at/about Gettysburg, which has the vibe of an eighth-grader bullshitting their way through after reading exactly none of the material.

President Trump recounts Gettysburg as only he can. pic.twitter.com/dYW9a9PY5h

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) April 15, 2024

The audience laughter reminds me of when I watched the later desultory Zucker-Abraham-Zucker movies where I laughed because the scene coded as funny or because it's a ZAZ film and I'm supposed to laugh.

They're laughing because they don't give a shit, either.

the people at these rallies truly do not give a shit about the content, only the vibes

Alfred otm

Wait, was Robert E. Lee cancelled?

yah, he was dropped from his label. and he lost his under armour endorsement deal.

JUST IN: Prosecutors plan to ask for Trump to be held in contempt for attacking witnesses.

Earlier:https://t.co/Ts09OPjp9T pic.twitter.com/Rpb2RscJMK

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 15, 2024

xpost traded off of many Madden teams

Gettysburg was a battle of contrasts.

Prosecutor wants Trump to delete the posts on Truth Social — Apr 10 repost on Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, another post on Daniels and another post on Cohen — and be told that further violations will result in jail time.

— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) April 15, 2024

Don't Threaten Me with a Good Time!

Trump: "In the words of General Robert E. Lee, kiss my grits."

never fight uphill me boys

Looks like things are going to get … even more interesting, I suppose.

Hopefully we’re on our way to things getting boring.

The worst thing for this country ever was that the leading Confederates were not executed

(I know that was an extremely basic statement to make.)

Trump apparently snoozing during session this morning acc to Maggie Habes

Is he allowed to bring a MyPillow to court?

He brings in Lindell and uses him for a pillow.

rip

Haberman: Trump appeared to be asleep. His head would fall down… He didn’t pay attention to a note his lawyer passed him. His jaw kept falling on his chest and his mouth kept going slack. pic.twitter.com/Y9niQfZc3W

— Acyn (@Acyn) April 15, 2024

my fave direct quote: "Trump appears to be sleeping. His head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack."

Let's bore him to death

They suffer so:

Hello from court where this afternoon, we’re expecting the trial to actually start. We’re refreshed after lunch from the courthouse cafeteria, including their usual selection of plastic-wrapped cream-cheese bagels of questionable age.

The trick will be if Trump just eats one with the wrapping and falls asleep.

"it's bleu cheese, it's supposed to be blue"

Very low energy

Will he get botulism from three-day-old schmear

https://i.imgflip.com/8mv5tg.jpg

The pro-Trump crowd inside Collect Pond Park across the street from the courthouse dissipated as morning turned to afternoon. The crowd, which at its peak was around 150 people, has mostly left, with many pro-Trump protesters in MAGA and KAG (Keep America Great) hats sitting on benches in the shade. About six American flags (and one "Trump or Death" banner) are rippling in the gentle breeze.

When our union was saved by the immortal heroes at Gettysburg, Gettysburg, what an unbelievable battle that was, the battle of Gettysburg, what an unbelievable, I mean it was so much and so interesting, and so vicious and horrible and... so beautiful in so many different ways. It represented such a big portion of the success of this country. Gettysburg, wow... I go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to look and to watch, and uh, the statement of Robert E. Lee, who's no longer in favor, did you ever notice that? No longer in favor. "Never fight up hill o' me, boys, never fight uphill." They were fighting uphill, he said, "Wow..." That was a big mistake, he lost his great general, and uh, they were fighting --- "Never fight uphill 'o me, boys!" But it was too late.

versus

Four score and seven years ago - so many years. It's incredible. Think about that, it's just an incredible number of years - our fathers, and specifically my father, who was a great man, my father, he built a great company, and he brought forth on America... (applause) It's great, America. You know. (applause) America. A new nation, a great nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated - - - can you believe what they're saying in the media? The media, these guys, the worst guys I have ever seen. Just horrible. Horrible. And this new nation, we're gonna make it great again.

Folks, you know, we're engaged in a civil war. A civil war. Believe me. Crooked Hillary (crowd booing)... oh, my goodness. Crooked Hillary, she thinks America can't endure! (more boos) But you know, without the wall, no nation can endure, (applause) and we're gonna build the wall. (crowd chanting, 'Build the wall!') It's gonna happen and today we're on a battlefield. A great battlefield. I think - and you can ask people. People know this, that this is the greatest battlefield, of this war and maybe even the greatest battlefield of all time, and we're gonna measure that because I think this is a really terrific battlefield. We're about out of time so I'm gonna take a few questions and we're gonna make America great again.

― Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, August 17, 2016 2:50 PM bookmarkflaglink

Despot, The Insult Comic Bore

Wow.

"More than half of prospective jurors in the first panel of 96 people have been excused after saying they could not be fair and impartial. At least 50 were let go for that reason"

— per @GrahamKates in the press pool

— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) April 15, 2024

Fox News currently torn between mentioning Trump fell asleep at his trial or claiming he's actually woke

What’s the usual rate of excusal in that venue/court for that apparent that reason

It's a quick way to get out of serving on a long trial

What has his life been but a long trial. For everyone.

The third prospective juror, asked about her hobbies, said she likes to “go to the club.” She said it in a playful voice, prompting a big laugh from reporters in the overflow room.

"Never Fight A Pill!" for May Thread Title.

It's a beautiful day, so I walked to the library to pick up a cookbook (Jason Hammel's "Lula Cafe Cookbook"). On the way there I passed a man who looked like a Mormon missionary that had been out in the sun a bit too long. He smiled at me, so I smiled back, and then he held out a clipboard. I took out my earbuds (Big Star's "Radio City," literally timeless in that it never gets old) and asked him what's up. He asked me if I would sign a petition. "What's it for?" I asked. I could have sworn he subtly tilted the clipboard closer to him, to make it harder to read.

"I'm not asking for any money," he said.

"I get that," I said. "What's the petition for?"

And then I see the bold courier type at the top: "Robert Kennedy Jr." I tap the top of the clipboard, twice, hard. "No, not that guy."

The man visibly deflated and looked at me, desperate. "Third party?" he asked, with some exhaustion, as if those words alone would open some magical door.

"I'm fine with third parties," I said. "But I don't like his politics, and I don't like his anti-science beliefs." I saluted. "Good luck, Kennedy-guy." And then I walked off.

JUST SIGN THE FUCKING PETITION WILL YOU??

please clap

I hope you did a jump, with a heel click!

(More seriously, thank you.)

I mostly wanted to immediately wash my hands.

What would have been listening to when you were washing your hands?

Probably Big Star, "September Gurls" had just started by the time I got home.

lol

https://t.co/a12PUkIa4k pic.twitter.com/Swan4rIvjP

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 15, 2024

damn that's next level troll

Sleeping in court again?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfQFq8jMMsY

what kind of socialist hellhole is this that a man of mr. trump's stature is sitting in witch-hunt court instead of golfing at one of his country clubs?

jesus wept :(

Reclaim
Fucking
Klanland

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4595085-rfk-jr-trump-vp-2024-campaign/

Reclaim
Fucking
Klanland

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4595085-rfk-jr-trump-vp-2024-campaign🕸/

Hey, remember Madison Cawthorn? Asshole right-wing House member? Wheelchair? Well, apparently he rear-ended a cop in a fit of road rage today:

#breakingnew 🚨🚨Former Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorne who was tailgating me, just rear ended a FL State Trooper‼️ Im SHOOK 🤯😡😳 I was driving on i75S towards Miami in the left lane and this black tinted sports car was tailgating me relentlessly. I accelerated ahead… pic.twitter.com/IfS2EUg1oC

— Alethea⸆⸉ (@Women2Dc) April 15, 2024

If that tweet doesn't load for you, here's the text:

Former Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorne who was tailgating me, just rear ended a FL State Trooper‼️ Im SHOOK 🤯😡😳 I was driving on i75S towards Miami in the left lane and this black tinted sports car was tailgating me relentlessly. I accelerated ahead and moved to the right lane in front of a tractor trailer to let the car by. 5 mins later the highway comes to a complete stop, I swerve to the side so no one rear ends me and slow to a halt. Suddenly the car door opens and a man in a wheelchair rolls out. At the same moment I have to navigate around his car and I look ahead to see the officer exiting from his rear ended vehicle holding his neck in the left lane as well. I pulled over to the right shoulder lane and stopped to ask if everyone was ok and to offer assistance. I couldnt believe my eyes. It occured to me that former CONGRESSMAN CAWTHORNE from NC was the black CAR that stormed by me in an angry road rage tantrum. I spoke to the cop to see if he was ok as he was quite stunned & kept reaching for his neck. He said he was ok, asked if I was a witness, (I wasnt, I must have been 30 seconds behind) and I gave them water as i didnt know what else to do after he thanked me for stopping.

As I drove away & replayed the surreal scene in my head I realized it was the same car who was erratically & aggressively driving behind & then around me. Unbelievably scary & upsetting to see 🥺

(Happened at 4:32pm heading South on i75 towards Miami around the Big Cypress Reservation)

I was wondering what became of him (but not enough to google it)

And him being an asshole driver is about right.

