US Politics Thread

[RupertKBD]

5 minutes ago, 24K said:

She actually is the official candidate as of now. Dem did their virtual roll call for official nomination already to get ahead of GOP shannigans. 

 

That said, detailed policy plan usually get hashed out during the convention so we should give her a pass on that until after next week. 

 

Don't they have to have their convention to make it official?

[24K]

8 minutes ago, RupertKBD said:

 

Don't they have to have their convention to make it official?

Not this time. They did it ahead of the convention to circumvent some red state attempt to not put the Dems on the ballot due to some arbitrary deadline. 

[Bob Long]

49 minutes ago, Chicken. said:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/canadian-softwood-lumber-us-duty-1.7294054
 

U.S. nearly doubles duty on Canadian softwood lumber

 

Ah this old sock. The us never tires of this one.

[Bob Long]

14 minutes ago, 24K said:

The detailed policy plan you look for don't come out till after the convention. 

 

Give her and the Dems the two weeks to hash things out. 

 

I'm not rushing anything, just noting now is an easy time to go after her on the economy.

 

Edited August 14 by Bob Long

[the destroyer of worlds]

2 minutes ago, 24K said:

Not this time. They did it ahead of the convention to circumvent some red state attempt to not put the Dems on the ballot due to some arbitrary deadline. 

I find the whole arbitrary early deadlines that some QOP run states push, when there are a few states who only just had their primaries.  Minnesota for one.  Ilhan Omar won her primary.  https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4826431-ilhan-omar-minnesota-primary-israel/

[Warhippy]

Are we really arguing that a billion views/clicks is somehow like a metric of success?

 

Like actually?  

 

There isn't even a billion people on twitter.  You can't view anything without an account.  Essentially a bunch of chinese and russians and bots were listening in and pretty much nothing more and people are lauding that as a good thing or a metric for success or support?

 

 

[Bob Long]

13 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

Are we really arguing that a billion views/clicks is somehow like a metric of success?

 

Like actually?  

 

There isn't even a billion people on twitter.  You can't view anything without an account.  Essentially a bunch of chinese and russians and bots were listening in and pretty much nothing more and people are lauding that as a good thing or a metric for success or support?

 

 

 

Interesting article in the NYT today about how Elon might be the most deep faked person right now, and the top deep fake for scams.

 

So yea, Russian scammers definitely love to get Elon out there as much as they can.

 

[Warhippy]

UH oh Donny.

 

Another talking point gone

 

Year-over-year inflation in the United States reached its lowest level in more than three years in July, the latest sign that the worst price spike in four decades is fading and setting up the Federal Reserve for an interest rate cut in September.

Wednesday's report from the U.S. Department of Labour showed that consumer prices rose just 0.2 per cent from June to July, after dropping slightly the previous month for the first time in four years.

Measured from a year earlier, prices rose 2.9 per cent, down from three per cent in June. It is the mildest year-over-year inflation figure since March 2021.

The government said nearly all the increase last month reflected higher rental prices and housing costs, a trend that, according to real-time data, is easing.

For months, cooling inflation has provided gradual relief to America's consumers, stung by price surges that erupted three years ago, particularly for food, gas, rent and other necessities. Inflation peaked two years ago at 9.1 per cent, the highest level in four decades.

Inflation has taken a central role in the presidential election, with former president Donald Trump blaming the Biden administration's energy policies for the price increases. Vice-President Kamala Harris said on Saturday she would soon unveil new proposals to "bring down costs and also strengthen the economy overall."

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, so-called core prices climbed 0.2 per cent from June to July, after a 0.1 per cent increase the previous month. Compared to a year ago, core inflation rose 3.2 per cent, down from 3.3 per cent in June, the lowest since April 2021.

Core prices are closely watched by economists because the information typically provides a better read of where inflation is headed.

[RupertKBD]

32 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

UH oh Donny.

 

Another talking point gone

 

Year-over-year inflation in the United States reached its lowest level in more than three years in July, the latest sign that the worst price spike in four decades is fading and setting up the Federal Reserve for an interest rate cut in September.

