US Politics May 2019: " If I was burned at the stake, I would ask for a mirror"

You want a constitutional crisis, what happens if a state like CA or NY or whomever successfully manages to keep Trump off a presidential ballot if he doesn't release his tax returns (or whatever else they require of potential candidates)? Would that withstand legal scrutiny?

there's no legal requirement for a president to release their tax returns so no

Purely as a guess, I don't think that a state can compel a presidential candidate to release information that is regarded as private and privileged under all other circumstances. I'd guess that making ballot access contingent on releasing personal tax records would be struck down under the 'implied privacy rights' in the constitution, but I'd be interested in hearing the legal theory that would allow this.

given the deep love of implied privacy rights on the right wing of the court

never kid yourself that, if a precedent of a more liberal court suits the present right wing of the court, they'll give it big ups in their opinion, but try to narrow the application if they can.

er... don't kid yourself that they won't. (I probably shouldn't have gone for the double negative that time.)

all the Dems in CA need to do is tie up the lawsuit about tax returns in court until they say “sorry, ballots have been done for 2020 and it’s too late” a tactic Republicans use constantly to game elections

But Trump hasn't a prayer of winning CA anyway, so it would be a lot of work for nothing.

Lmao

Despite ridiculously loaded wording, the Harvard-Harris poll finds most Americans opt for "massive funding, taxation, and retooling of the American economy including eliminating the use of oil, coal, natural gas and all fossil fuels" to address climate change. pic.twitter.com/j8Xmi3hKzz

— Geoff Garin (@geoffgarin) May 4, 2019

Sitting in her office with its panoramic view of the National Mall, Ms. Pelosi — the de facto head of the Democratic Party until a presidential nominee is selected in 2020 — offered Democrats her “coldblooded” plan for decisively ridding themselves of Mr. Trump: Do not get dragged into a protracted impeachment bid that will ultimately get crushed in the Republican-controlled Senate, and do not risk alienating the moderate voters who flocked to the party in 2018 by drifting too far to the left.
“Own the center left, own the mainstream,” Ms. Pelosi, 79, said.
“Our passions were for health care, bigger paychecks, cleaner government — a simple message,” Ms. Pelosi said of the 40-seat Democratic pickup last year that resulted in her second ascent to the speakership. “We did not engage in some of the other exuberances that exist in our party” — a reference to some of the most ambitious plans advocated by the left wing of her party and some 2020 candidates, including “Medicare for all” and the Green New Deal, which she has declined to support.

Sitting in her office with its panoramic view of the National Mall, Ms. Pelosi — the de facto head of the Democratic Party until a presidential nominee is selected in 2020 — offered Democrats her “coldblooded” plan for decisively ridding themselves of Mr. Trump: Do not get dragged into a protracted impeachment bid that will ultimately get crushed in the Republican-controlled Senate, and do not risk alienating the moderate voters who flocked to the party in 2018 by drifting too far to the left.
“Own the center left, own the mainstream,” Ms. Pelosi, 79, said.
“Our passions were for health care, bigger paychecks, cleaner government — a simple message,” Ms. Pelosi said of the 40-seat Democratic pickup last year that resulted in her second ascent to the speakership. “We did not engage in some of the other exuberances that exist in our party” — a reference to some of the most ambitious plans advocated by the left wing of her party and some 2020 candidates, including “Medicare for all” and the Green New Deal, which she has declined to support.

Sitting in her office with its panoramic view of the National Mall, Ms. Pelosi — the de facto head of the Democratic Party until a presidential nominee is selected in 2020 — offered Democrats her “coldblooded” plan for decisively ridding themselves of Mr. Trump: Do not get dragged into a protracted impeachment bid that will ultimately get crushed in the Republican-controlled Senate, and do not risk alienating the moderate voters who flocked to the party in 2018 by drifting too far to the left.
“Own the center left, own the mainstream,” Ms. Pelosi, 79, said.
“Our passions were for health care, bigger paychecks, cleaner government — a simple message,” Ms. Pelosi said of the 40-seat Democratic pickup last year that resulted in her second ascent to the speakership. “We did not engage in some of the other exuberances that exist in our party” — a reference to some of the most ambitious plans advocated by the left wing of her party and some 2020 candidates, including “Medicare for all” and the Green New Deal, which she has declined to support.

I read it a few hours ago, giving her credit for "exuberances."

y'know if the entire GOP and like 92% of dems are so hellbent on full-on corporatocracy i feel like we should at least follow the private sector in one respect and implement some sort of enforced retirement policy

(age based, not "term limits" obv)

she's coldblooded aright

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7aShcmEksw

"own the centre" gtfo. look at what has happened to every centre-left party in the West. they've either radicalised or become irrelevant. "clean message" equates to "nothing too challenging" and that just ain't it chief

Good morning!