His eyepatch didn't help.

That’s a jock strap

Florida Wheelchair Man

lol checking court records to see if he was cited

lol the Broward County clerk of court is supposedly "exceeding reCAPTCHA quota"

BREAKING: Clarence Thomas was in the car with Cawthorne, current whereabouts unknown

21st Century OJ & AC

do chaired ppl drive cars from their chairs, so can just roll out when you stop

Jeez, brilliant move:

I'd completely missed this new completely cynical alliance in the making https://t.co/IkJEVE99su

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 16, 2024

(Saying that about whoever coordinated it, not the guy saying it)

take the last train to schnecksville

"Genocide Joe" scans nicely with "Suicide Blonde."

Seeking leniency at sentencing, Jan 6 defendant Israel Easterday’s attorney argues Easterday “did not fully understand” the Confederate flag he carried amid mob. And he acknowledges Easterday deployed chemical spray at police

Yeah, they should totally show leniency, based on the legal premise of "my bad."

Over a year old but still lol: Capitol rioter's lawyer cites work as his 'family's primary cow milker' as proof he's not a threat.

https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-rioter-2659208256/

I have had two people today wonder aloud why traffic is so bad in lower manhattan and if there is an “event” so we’re all doomed is what im saying

“That’s TODAY?” They ask, amazed.

Well, we're the only nerds following this shit.

didn't realize the trial was gonna be around 6 weeks long and that Trump is required to stay for all of it...even if nothing comes of this that's pretty significant and is gonna turn him into more of a whiny bitch than he already is

and it allows the Biden campaign to keep attacking him

I don't even want to link it directly, but cool to see a sitting senator (Tom Cotton) openly advocating for vehicular manslaughter against protestors on X.

The coward went back and edited the tweet.

He's such a dick. Road rage by proxy. (Not that they needed the prompting, getting stuck in gridlock traffic and missing flights tends to raise the temperature even more than usual.)

lmao they're really gonna try to do this again

https://i.imgur.com/wUTjKAV.png

Maybe this time they will elect Trump Speaker, just so he has an excuse not to show up in court.

he'll be the Sleeper of the House

Serious question: is there any other point to removing another speaker besides a few members of congress drawing attention to themselves? It doesn’t seem like it’s helping anyone’s cause aside from that.

The point is these people dont want government to work at all, so anything they can do to make that happen is good

^^ otm

When they don't have power, the entire point is for them to grind things to a halt so they can screech to their base about the failed and ineffective Dems in power.

That's been the strategy since at least Dubya.

was it ken buck that recently said something like 'Give me one thing I can take to my voters, one thing that we've actually done?' and everybody just looked at their fingernails

The voters want the chaos too; it's why they elected these moron nihilists.

Republicans are as miserable as leftists and centrists are, their lives suck just as bad, they just have convinced themselves that these problems they have are caused by liberalism and not the policies they themselves voted for.

like the idiots who say things like "if you didn't have to pay Social Security/Medicare taxes, the money you saved would allow you to retire more comfortably and you'd be able to afford healthcare without insurance"

The voters want the chaos too; it's why they elected these moron nihilists.

.@RepThomasMassie promises there are MORE GOP votes to remove Mike Johnson now than there were with McCarthy.

And if Dems save him? “He goes further in the hole with Republicans. He becomes toxic to the conference. For every Democrat who comes to his aid he’ll lose 2-3 more Rs.”

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) April 16, 2024

Rep. Massie says he won’t trigger the motion to vacate but he’ll vote for it when it comes up. He’s “pretty certain” more Rs will vote to oust Johnson than McCarthy. “This will get called and he will lose the vote.”

“There’s no sustainable solution where Democrats save him.”

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) April 16, 2024

And why would they?

Hmm, what would happen, constitutionally, if half of congress just quit or died? Would nothing get done until they refilled their ranks?

Not sure I buy this. I’d guess that MAGA ppl want Trump to rise to power and all their political bad guys to be vanquished and pwned. That’s not the same thing as chaos.
― tobo73,

It's not zero-sum; it can be both. We can go back to 2010 where the NYT and other publications interviewed voters who wanted legislators to gum up the works.

xp - The constitution leaves it to the congress to devise the rules under which it operates, so it depends on what rules have been adopted. They can change.

fyi, usually at the start of each new congress the proposed rules are brought to the floor as the first order of business after electing a house speaker and a senate majority leader. The rules were drawn up by the Rules committees of each chamber and whichever party controls each chamber controls that committee and gets to tailor them to suit themselves.