Wednesday's report from the U.S. Department of Labour showed that consumer prices rose just 0.2 per cent from June to July, after dropping slightly the previous month for the first time in four years.

Measured from a year earlier, prices rose 2.9 per cent, down from three per cent in June. It is the mildest year-over-year inflation figure since March 2021.

The government said nearly all the increase last month reflected higher rental prices and housing costs, a trend that, according to real-time data, is easing.

For months, cooling inflation has provided gradual relief to America's consumers, stung by price surges that erupted three years ago, particularly for food, gas, rent and other necessities. Inflation peaked two years ago at 9.1 per cent, the highest level in four decades.

Inflation has taken a central role in the presidential election, with former president Donald Trump blaming the Biden administration's energy policies for the price increases. Vice-President Kamala Harris said on Saturday she would soon unveil new proposals to "bring down costs and also strengthen the economy overall."

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, so-called core prices climbed 0.2 per cent from June to July, after a 0.1 per cent increase the previous month. Compared to a year ago, core inflation rose 3.2 per cent, down from 3.3 per cent in June, the lowest since April 2021.

Core prices are closely watched by economists because the information typically provides a better read of where inflation is headed.

 

Inflation is down...crime is down....and illegal immigration is down....of course, this won't keep Dolt 45, the rest of the Repugs and right wing media from lying about it.

 

The question is, will the truth actually get through to the voters?

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

13 minutes ago, RupertKBD said:

 

Inflation is down...crime is down....and illegal immigration is down....of course, this won't keep Dolt 45, the rest of the Repugs and right wing media from lying about it.

 

The question is, will the truth actually get through to the voters?

 

I think the more important question is: how much of the voting population really cares about the truth?  It's clear that there is a significant portion of the population that is blindly following the shit stain.  They probably don't want to acknowledge the truth, or are purposely ignoring the truth, if it supports their narrative.

 

The question above should also be followed by: how motivated will the voting population be to go out and vote because of the truth?  Voter apathy is real, and in the right quantities (especially if the apathy is mostly contained to one side of the political coin vs the other), it can sink even the best-prepared campaign.  Gotta make sure that not only the truth gets out, but that it motivates people to actually put their ballot in the box.

[kilgore]

21 minutes ago, RupertKBD said:

 

Inflation is down...crime is down....and illegal immigration is down....of course, this won't keep Dolt 45, the rest of the Repugs and right wing media from lying about it.

 

The question is, will the truth actually get through to the voters?

 

seriously,  I think this is one of the most threatening challenges on the planet.  Along with climate change, and AI. 

 

How there is no facts-only news source that everyone can agree with.  (like a Walter Cronkite from the past) More and more, people gravitate towards hearing and watching stories that rubber stamp their own biases.  This has a lot to do with the algorithms programmed into social media sites.

 

I for instance, regularly get videos on my YouTube feed from The Majority Report, The Damage Report, the Young Turks, The Rational National, Medias Touch. Of the traditional news sources, once in awhile I'll get a Fox News video, but for the most part its Canadian news corps, and CNN, MSNBC. 

 

And I like it like that! Saves me a lot of time. Not just for politics, but any other interest I have. They come to me instead of the other way around. But thats part of the problem. It makes it TOO easy to see what you want to see.  You never hear the other side much.  I remember even in 2016, Democrats (and myself) were gobsmacked when Trump won. In part because all I saw on my feed was how Hillary had it in the bag. And showed the most uplifting Hillary speech clips, and the most depressing Trump clips.  Because of that experience, I at least can understand not to get too confident in what I think is the political reality.  And I also understand why a lot of MAGAs were shocked that Biden won last time. And will be shocked when Kamala wins. They will have been watching their own feeds showing them a 'uuuuge Red Wave coming.  Easy for Trump to persuade them that it was rigged.....again! Which is why I fear another civil war down south.

