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Donald Trump 2019


Francisco 2.0

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1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

Let's not forget infinite regulations and penalties for poor people who get a traffic citation, etc.

Poor folks need LOTS of regulations and penalties.  But the well-off?  Well, they've demonstrated their virtue (because in AmericaChristendomProsperityGospelLand, the only proof of virtue is wealth), so they can be trusted.

Republicans aren't opposed to regulations.  That is a flat-out lie.  They are opposed only to regulations that cost them money.  They love regulations that 1) make them money, 2) impede their competition, or 3) keep...you know....those people....in their place.

Are you saying once you're rich you don't get traffic citations? Or are you saying that the ungodly rich make cars for the poor that only go 15 over the speed limit while theirs doesn't?

Bear with me because I'm just spitballing here but I know there has to be a way to not get speeding tickets...ooh ooh, what about not speeding??? I know plenty of people who average 2 tickets/decade, so it is possible to avoid those absolutely gut wrenching anti poor speed traps.

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2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

No, follow me here you brainless twit.  

Your proposition: economic indicators like unemployment rate are proof of presidential success.

Fact: unemployment (and every other economic indicator you cited) trended overwhelmingly to the positive under Obama.

ERGO: Obama was a successful president.

Your rule, I just applied it to the facts.  Yet, you won't apply that rule to the facts, because it would require you to 1) acknowledge that, according to your own metrics, Obama was a wildly successful president, and 2) Trump hasn't actually accomplished that much (his rate of improvement in those categories trails Obama).  

In short, I'm calling you out on your utter and complete bullshit.  Your support for Trump has NOTHING to do with those economic indicators, because if those WERE the driver of your support, you would have been an enormous Obama fan.  You weren't and aren't.  Therefore, we now know with certainty that economic indicators do NOT matter to you in your preference of president.  It must be something else.  And when you take those out of the equation, Trump is left with a track record of....international incompetence, naked corruption, an unprecedented and relentless volume of lies, happily stoking the fires of racism and xenophobia....all of which tells us that you are a tremendous piece of shit of a human being.

Don't state rules if you don't want those same rules to hang you by your shriveled ballsac.

So Trump took Obama’s success and continued the upward trend, exceeding most prognostications? Why one wouldn’t want this unprecedented success to continue is beyond me, I must admit. 

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Just now, Cosimo de' Medici said:

I look forward  to a very entertaining 2020 watching a trifecta of Democrat meltdown. 

January - Trump vindicated in senate. Uses as carte blanche in pushing every button on the liberal apocalypse panel. Still getting shit done in the background. 

May - RBG goes tits up and all hell breaks loose. Nuke option deployed. Heads explode.

November - The impossible happens AGAIN. Heads explode again after the voters punish the whacko majority in the house. 

EABOD

 

Best summary of what it means to #MAGA that I've seen.

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22 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

Why not done?

 

You want a scam, Mr. President? There's your scam. 

The government approved prices for medical drugs and equipment which are applied by profit takers throughout the medical industry form maybe the most immoral scam ever placed upon an entire population. Time Magazine devoted an issue to it a few years ago. The villains count on the populace being too bored by reading to put a stop to this broad-daylight robbery.

Let's not forget our friends in the insurance industry skimming their percentage off the top.

It's time to watch Hud, again. One of the three great Paul Newman H movies: Hustler, Hud, Hombre.

You're an unprincipled man, Hud.

 

 

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16 hours ago, HenryJames said:

 

Aside from the obvious motive of hiding illicit communication from government scrutiny, I wonder if Trump counts on those foreign governments listening as a way of indirectly communicating with them. 

Rudy, I want you dig up some dirt on Joe Biden and have a foreign country release it.  I'm really sad to see occupancy at Trump Hotel is down. I'm losing a lot of money there. I wonder if we should support the Kurds in Syria...

Trump is vulnerable to security breeches, but it's probably not easy to prove he was counting on his foreign contacts to be listening in. His specialty is dodging legal accountability, and I think we can assume this includes extensive experience in sly communication. Recall the Cohen testimony about how Trump conveys things without actually saying them.

Trump is an idiot about government and anything outside of his immediate self-interest, but he was trained from a young age to swindle, welch and elude.

 

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47 minutes ago, hornhorn said:

Are you saying once you're rich you don't get traffic citations? Or are you saying that the ungodly rich make cars for the poor that only go 15 over the speed limit while theirs doesn't?

Bear with me because I'm just spitballing here but I know there has to be a way to not get speeding tickets...ooh ooh, what about not speeding??? I know plenty of people who average 2 tickets/decade, so it is possible to avoid those absolutely gut wrenching anti poor speed traps.

Nope.  What we're saying is that traffic fines 1) disproportionately affect the poor ($250 to you and me is nothing....$250 to someone who only has $100 left at the end of the month after paying for groceries and rent is backbreaking), 2) delinquency related to issue 1) leads to huge additional penalties, exacerbating the problem of inability to pay, and they are capped off with 3) suspension of your license, so now you can't drive...to your job....where you earn money.

I get a $250 ticket, I pay it.

