**** off donald trump

[tands]

Today, Republicans are expanding the deficit again with their big “tax reform” plan — a giveaway to the donor class of both parties — and are already starting to use deficit fear to argue for cuts in what they call “entitlements” — Medicare, Medicaid, and eventually Social Security, even though Social Security is self-funded.

Notice the use of deficit fear in the push for cuts to social programs.

To the extent that Democrats are willing to accept the obligation to “be responsible” — under an entirely big-donor definition of “responsibility” — those cuts will be agree to. (Big donors think it’s irresponsible to give money to anyone but them.)

3. The reality — Deficits aren’t dangerous at all until there’s a big spike in inflation, which is nowhere near happening and won’t be near happening for a generation, after which global climate chaos will make all economics discussions moot.

4. The reality — Government spending is good. It’s the way government puts money into the economy, making it possible for you and me to buy things.

So ask yourself: Do you want your government to shrink the money supply for no good reason, year after year after year, by running budget surpluses, or to grow the amount of money in the private sector, making more available for use by people like … you?

A budget surplus on the government side is a budget deficit on the economy’s side. Do you want the government to be taking money out of the economy each year, or putting money into it?

5. The reality — Everyone in DC knows these realities. That’s why both parties increase deficits when they want to spend on something they want, like war, and claim to fear deficits only when they don’t want to spend on something you want, like affordable health care, or free colleges. You know — to buy you nice things.

Consider: The trillions spent on this giveaway to the already-rich could have been given to college students in debt, or people stillunderwater in their mortgages since the Wall Street-created crash of 2008. What would be the effect of that reallocation of money? People who are struggling would spend it and grow the economy.

What’s the effect of giving money to the already-rich? They buy another chateau in France, or bid on the next Van Gogh that turns up at Sothebys. Or give it to their tax lawyers to send to the Bahamas.

more

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2017/12/gaius-publius-deficit-talk-trap-will-democrats-fall.html

 

[tands]

https://twitter.com/SusanofTexas/status/937899637607927808

https://twitter.com/bourgeoisalien/status/937759894681325571

 

[Rocinante]

It's depressing and the worst ever here. The right have completely taken over and have done nothing to even somewhat stop him (cause many share his viewpoint).
Now people are defending Nazis. Decent people are repeating his hateful rhetoric.
Our kids are watching and taking notes. As so are we. I will not forget those of you who stood beside him. You know who you are.  I am out there bi-weekly protesting.  I will not let my son see me stand idly by.  I can't believe this is where we are at. I am ashamed of my fellow countrymen.

 

[Andy Peters]

It's depressing and the worst ever here. The right have completely taken over and have done nothing to even somewhat stop him (cause many share his viewpoint).
Now people are defending Nazis. Decent people are repeating his hateful rhetoric

They are defending Nazis.
They are defending pedophiles.
They are defending the indefensible.

Our kids are watching and taking notes. As so are we. I will not forget those of you who stood beside him. You know who you are.  I am out there bi-weekly protesting.  I will not let my son see me stand idly by.  I can't believe this is where we are at. I am ashamed of my fellow countrymen.

Same here.

 

[JohnRoberts]

If external bad actors are trying to divide the country they appear to be making progress at least in some circles.

I look forward to more revelations (evidence) about sentiment manipulation via social media. Already some data out but more specific info to come.

Decades ago there was fear about subliminal advertising. These days the efforts to control the sheeple seems pretty overt and out in the open. Social media seems to amplify volatile trends (for better and worse).

I keep waiting for this to pass, but we may need to aggressively thwart at least those with bad intentions. Totalitarian rulers really do not like seeing a successful democracy (republic). It sets a bad example for their citizens to even know about. 

JR

 

[dmp]

internal bad actors are trying to divide and destroy the country. And it seems for the simple goal of endless greed. The very wealthy trying to add to their scorecard of immense wealth.