 

I don't care about alternative, even radical far right messaging channels being available.  Or radically far left channels.  I'd just like some kind of facts policing. Facts are neutral. You'd think most rational adults would prefer to base their judgements on facts. 

 

But when the government, the elected democratic government, of the US, simply contacted Twitter, and pointed out the posts that were spewing out disinformation about the virus and the subsequent vaccines...immediate scandal!.  Not censoring anything, not dictating to private companies.  just requesting that those social media platforms take a second look at those particular posts and consider removing them..............it became TWITTERGATE!   And the great Elon Musk  had to step in and buy it to 'save' it from those evil facts insisting big gob'mint agents.   So if elected representatives who's job it is to keep us safe, including from disinformation that might lead us to, say, reject a vaccine for a virus, and we die. And that is now not allowed either.....how is this ever widening problem ever solved?

[stawns]

3 hours ago, DSVII said:

 

Lets put the shoe on the other foot. Conservatives have to hold themselves accountable to their own standards then and have some self reflection. Because even if Harris is a weak candidate (it's still early, need to see more) the Republicans have signaled it doesn't matter to them as a value because this is the third consecutive time they've nominated an unfit candidate like Trump to the head of the ticket.

 

We are in serious need of adult Republicans in the room because Dems can not be the only sane option here.

Yiu can go back all the way to Bush jr, but it's been an absolute clown show since the Tea Party started taking over the GOP

[nuckin_futz]

Last one caught my eye. Fat Donnie only up 3 in Florida.

[nuckin_futz]

 

 

[nuckin_futz]

 

 

[RupertKBD]

I don't expect anything to come of this, (because Trump never faces consequences for his actions) but I can think of a "billion" reasons why there might be a complaint:

 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/trump-musk-interview-a-brazen-violation-of-federal-election-laws-fec-complaint/ar-AA1oLhNv?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=df63eb36bc024acc8b1688661f0b62ae&ei=12

 

 

Quote

 

A Democratic-aligned political action committee filed a complaint with federal election regulators accusing Donald Trump, his campaign and the social media site X of violating federal election laws during Trump's interview with tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Trump's lengthy interview with Musk on Monday "violated" federal rules banning corporations from making contributions to federal candidates, and barring federal candidates from accepting such contributions, alleged the complaint filed Tuesday by the group End Citizens United.

The group said the interview "amounted to a virtual campaign event for Donald J. Trump financed by X."

"Such a brazen corporate contribution undermines the anti-corruption aims of the Act, and the [Federal Election] Commission should immediately investigate these violations and take appropriate remedial action," the complaint said.

Campaign Treasurer Bradley T. Crate was also named in the complaint.

The filing jabbed Musk and his app, noting in the "facts" section that the interview "generated headlines" but was "marred with technical issues that featured express advocacy by X owner Elon Musk to support the Trump Campaign."

In the legal analysis section, the complaint alleges that a "contribution" — which corporations are banned from making to candidates — includes "'anything of value' provided to a federal candidate in connection with their election."

"The Commission has held that activities involving the participation of a federal candidate result in contributions 'if the activities involve i) the solicitation, making, or acceptance of contributions to the candidate's campaign, or ii) communications expressly advocating the nomination, election, or defeat of any candidate."

Tiffany Muller, president of the group, which is supporting Kamala Harris in the race, told The Washington Post in a statement that the interview could “set a dangerous precedent for unfettered, direct corporate engagement in campaigns.”

 

 

[JoeyJoeJoeJr. Shabadoo]

11 minutes ago, nuckin_futz said:

 

 

There is no hate quite like Christian love. 

 

Btw, does anyone know the origin of that quote? I can't seem to find anything. 

[24K]

45 minutes ago, nuckin_futz said:

Last one caught my eye. Fat Donnie only up 3 in Florida.

Dafaq is Nevada smoking that they are more right than Arizona?

[24K]

So Trump is suppose to talk about the economy in he's rally today and oretty much all his promise and plan hinges only on 'drill baby drill'.

