The General 'Murican Politics Thread

[Chili Dawg]

Democrats, quick! While he's listening! Ask him to resign! 

[Tani Coyote]

Just now, Chili Dawg said:

Democrats, quick! While he's listening! Ask him to resign! 

Now now, hang on a moment.

Pence is actually a veteran politician and could quickly get things in order. Trump is chaotic, but that at least means he sometimes does the right thing by accident on top of the many things he does wrong.

Plus, let's think long-term: the way Trump is going and given his personality, I'm expecting he'll opt to run as a third party candidate (especially if the hardline right decide to dump him in the primaries; remember that Trump refused to endorse the eventual GOP nominee if it wasn't him for a long while). He'll split the GOP and deliver the Democrats an easy victory in 2020 if he does so. Bonus points if he teams up with right or centrist hopefuls and splits the GOP vote for Congressional seats too, giving more of those to the Democrats way ahead of the 2022 redistricted seats.

It's never happened before, but Trump is good at giving us surprises.

[KHCast]

I mean id rather someone guaranteed to be predictable and competent than unpredictable, and if there was a shot at getting Trump out, most I think will go with that despite him trying to save face lately. Now that's not to say Pence of all people would be the best choice as a replacement, they're all shit, but under different circumstances, there's really no justififcation to keep trump if there was a more moderate republican behind him. I'm not gonna optimistically keep the guy around cause /sometimes/ he out of nowhere accidentally does a decent move. Are you gonna keep your house renovator around despite him destroying most of your house because he got that one section of the living room and kitchen down well?

That being said, I'm loving how he's fucking over the Republican Party right now, and pissing off even his own supporters. Even if the guy went back to pandering them, he's now deemed a risk to trust from both sides.

[AlphaRuby]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41275614

That's two missiles fired from North Korea over Japan in one month.

If this keeps happening, I dread to think what's gonna happen.

[I do not acknowledge.]

22 minutes ago, dwibs93 said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41275614

That's two missiles fired from North Korea over Japan in one month.

If this keeps happening, I dread to think what's gonna happen.

War is coming.

[Candescence]

1 hour ago, dwibs93 said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41275614

That's two missiles fired from North Korea over Japan in one month.

If this keeps happening, I dread to think what's gonna happen.

I'm not sure what NK is trying to do here. Their enemies are not gonna shoot first, that'll just get China involved, whereas China will stay out of it if NK shoots first.

Though, I also wouldn't be surprised if China decides to just quickly move in and annex North Korea to prevent a flood of refugees across the border and to stop this nonsense once and for all. While they need a buffer between them and US-allied Korea, NK is increasingly becoming more of a headache, and China's current president is much less fond of them than his predecessor.

[Tani Coyote]

Reading the #AmnestyDon and #BurnMyMAGAHat trends on Twitter. It's... well. Entertaining. I can't lie. After seeing him propped up as some nationalist savior after his election victory, it's amusing to see a lot of those same people slamming him and setting their hats on fire 10 months later.

Now the question is whether the memories will stick or not.

I can only hope this costs the GOP votes in the midterms, with a lot of apathetic conservative voters deciding to stay home.

That or maybe we'll get something surreal like Trump's base calling for his impeachment in the hopes of getting Pence in there.

Though that should of course prompt the Democrats to backpedal away from impeachment, because it's gotten to a point he's doing more damage to the GOP than he's worth.

13 hours ago, KHCast said:

I mean id rather someone guaranteed to be predictable and competent than unpredictable

Pence is predictable and competent, but he's also evil.

Trump's evil is at least mitigated by his stupidity, lack of tact, and the occasional chance he makes a good decision.

[KHCast]

13 hours ago, KHCast said:

Now that's not to say Pence of all people would be the best choice as a replacement, they're all shit, but under different circumstances, there's really no justififcation to keep trump if there was a more moderate republican behind him.

