American Politics from 2019 on

[Cunt]

Or you can just check out their sources and draw your own conclusions.

Of course there's a risk to that. You might learn enough to realize how little you actually know. Some folks prefer to avoid that and preserve the illusion that they are knowledgeable.

Yes, I've seen a lot of that.

Led by media (sponsored by...um...??) lots of people say 'insurrection', long before any court cases did.

It's almost like they never wavered from their course after that initial 'behavioural nudging'.

[Tero]

The government is allowed to tax. The Trump tax cut had a buffer to keep some income being taxed. Income abroad. Now the Supreme Court is set to limit taxing powers. Because....how else can the millionaires help Thomas?
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/05/12168593 ... t-tax-code
The 2nd amendment is broad and grows and grows. The taxing amendment must be slashed.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixteen ... nstitution

[Tero]

Two of our local political science professors.

Hibbing and Theiss-Morse offers an answer to the question of why our elections always seem to turn on personality, voters' anger at Washington, and negative politics rather than actual questions of policy. They argue the answer is that voters really don't care about policy and that most American citizens simply don't want to be bothered. According to their findings--based on polls and focus groups--voters believe the game is rigged and politicians respond to special interests, rather than "ordinary" Americans. What voters want is not particularly a change in government policies so much as a change in processes--how decisions are reached. Voters perceive policy conflicts between political parties as more a clash of special interests than of genuine difference in policy.

https://www.amazon.com/Stealth-Democrac ... 126&sr=8-1

[Sean Hayden]

[Joe]

[Brian Peacock]

Very dry.

[Joe]

I wonder how he will serve America next. Veep candidate?

Former speaker Kevin McCarthy will retire from Congress at end of year

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who was ousted as the 55th House speaker in October after a revolt by hard-right members, will not seek reelection to his congressional seat and will retire at the end of the month, he announced Wednesday.

“I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways,” McCarthy said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. “I know my work is only getting started.”

McCarthy’s retirement will end a 17-year House career in which he rose quickly through the ranks of Republican leadership by using his affable nature to maintain relationships and keep obstructionists close, culminating with a nine-month stint as speaker. His ouster marked the first time in history that the House voted to remove its leader, a move that threw the chamber into a period of instability.

[Brian Peacock]

He'll probably be devoting himself to spending more quality time with his money.

[Joe]

Well, I heard Trump is looking for loyal people if he's elected, and Kevin grovels so nicely.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Could sit on a few corporate boards, or maybe move over to K Street. But Joe has a good point about his knack for groveling. It would be a shame if that went to waste.

[Tero]

Could sit on a few corporate boards, or maybe move over to K Street. But Joe has a good point about his knack for groveling. It would be a shame if that went to waste.

Too much pay, those boards. The best job for Kevin is to collect all those Trump notes that are torn up and tape them together. For the national archives. Or, if Trump demands, flush them down the toilet.

[Tero]

Young voters tending to vote democrat and independent. There may not be excitement for Biden, but "young republicans" seem to have faded away. The Democrats may do well overall in 2024. Abortion and all that.

LA Times (paywall)

[Sean Hayden]

Republicans have to sabotage Trump eventually, else they can’t get any other candidate in. Besides, you know they all hate him. Nobody wants to lose to that guy, or take orders for him. But they created the party in the public to support him, lol.

[Tero]

Not only that, they are stil stuck with Trump, 2024-2028, win or lose, jail or no jail.

[Tero]

Sometimes the poll answers are just wrong.