Somehow conservatives are putting the blame for Roy Moore on liberals. While Trump has endorsed Moore and the RNC has decided to financially back him, somehow it is the fault of Democrats? It seems to be a party of moral bankruptcy.

The economy isn't broken because corporations and the very wealthy have too high a tax rate. The economy is broken because the imbalance of power between labor and capital is so out of whack, wages have been nearly flat for 30 years.
90% of Americans work for wages, while 3% are in positions of power to raise prices and suppress wages as heads of business. This arbitrage has made the very wealthy much more wealthy over the past 30 years.
The economy isn't going to function well and grow when the gas has been pulled out of the system. Where does consumption come from? You can't drive down wages of the majority of Americans and expect the economy to grow.
Now that the budget starvation from tax cuts has wracked up a 20 trillion debt, Republicans are going to try to dismantle the government safety net.

 

[JohnRoberts]

It's just so fantastical to group people we've never met into some negative whatever it is..

It's called identity politics and all too many people are willing to join the fray. Ironically some of the same in media who declared moral superiority over others earlier, have been sucked under by the same cultural whirlpool.

As I predicted bad actors from both parties are dropping like flies... over the recent cultural pivot declaring some previously tolerated sexual behaviors as NOW unacceptable...  I still think Bill Cosby was the iconic patient zero, but in the long run it doesn't matter. 

Cleaning up this bad behavior is good thing once we get it sorted out, but will likely cause other unintended consequences in the meantime. Women who bumped into a glass ceiling before in high level business employment will find a new barrier to full engagement with male coworkers as potentially embarrassing situations are completely avoided, just in case. Forget about those after dinner drinks with the "boys" where networking and even mentoring can occur..

This cultural pivot is all good. These sexual predators didn't suddenly appear, so enjoy the freak show, as the turds float to the surface, but it is the nature for some to see every single event through a purely political filter.  The election was a year ago, and this kind of drama usually settles down in only days or weeks.

It sure is different this time and IMO not better.

JR

PS: How come the one day (in december) that I choose to fire up my hot air station to do some SMD rework is almost 80' outside.... 

PPS: I'm shocked, a breathless news report claimed that diet and exercise can reverse type II diabetes. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiHm7i-2vPXAhUF5IMKHW-KDKQQqQIIJSgAMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fsociety%2F2017%2Fdec%2F05%2Fradical-diet-can-reverse-type-2-diabetes-new-study-shows&usg=AOvVaw15F8R4HtO6cW0Bq0S_IMCG  I thought this was common knoweledge decades ago...

 

[Matador]

One can always choose to look at things from a different perspective given the information that's being provided I would guess. But why. The result is? Wisdom?

Hmmm...

As I predicted bad actors from both parties are dropping like flies... over the recent cultural pivot declaring some previously tolerated sexual behaviors as NOW unacceptable...  I still think Bill Cosby was the iconic patient zero, but in the long run it doesn't matter. 

Let's revisit this quote after we find out if Roy Moore wins in Alabama.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Hmmm...

Let's revisit this quote after we find out if Roy Moore wins in Alabama.

I have no interest in keeping score but plenty of news in this regard about misbehavior from both parties.

I only live one state over but voters in AL apparently consider democrats even worse than Moore.  : The republican party is apparently more interested in holding the senate seat than making a moral statement. Not necessarily a wise strategy outside Bama, or long term. If Moore gets elected and then removed (or resigns) after the election, the governor is likely to appoint a republican replacement. This may just be hardball political strategy to save the seat despite this ugly situation. The local voters appear unimpressed by all the arm waving. Turnout is usually low for such special elections.

It is interesting how quickly business, media, and entertainment sexual predators are dropped like a hot potato these days while politicians are (were?) allowed to use taxpayer money to pay off victims.  I suspect this using the people's money play in congress is up after being exposed to sunlight. Also congresspeople have an all too friendly form of self-investigation, that rarely comes down very hard if at all. I have long thought that politicians need to follow the same rules and laws we do.

