American Politics Thread 2013: I'm a cool Rodham grandma in the USA

amazing how the republicans can lie us into iraq but the democrats have problems enacting romneycare

have we talked about this rather interesting development

Eejay Dionne and David Brooks make for a most loathsome twosome on NPR on Fridays.

Mike Lee (GOP Sen from Utah) apparently also getting a primary challenge from the "center"

Lee’s favorable rating has dropped 10 percentage points since a June Brigham Young University poll, which doesn’t skew liberal. More than half of Utah voters see him unfavorably; 57 percent said he should be more willing to compromise. In a separate survey, a majority of Utah voters now disapprove of the Tea Party’s influence.

Like Amash, Lee will be challenged from his left. Josh Romney and Dan Liljenquist are waiting in the wings. If Lee survives that primary contest, there’s an excellent chance that Democratic Representative Jim Matheson -- who’s been gerrymandered into unwinnable districts twice but still wins -- could win a statewide race in the reddest state in the country.

amazing how the republicans can lie us into iraq but the democrats have problems enacting romneycare

― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, October 15, 2013 12:41 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i would just like to make a point re the meme that obama/romneycare was a republican idea - its literally true but its not really true, the concept thought up by a republican think tank just so that republicans would have an idea to propose when arguing against democrat socialized healthcare to make them seem like reasonable people who really wanted to insure everyone

as a whole they had no intention of actually passing it, a few stray moderate members aside, in reality they were always opposed to any government program that gave more people access to healthcare

romney didnt understand that cause he was never part of the conservative movement really, he was just just a weird mormon businessman stuck up in taxachusetts, a relic, he actually thought passing romneycare would help his national chances, lmao what a rube

that is interesting! xps: the amash thing. he's probably the most interesting of the tp/libertarian types running around now. apparently explains every single vote he takes on his fb page.

Justin Amash
October 9
[Vote from July 24, 2013]

I voted no on H R 2397, Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The bill spends $28 billion more than the current post-sequester level for FY 2013 and violates the spending caps in the Budget Control Act (the 2011 debt ceiling deal) for FY 2014 by nearly $45 billion. It funds wasteful projects, reinforces the unconstitutional indefinite detention policies that threaten Americans on U.S. soil, and continues to allow the unconstitutional bulk, suspicionless collection of Americans' telephone records.

Contrary to popular assertions, military spending has been higher under Pres. Obama than under Pres. Bush. To be credible on deficit reduction, Congress must begin making reforms to military spending, which is the federal government's second largest expenditure and nearly equal to the military spending of the rest of the world combined. When Congress passes bills like this one, no one should take Congress's commitment to reining in deficits—or protecting individual rights—seriously.

It passed 315-109.

i have a pet theory that high military spending is a major contributor to a lot of our problems, because it consists of government spending that most people dont see any tangible result for, which leads to the reasonable conclusion that taxes are bullshit that dont do anyone any good and the government is super wasteful

I wish I could put Jim Matheson and Jon Huntsman into a "sit or start" calculator, just like I do with my fantasy wide receivers.

but god forbid anyone actually vote "against the veterans" when most of the money is going to a black ops bomber that never gets produced

id like to thank the brave people in my feed who RT the wingnut memes of the day, i dont have the stomach to actually follow this stuff but its educational to get some idea of what theyre currently up to

Love Of Freedom ‏@Love0fFreedom 24 Mar 12
If #obama Legalizes 50 Million Muslims We Are Dead! They Will Kill Us! They Despise Us Just As He Does! #DeportMuslims
Retweeted by Ann Boobus

it's like a junior high cafeteria over in john birch society land

apparently explains every single vote he takes on his fb page.

This is astounding, I had no idea.

There's no limit to the crazy in Kent Cty, MI, I'm sorry to say. That's a deep, deep well.

no to shill for the guy but it is fascinating reading

https://www.facebook.com/repjustinamash

lol @ "glenn greenwood"

pparently explains every single vote he takes on his fb page.

This is astounding, I had no idea.

