US Politics, April 2018: Getting more dangerous (looks like moo vaughn's dreams are coming true)

he is so fucking stupid

The Postal Service recorded a net loss of $5.6 billion in 2016, which it blamed on employee health-care costs.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/12/29/trump-calls-for-u-s-postal-service-to-raise-amazons-shipping-rates/

he’s mad because he’s mad about the washington post reporting honestly on him. little dictator wannabe.

He is really the laziest troll in the world.

also from that piece

One of the Postal Service's biggest immediate obstacles to raising prices might be Trump. That's because the body that sets postal rates, the nine-member Postal Service Board of Governors, has only two serving members and lacks a quorum to make decisions. The board cannot raise rates without Trump nominating political appointees to fill the remaining slots, O'Rourke said.

“There is a level at which government operates that elected officials sometimes don't fully grasp,” O'Rourke said. “And this is true whether you're talking about USPS, the State Department or Interior. There are people four and five levels down who make the government of the United States work every day.”

I have no clue what these amazon USPS tweets mean. Does amazon have some sort of deal with the usps?

― Yerac, Tuesday, April 3, 2018 7:13 PM (eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The notion is that the USPS - a long-time anti-government right-wing bugbear championed in part by long-term GOP bigwig Fred Smith of FedEx - relies upon Amazon's business for its continued relative solvency.

xp also this from last week

https://www.axios.com/trump-regulation-amazon-facebook-646c642c-a2d7-454b-a9a9-cdc6e4eaef2c.html

Behind the president's thinking: Trump's wealthy friends tell him Amazon is destroying their businesses. His real estate buddies tell him — and he agrees — that Amazon is killing shopping malls and brick-and-mortar retailers.

Trump tells people Amazon has gotten a free ride from taxpayers and cushy treatment from the U.S. Postal Service.
“The whole post office thing, that's very much a perception he has,” another source said. “It's been explained to him in multiple meetings that his perception is inaccurate and that the post office actually makes a ton of money from Amazon."
Axios' Ina Fried notes: The Postal Service actually added delivery on Sunday in some cities because Amazon made it worthwhile.
Trump also pays close attention to the Amazon founder's ownership of The Washington Post, which the president views as Bezos’ political weapon.

the idea that the post office should be a money making business and not infrastructure is so noxious

I think its also unfortunately prevalent which is why it's in danger elsewhere around the globe.
Would be great if it was universally recognised to be infrastructure i.e. a necessity.

the idea that *everything* should be a money making business is just the republican mindset, unfortunately

USPS is an A+ w33d and w33d product delivery system

at least for us out here in NJ

Everything could be a money making business once you remove any sort of benefit for the people who work there.

Xpost, ah this explains why I was getting packages on Sundays.

Money is the currency of American activity

My understanding is that the post office would probably be profitable had the GOP not passed some vindictive law several years back requiring them to pay down pensions before banking anything, which makes it impossible for the post office to make any money.

USPS is an A+ w33d and w33d product delivery system

― (•̪●) (carne asada), Tuesday, April 3, 2018 3:37 PM (thirty-six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

at least for us out here in NJ

― (•̪●) (carne asada), Tuesday, April 3, 2018 3:37 PM (thirty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

really? everything i read freaks me out too much to try it

i know a lot of ppl who mail weedstuff successfully here in denver and don't even know if there's a way to get 'caught' but i wouldn't do it myself either, i dunno

Some people call me Maurice because I speak of the posse comitatus of love

My understanding is that the post office would probably be profitable had the GOP not passed some vindictive law several years back requiring them to pay down pensions before banking anything, which makes it impossible for the post office to make any money.

Yup. This was a W crime that frequently gets lost in the shuffle with all the other W crimes.

xposts but: my understanding is that the mail inspectors need a warrant to open priority or first class mail; media mail can be inspected at any time.
if the usps thought you were mailing fentanyl and kilos of coke, i think they'd probably involve themselves, but for an oz of weeb or whatever, i doubt it.

Yeah I just have my buddy in California send me stuff but it's all for personal use not weight.

he is so fucking stupid

― maura, Tuesday, April 3, 2018 2:17 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the military should be moved from (west) coastal Blue sates to enforce the border while the wall is built

The military is already based primarily in Red states, and this represents a big part of the Federal subsidy to red state economies. Of roughly 34 domestic based Army BCTs, only 2 at Ft Drum, NY and 2 at Schofield Barracks, HI are in blue states. Of the Marines, similar numbers (~4 brigades) are stationed at Camp Pendleton, CA. I wouldn't be surprised if only 200k of the 1300k Armed forces are stationed in blue states.

^ also 2 Army BCTs at Fort Lewis, WA.