*ahem*

[Tani Coyote]

3 minutes ago, KHCast said:

*ahem*

The original post qualified Pence as a reason to oppose Trump's resignation so it's awkward to bring in the "any other circumstances" bit, because I was arguing he needs to stay in to preempt Pence from having power.

Though are there honestly any other circumstances, realistically? Any establishment Republican waiting in the wings probably is bad news for minorities.

[KHCast]

http://trib.al/WaL4eS2

An interesting study was conducted regarding White peoples views towards nep-nazis, and the study seems to show that there may be some overlap between an average white person against neo-nazis, and the Nazi's themselves regarding the views shared. Many believe white culture is under attack, condem groups like BLM, and prefer not to get into arguments regarding extreme views or stand up to open bigoted values being spouted

http://www.newnownext.com/michigan-house-passed-bill-allowing-emts-to-refuse-treatment-to-gay-people/12/2014/?fb_ref=fbshare_web

Michagan has passed a bill allowing EMT's to refuse treatment of LGBT people.

http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-aid-20170911-story.html

And Mexico has taken back their offer to help the US and Harvey victims, to focus on their own problems. Trumps constant animosity towards Mexico and his lack of sympathy for the tragic events that hit them, probably didn't help 

[Tani Coyote]

Good news is it still has to pass the state Senate and Governor. Arizona's right wing Governor vetoed a similar bill a while back.

Doubly good news is that the Supreme Court is taking up a religious liberty case over the next year, and they will hopefully settle this issue. Kennedy and Roberts are both swingy on LGBT votes.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3440/

The DREAM Act is up to 199 of 218 votes needed to pass in the House. All 195 Democrats are behind it, with 4 Republicans. 2 of them gave support on the 13th, so it's possible more will trickle in over the coming days.

The bipartisanship is much broader in the Senate on the bill, even if it's only 10 Senators so far.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/14/politics/chuck-schumer-senate-donald-trump/index.html

Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, was caught on mic saying Trump likes him, and that he advised Trump it was good to be able to step left or right so as to govern.

Given the dysfunction GOP-only initiatives have shown, Trump "gets" what Schumer told him, it seems.

Given the promise bipartisan policies are showing over one party policies this term, that's not surprising. Even if it's for the sake of his own ego, Trump knows that behind closed doors, it's best to court the Democratic votes.

It's also establishing goodwill between Trump and the Democrats, who are likely to see increased power after next year. Trump might not put up a fuss renominating Garland to the Supreme Court, for example, if it means there will be serious Democratic cooperation.,

[Dizcrybe]

15 hours ago, KHCast said:

http://trib.al/WaL4eS2

An interesting study was conducted regarding White peoples views towards nep-nazis, and the study seems to show that there may be some overlap between an average white person against neo-nazis, and the Nazi's themselves regarding the views shared. Many believe white culture is under attack, condem groups like BLM, and prefer not to get into arguments regarding extreme views or stand up to open bigoted values being spouted

Hardly surprising. It's easy to denounce neo-nazis because their inherent racism is overt. The sentiment behind "America should be a nation exclusively for white people" is obvious, but "white people are under attack" sounds just valid enough that any implied racism can be plausibly denied. That's why you can have someone that claims BLM is a hate group and can also claim they're not racist and have most of the country believe them.

On a semi-related note, the fact that you can't even say "black lives matter" without being called a hate group is exactly why we need BLM in the first place. Every time some idiot claims BLM is a hate group, they only further validate their existence.

[KHCast]

Should also be noted that around the same percentage of people against BLM were also against groups like Antifa. Kinda makes you wonder where these people would stand during the civil rights era, or women's rights or gay rights movements from back in the day 

[Dizcrybe]

So remember when Trump decided to pull out of the Paris Agreement? "jk lol", says he.

Quote

NEW YORK—Trump administration officials said Saturday the U.S. wouldn’t pull out of the Paris Agreement, offering to re-engage in the international deal to fight climate change, according to the European Union’s top energy official.

