US Politics Thread

[Bob Long]

8 minutes ago, Sabrefan1 said:

 

That's one of the things sinking Kamala.  She won't say how her policies will differ from Biden's in that regard.  For food prices, she's threatened to prosecute companies.  Suing companies, or even heavily regulating them if you go that route instead, doesn't lower prices.  It raises them.

 

 

 

The 80's is when I was learning the political system.  Leaders back then were chosen to face down the bogeyman that was the USSR.  The crappy jobs they all did domestically still reverberate to this day.

 

Actually Mulroney did a pretty good job but we can discuss that over the the canpoli thread if you like.

[Cranston]

1 hour ago, -dlc- said:

 

Ridiculous.

 

After he slammed her for once having worked at McDonalds....now he's trying to BE her? To join the crowd of normal people who, yes, held jobs when they were young.

 

What a turd. He needed to be handheld through the very difficult task of....taking fries from the fryer to the warmer and salting them.

 

Yet some want him to be in charge of a country. 

He didn't slam her for working at McDonald's but yeah, why would these idiots not drill him on those baskets beforehand. He's old and it's dangerous, he handled it as expected, but that's not good enough they should be smarter.

 

[Sabrefan1]

4 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

Actually Mulroney did a pretty good job but we can discuss that over the the canpoli thread if you like.

 

I was talking about Ronny and his UK girlfriend.  My only issue with Mulroney is that he kept the train on the raw materials track and never took Canada off of the raw materials economy.  I think it's borderline criminal that Canada never became a powerhouse producer of finished goods. 

 

The 80's was when the high tech infrastructure economy tracks were being lain down.  There's no reason why Canada couldn't have had it's own silicon valley.

[Bob Long]

Just now, Sabrefan1 said:

 

I was talking about Ronny and his UK girlfriend.  My only issue with Mulroney is that he kept the train on the raw materials track and never took Canada off of the raw materials economy.  I think it's borderline criminal that Canada never became a powerhouse producer of finished goods. 

 

The 80's was when the high tech infrastructure economy tracks were being lain down.  There's no reason why Canada couldn't have had it's own silicon valley.

 

It was bandwidth imo. Changing our tax system and bringing in free trade took up all the oxygen.

 

But yep we should have far more manufacturing support that we do, but we have a real us vs them mentality up here when it comes to properly supporting new business. 

 

We seem to prefer to spin our ideas out from r&d for you guys to buy for pennies.

 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

While I might've called Mulroney "Brian Baloney", when the chips were down, he put the country first ahead of his party.  I had to give him a fair bit of respect for that.

 

(re: his help as an envoy in revised free trade deals & any time his advice/help was asked by the Liberals)

 

Would anybody under MAGA do that?  Nope.

[Cranston]

31 minutes ago, Sabrefan1 said:

 

I was talking about Ronny and his UK girlfriend.  My only issue with Mulroney is that he kept the train on the raw materials track and never took Canada off of the raw materials economy.  I think it's borderline criminal that Canada never became a powerhouse producer of finished goods. 

 

The 80's was when the high tech infrastructure economy tracks were being lain down.  There's no reason why Canada couldn't have had it's own silicon valley.

Oh god, no we cannot compete on finished goods. Not being in those industries is smart. We are a rich (barely now), low density, low population country that has been waylaid by this fantasy forever. Mulroney kept our umbilical chord attached to the US and drove up our national debt. He was the worst.

Edited 21 hours ago by Cranston

[Cranston]

Facts. There is no other legit reason.

 

 

[Bob Long]

27 minutes ago, Cranston said:

Oh god, no we cannot compete on finished goods. Not being in those industries is smart. We are a rich (barely now), low density, low population country that has been waylaid by this fantasy forever. Mulroney kept our umbilical chord attached to the US and drove up our national debt. He was the worst.

 

We compete on "finished goods" all the time champ.

[Bob Long]

31 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

While I might've called Mulroney "Brian Baloney", when the chips were down, he put the country first ahead of his party.  I had to give him a fair bit of respect for that.

 

(re: his help as an envoy in revised free trade deals & any time his advice/help was asked by the Liberals)

 

Would anybody under MAGA do that?  Nope.

 

Different political animals today. Now it's social conservatism that drives the right. 

[4petesake]

16 minutes ago, Cranston said:

Facts. There is no other legit reason.

 

 

 

Once again your facts lie. Yes there is another reason, well actually only one reason and that has nothing whatsoever to do with voter id.

 

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2024/10/23/arizona-days-count-votes-blame-early-ballots/75813194007/

 

 

You can thank Donald Trump for that, as he has made Republicans suspicious of drop boxes and mailboxes.