Stay tuned, I'm sure more poop will squeeze out.

JR

 

[user 37518]

Now people are defending Nazis. Decent people are repeating his hateful rhetoric.

Looks like Godwin's Law is true.

 

[hodad]

I have no interest in keeping score but plenty of news in this regard about misbehavior from both parties.
JR

So other than Larry Craig (who made the mistake of having a thing for dudes), what recent republican pol has been felled by sexual misconduct?  You might count Diaper Dave Vitter, but he actually won re-election at least once after that scandal came out.  There was a conservative rep in Tennessee who paid for his girlfriend's abortion & still won re-election.  There's Trump, and maybe soon to be Roy Moore. 

Media figures are a different story.  Whether you're Fox or MSNBC, ad dollars matter--and most advertisers are less concerned with politics than they are with having their product associated with a tainted commodity--be it Bill Cosby or Bill O'Reilly. 

So even if you're talking about someone like O'Reilly, the folks deciding his fate aren't coming from a place of partisanship--it's about money, image, PR, etc.  If it were up to the partisans who watch Fox "News," he'd likely still be there. 

But Trump's audience, and Moore's, is highly partisan.  And outside of a few sensible voices on the right, no one in their audience is telling them to get off the stage.  So while we might be seeing a cultural shift, it's having almost no impact on conservative culture. 

 

[tands]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ejga4kJUts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLfEpTnyJx0

 

[JohnRoberts]

Looks like Godwin's Law is true.

It's a law....    8)

JR

[edit-  coincidentally last week in Chicago the subject of nazism and comparison to hitler was made artfully but unmistakably by 44.

Noting the wave of nativist mistrust and unease that has recently swept around the world, Obama warned the audience against complacency in the current moment, adding, "We have to tend this garden of democracy or else things could fall apart quickly."

That's what happened in Germany in the 1930s, which despite the democracy of the Weimar Republic and centuries of high-level cultural and scientific achievements, Adolf Hitler rose to dominate. "Sixty million people died," Obama noted, "so, you've got to pay attention. And vote."

 

[tands]

If the shoe fits. There are actual nazis, it's not just a bunch of slack jawed yokels like in Godwin's day. Most of them look like this guy, though, so there's that.

 

[tands]

I only live one state over but voters in AL apparently consider democrats even worse than Moore.  :

Must be a lot of them.

 

[Andy Peters]

If the shoe fits. There are actual nazis, it's not just a bunch of slack jawed yokels like in Godwin's day.

Mike Godwin is very much alive.

 

[tands]

Mike Godwin is very much alive.

Sure, but his 'law' is now irrelevant, since there are actual nazis. It's just something for them to hide behind at this point. If his law was ever anything more than an internet chotchke, that day has passed.

Godwin commented on the Nazi and fascist comparisons being made by several articles on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying: "If you're thoughtful about it and show some real awareness of history, go ahead and refer to Hitler when you talk about Trump. Or any other politician." On August 13, 2017, Godwin made similar remarks on social networking websites Facebook and Twitter with respect to the two previous days' Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, endorsing and encouraging efforts to compare its alt-right organizers to Nazis.

;D

Godwin's law itself can be abused as a distraction, diversion or even as censorship, fallaciously miscasting an opponent's argument as hyperbole when the comparisons made by the argument are actually appropriate. Similar criticisms of the "law" (or "at least the distorted version which purports to prohibit all comparisons to German crimes") have been made by the American lawyer, journalist, and author Glenn Greenwald.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

Now people are defending Nazis.

They are defending Nazis.
They are defending pedophiles.
They are defending the indefensible.

Looks like Godwin's Law is true.

It's a law....    8)

JR

 

[tands]

The next resident of the united states. Chickenshit reps call the police.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVS9XU1qMq8

 

[tands]

I'm sorry if you're uncomfortable, scott2000.

 

[JohnRoberts]

play nice children....

JR