The shift from President Donald Trump’s decision in June to withdraw to renegotiate the landmark accord or craft a new deal came during a meeting of more than 30 ministers led by Canada, China and the European Union in Montreal.

“The U.S. has stated that they will not renegotiate the Paris accord, but they will try to review the terms on which they could be engaged under this agreement,” European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete said. 

"Review the terms" doesn't fill me with much hope, though...

[SSF1991]

This administration flip-flops more than a soccer player faking an injury.

[Tani Coyote]

Wonder what put him up to it.

In light of the apparently strengthening Trump-Democrat alliance, I can't help but think Schumer and Pelosi had a hand in this.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/16/politics/trump-paris-climate-deal/index.html

The comments have been clarified by saying the USA will still withdraw if it isn't able to negotiate better terms, though.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/virginia/articles/2017-09-16/northam-builds-cash-edge-on-gillespie-in-governors-race

Meanwhile, in Virginia, the Democratic candidate for Governor has gained an enormous fundraising edge. He's gone from behind his GOP opponent by $1.5 million to $3 million ahead.

Here's hoping he spends that money across a wide area so as to help Democrats retake the state's Lower House. If Democrats can take that, they're in a good position to pass the Medicaid expansion; they'd just need one Republican vote in the Senate.

5 hours ago, SSF1991 said:

This administration flip-flops more than a soccer player faking an injury.

That's why there's a website called President Flip Flops that literally sells flip flops with opposing Trump tweets on them.

[Chili Dawg]

"Can we part of the Agreement and melt the ice caps anyway?"

"um... no"

"Well screw you guys, I'm goin' home!"

[8ther]

 

[Tani Coyote]

9 hours ago, CD Sanic said:

 

Recap:

Trump's cut over 860 regulations, covering such things as how much flame-retardant material mattresses require, how many species are on the endangered species list, restrictions on dumping chemicals in bodies of water, construction site protections, etc.

All to save money that is probably equal to less than what he's costing the Secret Service with his brandbuilding vacations and his family's business trips.

[Tani Coyote]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/17/politics/rex-tillerson-cuba/index.html

Trump is considering shutting down the Cuban embassy once again, according to Secretary of State Tillerson.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/17/politics/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton/index.html

Bernie Sanders has gone on the record rebuffing Clinton's accusation that he cost her the election, noting how he campaigned for her after she was nominated and also noting the many Clinton primary voters who backed McCain in the general election in 2008.

At the same time, Bernie has gone on the offensive against Republican critics who are smearing him over tax raises. He pointed out conservative critics "conveniently" forget that Bernie's plan also gets rid of the premiums people are already paying.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/17/politics/hr-mcmaster-new-travel-ban/index.html

The Trump administration is considering a second, expanded travel ban hot on the heels of the current ban, whose legality will be ruled on next month. The main focus of an expanded ban is to limit internet access to terrorist cells. Currently it's being floated that a traveler's social media and phone would be investigated before they can gain access to the USA. I personally am expecting Trump to try for expanding this domestically, which will run into far more constitutional issues.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/17/politics/republicans-not-done-obamacare/index.html

The Senate GOP is expecting to try and put together another Obamacare repeal bill over the next two weeks, so as to take advantage of still being able to use a reconciliation vote. The new bill's provisions are a repeal of the individual and employer mandates, and a replacement of the Medicaid expansion with block grants to the states at a set amount of per Medicaid enrollee. It's up to the states how to spend the money received (which would be less than what they get under the Medicaid expansion). McConnell has stated he will put the bill to a vote if they think they have the votes.

It's already running into hurdles, however, as conservatives like Rand Paul have gone against it, and it's uncertain how the moderate trifecta of Collins, Murkowski, and McCain would vote.

Then, even if it passes the Senate, it will have to go to the House, where the Freedom Caucus would no doubt end up sinking it due to the government spending provisions and continued protection for pre-existing conditions.