The result is that you can expect upwards of 400,000 early ballots to be dropped off at the polls on Nov. 5.

 

Quote

The election conspiracy crowd and assorted professional grifters are revving their engines over Maricopa County’s announcement on Tuesday that it’ll take 10-13 days to count all the ballots.

“Election Emergency!” Info Wars’ Alex Jones blared out to his millions of followers. “Desperate Democrats Are Using The Same 2020 Playbook In An Attempt To Steal The Election AGAIN As Maricopa County Announces It Will Take 13 Days To Decide Election! Must-Watch/Share Alex Jones Broadcast!”

Actually, Maricopa County is run by Republicans, who may or may not be desperate — though if they are, it’s the sort of desperation that comes with trying in vain to counter gossip and outright disinformation that kooks like Jones send out to their millions of devoted followers.

Still, don’t let me interrupt a good case of social media hysterics.

It always takes days to count ballots

“India with a population of over 1 billion can do it in a single night,” one Trump supporter complained. “Why are Americans allowing this again from Arizona? Georgia will be next.”

 

“Our system is broken,” Elon Musk grumped.

“There is no good reason we can count votes in 1 night. Like the good ole days,” conservative commentator Gunther Eagleman wrote.

The good old days, as in 2018 or 2012 when it took 14 days to count all the ballots in Maricopa County?

Or 2008, when it took 17 days?

 

For the last two decades, it’s taken an average of 13 days to count ballots in Maricopa County. And to answer Mr. Eagleman, there is one very good reason why the county can’t count all the votes in one night.

Don't like it? Blame Arizona's early ballot law

In Arizona, state law allows early ballots to be dropped off at the polls until the polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day, and by law, those ballots cannot be touched on election night.

Instead, the process of verifying signatures, then opening those ballots and counting them, begins the morning after the election. Voters whose signatures are suspect then are contacted and have five days to “cure” their ballots.

 

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer proposed cutting off early ballotingseveral days before the election, as is done in Florida, but the Arizona Legislature declined to make the change.

A decade ago, nobody really noticed that it took so long to count all the ballots because elections were rarely close.

“Back in the day, Arizona was pretty solidly red,” Jennifer Liewer, spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Elections Department, told me. “But when you have a third of the electorate independent, you don’t really know how they’re going to vote. That is the most critical piece.”

Early ballots returned ahead of Election Day are verified and counted, with the results released at 8 p.m. on election night. All votes cast at the polls are counted and the results are released that evening.

County officials are asking to mail ballots early

But then there are those early ballots returned on Election Day. According to Liewer, for every voter who shows up to vote in person on Election Day, 1.2 early ballots are dropped off.

You can thank Donald Trump for that, as he has made Republicans suspicious of drop boxes and mailboxes.

The result is that you can expect upwards of 400,000 early ballots to be dropped off at the polls on Nov. 5.

 

Maybe you recall 2020, when Joe Biden won Arizona by just 10,457 votes?

Maricopa County held a press conference on Tuesday to ask voters to either get those early ballots in the mail or plan to vote in person on Election Day so that their votes can be quickly tabulated rather than dropping off an early ballot.

County officials also warned that, as usual, it’ll take 10 to 13 days to count all the ballots.

 

[Cranston]

6 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

We compete on "finished goods" all the time champ.

Compete effectively. How's that.

[Bob Long]

Just now, Cranston said:

Compete effectively. How's that.

 

Still stupid.

[Cranston]

1 minute ago, Bob Long said:

 

Still stupid.

What's your shining example of a Canadian finished goods business.

[Bob Long]

Just now, Cranston said:

What's your shining example of a Canadian finished goods business.

 

Do your homework.

 

https://cme-mec.ca/

 

 

[Cranston]

1 minute ago, Bob Long said:

 

Do your homework.

 

https://cme-mec.ca/

 

 

Answer my question.

[Bob Long]

Just now, Cranston said:

Answer my question.

 

I did. It's all there. You really need to educate yourself on our manufacturing base.

 

Or just keep blathering. Dealers choice.

 

[bishopshodan]

Navalny's wife is on The View right now.

 

Pretty cool woman.

 

Her message to the US before their election...." you still have a great democracy, dont take it for granted"

[Sabrefan1]

1 hour ago, Cranston said:

Oh god, no we cannot compete on finished goods. Not being in those industries is smart. We are a rich (barely now), low density, low population country that has been waylaid by this fantasy forever. Mulroney kept our umbilical chord attached to the US and drove up our national debt. He was the worst.