So even if there were, say, 20 members of congress left, they could change the rules to say that 20 members of congress is all that is needed to pass laws?

The rules are always going to define a quorum, so (theoretically) if the membership of congress somehow fell to the point where a quorum was no longer possible, then voting on legislation would (theoretically) be suspended until a quorum was achieved. But I doubt this problem will ever arise outside of imagining it.

So if a congress, for example, constantly churned through speakers and barely participated in its constitutional duties, while wasting time on bullshit and theater, there's no remedy or way around it until the next election?

bingo!

I nominate myself for speaker

lmao

Biden says if Trump's Truth Social stock 'drops any lower he might do better under my tax plan than his'

— Danny Kemp (@dannyctkemp) April 16, 2024

oh snap

Relatedly, this is amazing.

"Spooning dogs" is exactly how I imagine Trump's sex life.

Not sure I buy this. I’d guess that MAGA ppl want Trump to rise to power and all their political bad guys to be vanquished and pwned. That’s not the same thing as chaos.

Not 'chaos' but an ineffectual federal government because the feds in their view only obstruct their goals. If you're the local car lot magnate, in your view the damn regulatin' feds can only stand in your way (and lock up your dear leader and possibly you if you didn't wear a mask on a certain day in January).

Up to 2016 Republican politicians could walk the line of capitalism needing structure and a functional state and their hooting masses of primary voters who played tapes of Reagan saying "I'm from the government and I'm here to help" to help them sleep but the hooting reactionaries got too much power.

xpost This probably explains that image:

And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
--Matthew 15:27

"Jesus Fed My Designer Dog"

Up the Irish:

The foreperson who was just selected — that’s juror one, the de facto leader of the group who will likely help steer deliberations — works in sales and enjoys the outdoors. He is originally from Ireland, but will help decide the former American president’s fate.

there's enough detail about that guy that his name will be published before end of day

My first thought was 'AI-generated comedy image'. But then I looked at the hands and must conclude that it was lovingly painted by a true believer.

yeah why are they publishing so much info

treating it like a game show

"Works in sales and enjoys the outdoors"
Swipes right

I read that New York law is not like other states in terms of juror privacy, so it can vary.

I was listening to a former AUSA who basically said all these jurors will be known to the public (if you look for it) within the next few days.

Quite a media diet:

The first six jurors have been selected for Trump's hush money trial.

The foreperson is a man originally from Ireland who now lives in West Harlem and works in sales. He gets his news from The New York Times, the Daily Mail, Fox News and MSNBC.

— Zach Schonfeld (@ZachASchonfeld) April 16, 2024

That sounds suspiciously like someone who wants to be on that jury.

"Good information on both sides ..."

Mr. Bothsides

Now I’m falling asleep
And I’m going to trial

Looks like they’ve got Matt Drudge on the jury

The amount of info provided re: each juror just to goose the engagement that poster gets is a great way to set up invalidating the entire trial to those in the losing side to bang on about

wtf kind of irish gets his news from the daily mail

kingfish otm, this is gonna be a mistrial and the fascist takeover will continue as intended

trump will be made speaker of the house and mike johnson's head will be put on the end of a stick and trump will declare all trials officially phony and very bad. end of movie.

If the Tarzan Yell Freedom!!!! Caucus bozos keep up their hijinks all through this election year they might manage to get themselves so widely hated by the nation at large that the Republicans lose control of the House.

it only takes, what, three seats lost? we can do it!

Thomas Massie is such a total ding dong. Between him and James Comer, they must have to use a bunch of sippy cups at House Ky GOP meetings.

Dems massively outraising Republicans. even in Texas (!) it's close. is this because a bunch of R donations are getting gobbled up by the Trump campaign or are they just not getting donors?

https://i.imgur.com/QE7Ovf8.jpeg

whoa @ Sherrod Brown's figures

Rick Perlstein was interviewed for a new PBS documentary on William F. Buckley, and he's not happy with the final product. (Surprising footnote: he's apparently a Henry Rollins fan!)

Great piece.

Made me want to know more about Willis Carto, who is only familiar to me as a reference (William Gibson named a character in Neuromancer after him).

Re: donations: you can’t get blood from a stone. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/01/trump-republican-small-donations-problems/

That Rick Perlstein post is nice, and matches up with Danny Bessner says in this conversation on “Time to Say Goodbye” last week, that American liberalism from the post-war onwards has to continually prop up respective reactionary types because it can’t function without some position or some cohort to be _against_.