Trump is a total butthole if u ask me

it looks that way now but give him another 6.5 years

Yeah sorry I flew off the handle there

personally I like his style

my (possibly) endangered congressman, one of the few in a Clinton-won district, wants Pruitt out:

Major policy differences aside, @EPAScottPruitt‘s corruption scandals are an embarrassment to the Administration, and his conduct is grossly disrespectful to American taxpayers. It's time for him to resign or for @POTUS to dismiss him. https://t.co/gXWLDffqam

— Rep. Carlos Curbelo (@RepCurbelo) April 3, 2018

I wouldn't be surprised if only 200k of the 1300k Armed forces are stationed in blue states.

well then you'd be fucking surprised

https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/dwp/rest/download?fileName=DMDC_Website_Location_Report_1709.xlsx&groupName=milRegionCountry

Hawaii = 36,620
California = 128,373
Illinois = 20,567
Maryland = 28,888
New York = 20,588
Virginia = 89,303
Washington = 45,343

and that's barely even trying, a quick wikipedia search and some cherry picking off the public spreadsheet used as a citation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooth-to-tail_ratio is a good short read on why using combat brigades as a metric doesn't tell the story very accurately

If there's one thing the military and Congress agree on, it's spreading those sweet defense dollars into as many districts as possible. It's a marriage made in heaven.

NASA and DOE run the same game

I mean -- I lived in upstate NY from '82 to '85 because my dad was stationed as the commanding officer at a Navy base. Some couple of hundred miles from the ocean. A sub training base. I did have to wonder who finessed that.

what a lousy #NeverTrumpist he turned out to be!

Here's the story. HE'S NOT A TARGET. That's the story. Period. Yes, he could theoretically become a target. But he's been at it seven months and Trump. Isn't. A. Target.

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) April 4, 2018

Interesting thread to chew over

LINT (short thread). The most interesting part of this piece is the revelation that Mueller wants to write a report on this, "to answer the public's questions." Remember that under the Special Counsel regulations, Mueller doesn't have the authority to produce a public report.

— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) April 4, 2018

THREAD: What does today’s news that Trump is a “subject” of Mueller’s investigation but not a “target” mean? (Short answer: Not as much as it seems at first glance.)

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) April 4, 2018

xp El Tomboto: 200k surprisingly works pretty well for active duty Army + Marines. Blue states: 201882, Red states: 335092. For active duty (not incl coast guard), its Blue states: 395892, Red states: 582440. The actual disparity in deployable maneuver units is a bit greater, as blue state numbers are considerably inflated by administrative/support personnel in VA and MD.

At any rate, if detachments are sent to guard the border (a terrible idea for readiness, and possibly not legal without congressional authorization due to the Posse Comitatus act), I expect they'll mostly come from ground maneuver units stationed at the big posts in TX, NC, GA, KY, SC, KS. The ones stationed in CA, HI, & WA are "first echelon" troops for Pacific Command and so I imagine would be reserved for Korea contingencies.

when he says military doesn’t he mean natl guard?

apparently, yes

He doesn't know that tho

it seems today's key immigration tweet was "CRIME!"

Nixonian law-and-order paranoia reduced to one syllable. US politics reduced to its core.

Be pretty impressive if his only lasting achievement is tanking the economy. He'll probably argue that the market was overinflated and needed to be corrected. Trump is like the laxative to the market's constipation.

Not to doubt Trump's ability to tank the economy, but these charts I've been seeing comparing the stick market under Trump vs Obama are pretty dumb. Obama came into office just as the market was bottoming out. Trump's first year comes at the end of a very long bull market. The market moves under those conditions are not particularly surprising and have little to do with the president, although Trump's foolish trade wars are helping speed up the inevitable decline.

For some reason ILX isn't letting me embed tweets today, but this gem from this morning deserves preservation:

When you’re already $500 Billion DOWN, you can’t lose!

As Jeet Heer (yeah, I know) said, "That's the sort of logic that leads you to bankrupt a casino."

For some reason ILX isn't letting me embed tweets today

wow a blessed day

really sounds like something out of bitcoin.txt

Whomp whomp

NEW: On the same day the Stone wrote the email saying that he dined with Assange, he also said he spoke that day to Trump and that "devastating" Wikileaks were coming on Clinton.https://t.co/dKmB50gEwA

— andrew kaczynski🤔 (@KFILE) April 4, 2018

yeah but her emails!

A) this is never going to actually happen.
B) idea that US withdraw from some imperial incursion will "likely benefit enemy X" is a rightwing talking point and has been for decades. It's good and healthy liberals are using it. pic.twitter.com/zdpB2Pu0SN

— Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) April 4, 2018