 

Canada could have taken in a plethora of immigrants to do it's labor decades ago.  Hell, it could have started in the summer of 1867 for that matter.  Immigrant labor could have help build Canada up and then the transition to a high tech producer would have become a natural evolution in the 1980's.

 

It's one thing that I harp on occasionally.  It's frustrating knowing what Canada could have become but never did for various reasons. 

 

Oh well.  The majority of Canadians are happy with the current state of it's affairs, so I guess that's what matters the most.  It doesn't need a foreigner b*tching about missed opportunities.

[NewbieCanuckFan]

5 minutes ago, Sabrefan1 said:

 

Oh well.  The majority of Canadians are happy with the current state of it's affairs, so I guess that's what matters the most.  It doesn't need a foreigner b*tching about missed opportunities.

We need Cancun Cruz to return to the homeland & save us.

 

 

[Grocery Stick]

Not sure if the following comments belong here or in the CanPol thread but here goes.

 

withe polls indicating a 50/50 chance of the Repugs gaining the presidency and senate, as a Canadian I fear at least two potential outcomes:

- imposition of tariffs on Cdn exports. With 75% of our trade going to the states this could have a material impact on our economy. I don’t feel any comfort with having the USMCA in place as theoretically it protects us, but Trump could install tariffs which would then be active until any resolution mechanism in USMCA is resolved, and that could take years. Witness the ongoing softwood issue.

 

- crackdown on illegal immigrants and threats of deportation. If the number of current illegals in the US is 10 million (just a guess) I would suspect a percentage of those would bolt north the Canada. A potential border crisis would erupt here. I see no preparations we are taking in the event of this scenario, nor do I know what we would do. Maybe build a wall and have Trump pay for it?

 

Fun times.

[Bob Long]

39 minutes ago, bishopshodan said:

Navalny's wife is on The View right now.

 

Pretty cool woman.

 

Her message to the US before their election...." you still have a great democracy, dont take it for granted"

 

Too late I think for that message.

 

And you are watching The View? Oh dude.

 

 

 

 

 

/S

[Bob Long]

3 minutes ago, Grocery Stick said:

Not sure if the following comments belong here or in the CanPol thread but here goes.

 

withe polls indicating a 50/50 chance of the Repugs gaining the presidency and senate, as a Canadian I fear at least two potential outcomes:

- imposition of tariffs on Cdn exports. With 75% of our trade going to the states this could have a material impact on our economy. I don’t feel any comfort with having the USMCA in place as theoretically it protects us, but Trump could install tariffs which would then be active until any resolution mechanism in USMCA is resolved, and that could take years. Witness the ongoing softwood issue.

 

You need to remember that we are the most important trade partner for 35 states. 

 

Yes trump might try another stupid metal tariff on us but that actually made us money last time.

 

Republican governors don't want Canadian tariffs.

 

Trudeau has also been developing a lot of new trade relations, particularly in the Pacific.

 

It might sting initially but we will be ok.

 

 

3 minutes ago, Grocery Stick said:

- crackdown on illegal immigrants and threats of deportation. If the number of current illegals in the US is 10 million (just a guess) I would suspect a percentage of those would bolt north the Canada. A potential border crisis would erupt here. I see no preparations we are taking in the event of this scenario, nor do I know what we would do. Maybe build a wall and have Trump pay for it?

 

Fun times.

 

I'm not concerned here either, Skippy will just have to deport people. He'll love that.

[bishopshodan]

8 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

Too late I think for that message.

 

And you are watching The View? Oh dude.

 

 

 

 

 

/S

 

My dog watches it. She's a girl.

I was passing through the front room and saw the bit.

 

It's a good message though, from a country that the states might look a lot like in the coming years.

[Bob Long]

2 minutes ago, bishopshodan said:

 

My dog watches it. She's a girl.

I was passing through the front room and saw the bit.

 

Good dog.

 

2 minutes ago, bishopshodan said:

It's a good message though, from a country that the states might look a lot like in the coming years.

 

It is. I agree with it completely but it looks like the right wing feels will take the day.

 

It's the 80s right wing wave again, just with stupid feels instead of real issues this time.

 

Social media is a cancer thats dumbed us down collectively.

 

[bishopshodan]

Just now, Bob Long said:

It's the 80s right wing wave again, just with stupid feels instead of real issues this time.

 

The only diff this time is the lack of respect for the democratic process.

 

That's why the states could look like Russia soon.

 

One day one of the baby Trumps will be sending folks to prison in remote Alaska to die from mystery reasons, while that Trump goes on to claim 99% victory in the latest 'election'