More worrisome, if this bill gains traction, it could sink bipartisan efforts in the House and Senate to stabilize the healthcare market.

[KHCast]

Just when Trump starts to get some level(like barely even qualifiable) decency, he pulls shit like this. Congrats Trump, you just can't get people to say good things about you even when you do genuine good 

[Tani Coyote]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/19/politics/obamacare-repeal-is-back/index.html

Further details on the Cassidy-Graham last minute repeal bill.

While insurers will still be required to cover everyone, people can be charged more based on medical history.

The bill will defund Planned Parenthood for one year.

The bill will allow states to institute a work requirement for Medicaid.

While Arizona's Governor has come out in favor of this bill (much like the previous bills), McCain is not entirely convinced. He dislikes how this bill hasn't gone through a committee, etc.

Given McCain's apparent liking of decorum that motivated him both to open debate on the bill and then swiftly vote against it on the floor, that's a strong sign he may once again join with Democrats to crush this bill.

As for Murkowski and Collins? They're Planned Parenthood defenders and concerned about money for their constituents. While the GOP wants to try and work on them, they have an uphill battle.

The bill is terrible and there's reason to believe we might once again get 49-51, but let's not hold our breath just yet.

[Tani Coyote]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/11/politics/senate-transgender-trump-military/index.html

Senators Collins and Gillibrand have put forth a bipartisan proposal to overturn Trump's transgender military ban as part of next week's vote on the NDAA (the defense budget).

Sadly, it needs 60 votes to pass, so even if Collins, Murkowski, and McCain vote for it, it won't pass.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/19/politics/trump-support-young-college-educated/index.html

Trump's numbers continue to slip among educated and younger Republicans, which is fueling speculation Kasich would be in a good position to challenge him in a primary.

This would be even moreso if the next Obamacare repeal falls through, as Kasich's most noteworthy break with the GOP is on the subject of healthcare: Kasich's on the record for saying that if he had to choose, he'd declare healthcare a right rather than a commodity.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/18/politics/lisa-murkowski-alaska-obamacare/index.html

Pressure is on Murkowski to back the repeal bill, but given Alaska stands to receive less federal money under the bill and Murkowski's consistent defense of Planned Parenthood, she's a likely no.

Rand Paul has enormous disdain for the legislation due to the fact it keeps many Obamacare rules in place, but he might sign on to it on the basis of going to the House for committee, where he'd be in a position to negotiate for a more conservative bill. Of course, a more conservative bill is likely to push moderate Republicans away from it when it comes down to a final vote.

[Tani Coyote]

If you needed any reason to oppose Cassidy-Graham, here it is.

The plan basically cuts federal funding from states that chose to expand Medicaid and redistributes funding to those who didn't.

Noteworthy: Cassidy-Graham is actually the Cassidy-Graham-Heller-Johnson bill. Senator Heller is from Nevada, one of the states adversely affected by this bill. The same goes for Cassidy, who is from Louisiana.

Overall though, almost every state loses out under Cassidy-Graham except for the reddest states, plus Wisconsin and Virginia. All Senators should be confronted with the fact they are ripping money away from constituents for the benefit of a few states.

[KHCast]

Yeah the blatant hypocrisy by society flipping their shit at a black person voicing their opinion kinda pisses me off. Though I mean it's espn, who regularly show their conservative angle, and given how republican and conservatives make up the larger group of fans regarding sports like football, shouldn't surprise me at people pissing blood at someone that's  a part of their world bursting their bubble and discussing politics. (Though never see much blood being pissed when athletes or anchors their go and post conservative based views. *sips tea*) this same thing happened with Kaepernick.

No what really pisses me off is how is how the president and his group went out and condemned her for expressing her view. Which is in her right. Also which they are not supposed to do. It's why obama never called anyone out specifically that called him a Muslim.