My God, flipping through the channels, Sebastian Gorka on Washington Journal right now, I'd forgetten this clown still existed tbh.

she's -- coldblooded, check it and see
got a fetish for the civility
come on nancy, you can do more than that
she's coldblooded, she's coldblooded

somehow this will immediately be dismissed and forgotten, but 400 ex-federal prosecutors signed off on a statement that:

Each of us believes that the conduct of President Trump described in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report would, in the case of any other person not covered by the Office of Legal Counsel policy against indicting a sitting President, result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice.

https://medium.com/@dojalumni/statement-by-former-federal-prosecutors-8ab7691c2aa1

deep state!

the obviously guilty man has been treated so unfairly by holding the one job in the entire world that prevents him from being indicted

we should give him a couple extra years on the job to make up for it

I'm sure it's an office that he will gracefully exit when his time comes.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/442222-trump-retweets-jerry-falwell-jr-suggesting-his-term-should-be-extended?amp

For a distracting little demented drama, I offer you the tale of crash and burn of the buff, bearded chief of staff of Tennessee's hard-right speaker of the house: https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/new-text-messages-detail-drug-use-vulgar-talk-by-speakers-chief-of-staff.

Among the things I love about this story:

-- The guy's name is Cade Cothren. CADE COTHREN. He's not real, he's a living Armie Hammer character.
-- One of the things that came out is a text exchange where Cothren is bragging to Casada that he "fucked (her) in the bathroom" at a restaurant, and Casada says "Only gone for 60 seconds ...R u a minute man???;)”, and Cothren writes back"Yes, I take after you. Like father like son."
-- Cothren bragged about doing coke in his office at the legislative building. Casada was one of the big champions of a bill to drug-test welfare recipients.

Anyway, it's quite a little spectacle.

"In this environment that we live in -- because we as conservatives are winning the intellectual battle -- I'm convinced that some liberal guy living with his mom-and-dad in their basement created this to frame my chief of staff," he told WWTN host Phil Valentine.

lol

always basements with these people. Who can afford a basement?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIy-X8-pEoU

https://www.npr.org/2019/05/07/720967513/trump-pardons-former-soldier-convicted-of-killing-iraqi-prisoner

the degree to which “conservative” accusations are astonishingly actually mere projection seems so consistent that if i was a cop investigating anything, i’d start every one with the conservative accuser. un-insightful non-shockah i guess. xp

Thing is, does it even matter anymore?

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/07/us/politics/donald-trump-taxes.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR3mUlnAba4ZzJiH2pBp5PQNeIVxp9dLC3ETMyZErX-_vZ27BpgkKEolEIQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_aOIm992qc

comments are an interesting exploration of how bubbled this kind of propaganda is; no one even knows or cares what the white house is saying anymore because it's all fucking trite nonsense!

Re that article, like, when the only entities that will “lend” to your are deutschebank and russian oligarchs and you are trying to pad your landing by grifting the fuck out of bk law and the remains of atlantic city, theres a good chance you were _ckmpletly fukd_,nyt. thx for the reminder gray lady.

"While The Times did not obtain the president’s actual tax returns, it received the information contained in the returns from someone who had legal access to it. The Times was then able to find matching results in the I.R.S. information on top earners — a publicly available database that each year comprises a one-third sampling of those taxpayers, with identifying details removed."

he was losing money but he was also a top earner? ?

"There is no 'political convenience' exception to the Constitution of the United States of America." fite!

Except, when there is. The three branches all operate according to whatever they want to happen and can make stick.

it's like they say u gotta lose money to earn money crüt

xp yeah i agree with you aimless. that's a warren quote from the hayes show today. i could only think "i think if there is one, i don't think this one should be one," but mainly because i see trump and his bros as actually v dangerous tho clownlike.

Real estate developers in the 1980’s & 1990’s, more than 30 years ago, were entitled to massive write offs and depreciation which would, if one was actively building, show losses and tax losses in almost all cases. Much was non monetary. Sometimes considered “tax shelter,” ......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2019

....you would get it by building, or even buying. You always wanted to show losses for tax purposes....almost all real estate developers did - and often re-negotiate with banks, it was sport. Additionally, the very old information put out is a highly inaccurate Fake News hit job!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2019

'yeah i committed tax fraud but everyone was doing it and anyway the story is all lies kthxbye'

It was sport? That seems like an unfortunate phrase to throw in there.

"for tax purposes"

He seems like an unfortunate person to exist xp

Why would someone want to be president of the government they disdain paying taxes to? Stupid

Because the scope of his thinking is limited to 'guess I'll take me another bite of that there sammich'.

Did anyone actually listen to McConnell’s recent senate speech (the “case closed” one)?

The way he actually speaks the words is incredibly evil. Mitch McConnell is an evil fuck. “They’re grieving. (Long pause). They’re grieving.” he says, describing the democrats

, which would, if one was actively building,