― Tottenham Heelspur (in orbit), Tuesday, October 15, 2013 1:29 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah thats cool as hell

Sharon Burkett Johnson Voting you out next opportunity, what are you doing to get the government back to work?

someone should post on his wall to keep up the good fight, we'll be greeted as liberators once we default

I doubt default's gonna happen - I'm sure that what's happening right now is just Boehner counting votes to see if he will retain the speakership after putting the Senate bill (or some version of it) to a floor vote without GOP majority support

ive thought all along that there was only a slim possibility of default, but its still extremely dangerous as the results of default are so dire, and if we keep playing this game of chicken over and over eventually that slim possibility will get its day

tear the band-aid off IMO and get it over with now; that way either we will tank the world now and can actually start rebuilding something better/more sustainable or we'll find out that we are an impervious megalith that the world will never hold accountable and we can then start King Konging smaller nations with impunity

ha no plz

this is actually solvable

i have a pet theory that high military spending is a major contributor to a lot of our problems, because it consists of government spending that most people dont see any tangible result for,

It's not even that there is no tangible result, it's that it's effectively throwing your money away. Missiles, bombs, etc. are physical products that cost a lot of money (relative to US median household income) and are BLOWN UP. Literally destroyed.

You could talk about gains in 'protecting our interests abroad' and making the world safer for a free market, but surely all of that is negated by blowback and maintained by a black market that stays strong and current as long as we insist on producing newer and newer weapons.

Apparently, just nudging up against default last time ended up with the US paying an additional $1.3B in higher interest on outstanding loans.

Over a billion dollars, down the toilet.

I think we should leave future generations an interesting challenge to overcome, it will build character

remember a couple years ago when it became OBVIOUS there was a consensus to decrease the Pentagon budget under Obama? I lol'd then.

hey as long as the capital gains tax rate stays low it's all good

It's not even that there is no tangible result, it's that it's effectively throwing your money away. Missiles, bombs, etc. are physical products that cost a lot of money (relative to US median household income) and are BLOWN UP. Literally destroyed.

You could talk about gains in 'protecting our interests abroad' and making the world safer for a free market, but surely all of that is negated by blowback and maintained by a black market that stays strong and current as long as we insist on producing newer and newer weapons.

― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, October 15, 2013 1:56 PM (9 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah i mean a military is def an extremely valuable and worthwhile thing to have from an economic standpoint, ours is just ten times more expensive than necessary and theres really no return on investment after a while, its prob as you said even counterproductive at some point as we tend to use it to kill poor brown people on the other side of the world just cause we might as well drop all those bombs

remember a couple years ago when it became OBVIOUS there was a consensus to decrease the Pentagon budget under Obama? I lol'd then.

― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, October 15, 2013 1:59 PM (49 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

fwiw it has been cut some

obvs a drop in the bucket but still

a *real* cut? First I've heard of this.

i like chait's rumor ~ the house passes a take-it-or-leave-it draconian CR, then skips town . . . daring obama to pay the hostage-takers or default

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/10/boehner-to-decide-whether-to-blow-up-world-now.html

that'll show the kenyan!

well i mean it depends on how you look at it xp

but its progress in the context of 60 years of escalating military spending

overspending on the military is a congressional problem as much or more than an executive one. cf the sad saga of secretary gates trying to kill off the hideously expensive and underperforming f-35 jet.

this "vote then skip town" rumor is scaring me a bit

they are certainly diablolical

Who is spreading this rumor?

i am, i guess

And the prez ses he won't do Fourteenth Amendment magic.

http://plainblogaboutpolitics.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-brilliant-leave-town-option.html

the thing as i think weve discussed is there is no real magic option, trillion dollar coin or whatever, as its mostly about legitimacy market confidence and whatnot

i mean while were talkin crazy 80s SNL-star comedy-style outcomes, if the GOP tries to leave the air traffic controllers could just stop working, its not like theyre getting paid rn

http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2013/10/14/the-default-has-already-begun/

^ sums up my view on things

yeah thats a good piece

who would have thought the dollar would fall apart because of a republican dine-and-dash routine?

default happens thursday, right? and the only chance of avoiding it is if house accepts whatever the senate proposes last minute?

pretty much. that'll teach america to vote for a black guy!