"We need a functioning Republican Party."

we need a Republican Party and its convention needs to be held on NY Subway train tracks

all kinds of hilarity in the House Oversight committee today

Wow Raskin and Comer are going at it pic.twitter.com/JalLGlLiF4

— Acyn (@Acyn) April 17, 2024

Comer is like smooth(er) brained Newt

there's a bunch of other clips out there that are equally entertaining

it's wild, they're acting like 4th graders. but Raskin is right! they have nothing!

I recall a time when even the biggest fools in Congress knew enough not to act like three-year-olds throwing mashed potatoes at the dinner table.

re: fundraising...are actblue and the DNC doing a good job raising out of state funds for these contests? I've removed myself from every single dem mailing list so now I don't know how much they are pestering people.

Joe Biden emailed me this morning to tell me that he respects me

lol

I will say that I get at least 5-10 donation request texts per day

Easily 25 begging emails daily.

Instead of emails I get begging letters in my mailbox from the DNC and candidates in out-of-state races. After decades of thinking strategically about this stuff, we concentrate our donations on in-state candidates and measures, plus we give a bit to the Democratic party for our local county, which is chronically cash-starved, just to encourage the unpaid officers not to quit. We also regularly give small amounts to a wide variety of progressive/environmental organizations that do lobbying on the theory that swelling the ranks of their membership gives them better visibility and more clout.

But the biggest amounts we give go toward electing politicians who will be sympathetic to and cooperative with those organizations when they come around to lobby them, because it's they who will be sponsoring the necessary legislation and voting on public policy, which is the most critical step in the whole process.

I went through a phase where I was throwing very modest amounts of money around at smaller races. I started to get kind of cynical about the whole thing though, feeling like I was just tilting at windmills and giving money to consultants. I haven't given a dime for at least several years and my inbox is absolutely overflowing with emails that start out like "Man Alive, my son Bobby needs your help." And "Bobby" turns out to be running for Idaho state house or w/e

I gave some dough and wrote some postcards for swing seat candidates in Virginia last fall. Felt good when my adopted guy won.

The one out-of-state recipient I've indulged in repeatedly is throwing a sawbuck to Fair Fight in Georgia so they can battle on and GOTV. Every crack in the solid South must be prised. (<< a bit of a treat for the word mavens)

re: fundraising...are actblue and the DNC doing a good job raising out of state funds for these contests? I've removed myself from every single dem mailing list so now I don't know how much they are pestering people.

― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm),

Quite easily about five texts a day and countless emails. I've never seen anything like it.

I think I (somehow) managed to slay most of the email mailing list demons over the last couple years, but the texts seem to be multiplying

ok, well, it sounds like fundraising is working, despite it being annoying!

and it's hyperlocal too

Just got one!

Oh, for sure. If a deluge of political texts is the price I have to pay for Trump and his party taking a beating this year… then bring it on

hey ILX, it's....it's Joe.

Look, I know I said I wouldn't ask again....

I know, I know...you have every right to be mad at me.

I'M mad at me.

but....I have to ask.

can I get $5?

I know what you're thinking but it's important. I can't win without it.

I know I've said this before. but I won last time, didn't I?

look you don't even need it. it's $5. what were you going to do with that anyway?

....I mean can't you reuse diapers?

look...I promise if you give me $5 this time, this will be the last.

hey look....when your kid is grown up, and he's living in a totalitarian dictatorship, and he asks you how this happened...

are you going to be able to explain to him that you chose keeping your $5 over DEMOCRACY?

so think about it...it's either $5 now....or your life later.

“It’s Joe. Lemme hold a fiver”

I don't get any texts. I used to get a ton from campaigns in Wisconsin, for some reason, all addressed to someone named Eugene. But that was at my old phone number. My new Montana number remains invisible to scammers and beggars. I get an email or two a day from Jon Tester's campaign, and was getting others from other campaigns (Sherrod Brown, Tammy Baldwin) but I immediately hit unsubscribe on those.

This is the first year in a while I got texts for local races, usually I get hit up for out of state stuff.

The Tim Kaine emails are reaching my .co.uk account at the rate of three a day. The wheedling subject headers attached to alllllll of them create a frisson of delight when I hit delete.

wow I am feeling very lucky rn

My cell phone number is apparently listed somewhere under someone else's name - every election cycle I get so many texts from PACs that think I'm this other guy. It almost seems like an invasion of this dude's privacy because he has a very unique first name and the texts let me know what county he lives in. I keep telling them to lose my number but it never works.

Hey, ilx. It's James Carville.
I'm fucking terrified.

Neanderthal pretty much nails what these emails and texts actually read like, they sound insane to me but I guess it works