 

Credit go where credit go, Trump was more on message this rally. Let's see if he can keep it up though I doubt it. 

 

Edited August 14 by 24K

[RupertKBD]

7 hours ago, nuckin_futz said:

Last one caught my eye. Fat Donnie only up 3 in Florida.

 

NC surprises me a bit as well....in a good way. Bone Spurs can have NV, if the Dems can swing NC. Let's hope Cooper can give Kamala the push she needs....

Edited August 15 by RupertKBD

[RupertKBD]

You can't make this stuff up folks....after a shooting last year, the Texas State Fair organizers decided to ban firearms from this year's event. To the surprise (I'm sure) of no-one, Republicans lawmakers are upset about the ban.

 

One of those lawmakers is Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton. If that name sounds familiar to you, it should. Paxton was impeached for trying to allocate public money to pay for a lawsuit settlement for former employees. Hes also been charged with Securities Fraud and filed lawsuits on other states after the 2020 election to try and have the results overturned in Donald Trump's favor.

 

In short, exactly the kind of scumbag who would object to a ban on guns at a fucking state fair....

 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/the-state-fair-of-texas-is-banning-firearms-drawing-threats-of-legal-action-from-republican-ag/ar-AA1oOyyn?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=2fa7b06aab894135a8fe83b8137a5b46&ei=22

 

 

Quote

 

The State Fair of Texas is laying down a new rule before millions of visitors flock through the gates for corn dogs, deep-fried delights and a friendly wave from a five-story cowboy named Big Tex: No guns allowed.

But that decision by fair organizers — which comes after a shooting last year on the 277-acre fairgrounds in the heart of Dallas — has drawn outrage from Republican lawmakers, who in recent years have proudly expanded gun rights in Texas. On Wednesday, the state's attorney general threatened a lawsuit unless the fair reversed course.

“Dallas has fifteen days to fix the issue,” said Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, "otherwise I will see them in court.”

Tensions over where and how gun owners can carry firearms in public are frequent in Texas, but the standoff with one of the state's most beloved institutions has moved the fight onto unusual turf. The fair has not backed down since cowboy hat-wearing organizers announced the new policy at a news conference last week.

The fair, which reopens in September and lasts for nearly a month, dates back to 1886. In addition to a maze of midway games, car shows and the Texas Star Ferris wheel — one of the tallest in the U.S. — the fairgrounds are also home to the annual college football rivalry between the University of Texas and University of Oklahoma. And after Big Tex, the towering cowboy that greets fairgoers, went up in flames in 2012 due to an electrical short, the fair mascot was met with great fanfare upon its return.

But a shooting near the rows of food booths last year dampened the revelry.

Investigators said one man opened fire on another, injuring three people and resulting in police clearing the fairgrounds. Videos posted on social media showed groups of people running along sidewalks and climbing barriers as they fled.

 

Full story in the link

[The Arrogant Worms]

JD Vance Roasted For Wrongly Claiming Average New Car Costs $50K Per Year: ‘Just Making Sh*t Up’

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/jd-vance-roasted-for-wrongly-claiming-average-new-car-costs-50k-per-year-just-making-sht-up/

[bolt]

 

[bishopshodan]

7 minutes ago, bolt said:

 

 

 

Thats awesome.

 

It worked. No reason left to vote for Trump.

 

So good it could have come from the Kamala camp.

 

[Warhippy]

2 hours ago, bolt said:

 

It's absolutely no shock you'd be pushing a deep fake AI video from this account and in support of trump.

 

It' kind of sad and to be honest.  Weird

 

At 1:13 though, it would be funny when she becomes president if she does open up a bribery investigation.

 

On how trump was given $ from egypt.  trumps daughter was given clearance fromg tariffs.  His daughter and sons were given high level clearance for no reason at all.  his daughters "emails" and private white house server use.  his son in laws billions from the saudis.  His grifting of high ranking officials and air force being forced to use his resorts for housing.

 

yes, drain the swamp open an investigation.  right Bolt?

Edited August 15 by Warhippy