Poor person gets a $250 ticket, they can't pay it.  So now they owe $1,000.  Which they SUPER can't pay.  So their license gets suspended and they lose their job.  So now they SUPER DUPER can't pay.  And they're unemployed.  And their entire life crashes around them.

That's just one example.  The American Bar Association has offered extensive analysis on this issue in a variety of contexts: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/childrens-rights/articles/2016/criminalizing-poverty-fines-fees-costs/

Oh.....and I didn't even mention the part where we it's no secret that minorities are pulled over by police at a materially higher rate than non-minorities, and we all know that if a cop wants to write you a citation for something, he'll find something. You lingered too long in the passing lane (totally subjective - I got pulled over for this one time: I'd passed one car, and was 100 yards away from passing the next, traveling faster than he was, with nobody behind me), you didn't properly signal your last lane change, you didn't come to a perfect complete stop back there, you were going 2 mph over the limit, the light bulb on your rear license plate is out (yep, got pulled over for that one), and we could go on.  For a fucking page.  But again, we don't even need to mention that.  The whole point is that what's a minor administrative hiccup to you and me can be a backbreaking financial event for tens of millions of your fellow Americans.  The poor ones.  You know, the fuckers who don't matter who only have themselves to blame for where they are, and who deserve every bit of shit they get.

 

Edited by Brisketexan
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4 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Trump has been effective at creating a new political class -- ex-Republicans.  Now, what happens to that class is anyone's guess.  We range from pretty conservative to downright progressive, so not easy to deal with as a group.  But make no mistake, we all lament the shit out of the death of facts, truth, and reason.  While y'all happily wallow in the bullshit and get it all over you.  No thanks.

I don't know that he created it - Iraq and Sarah Palin pretty much sealed the deal for me as far as bailing on the GOP, and Trump was just a reaffirmation for me that I made the right choice.

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1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

Nope.  What we're saying is that traffic fines 1) disproportionately affect the poor ($250 to you and me is nothing....$250 to someone who only has $100 left at the end of the month after paying for groceries and rent is backbreaking), 2) delinquency related to issue 1) leads to huge additional penalties, exacerbating the problem of inability to pay, and they are capped off with 3) suspension of your license, so now you can't drive...to your job....where you earn money.

I get a $250 ticket, I pay it.

Poor person gets a $250 ticket, they can't pay it.  So now they owe $1,000.  Which they SUPER can't pay.  So their license gets suspended and they lose their job.  So now they SUPER DUPER can't pay.  And they're unemployed.  And their entire life crashes around them.

That's just one example.  The American Bar Association has offered extensive analysis on this issue in a variety of contexts: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/childrens-rights/articles/2016/criminalizing-poverty-fines-fees-costs/

 

Which isn’t really related to the topic of Trump regulatory relief.  

 

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Just now, Incredulity said:

Which isn’t really related to the topic of Trump regulatory relief.  

 

It's offered by way of contrast.  Regulations that, if removed, make life easier for a developer to make $50 million -- ROLL THEM BACK!  THIS IS A PRIORITY!  Regulations that, if removed, make life livable for poor people -- crickets chirping.

 

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1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

Nope.  What we're saying is that traffic fines 1) disproportionately affect the poor ($250 to you and me is nothing....$250 to someone who only has $100 left at the end of the month after paying for groceries and rent is backbreaking), 2) delinquency related to issue 1) leads to huge additional penalties, exacerbating the problem of inability to pay, and they are capped off with 3) suspension of your license, so now you can't drive...to your job....where you earn money.

I get a $250 ticket, I pay it.

Poor person gets a $250 ticket, they can't pay it.  So now they owe $1,000.  Which they SUPER can't pay.  So their license gets suspended and they lose their job.  So now they SUPER DUPER can't pay.  And they're unemployed.  And their entire life crashes around them.

That's just one example.  The American Bar Association has offered extensive analysis on this issue in a variety of contexts: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/childrens-rights/articles/2016/criminalizing-poverty-fines-fees-costs/

 

But that's not entirely the truth is it? Society has realized that it could be difficult for people to pay for these fines so we have:

- Payment plans for these people(I've seen as low as $5/month) But people won't even call to get on these because they're too lazy to do it. Would rather get a warrant issued after avoiding these things and then blame the system once arrested with several people white knighting for them on how unfair this system is. It isn't. 

- Traffic school(some states have these that get rid of these citations completely if you attend one of these)

- Just call and ask for reduction or more time(many many counties allow this as well)

But no, we are going to hold the system as irresponsible here instead of the person who drives like a maniac(especially if you're getting these tickets on a regular) even when we know the number of fatalities we see on the roads every year. 

Once you are done paying these, maybe just maybe be more careful and not get these tickets over and over?  I know, too much to ask. 

And these same people who cannot afford whatever $$$ in speeding tickets can afford alcohol and cigarettes in the same amount every month. Sorry no study to cite here. 

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1 minute ago, hornhorn said:

But that's not entirely the truth is it? Society has realized that it could be difficult for people to pay for these fines so we have:

- Payment plans for these people(I've seen as low as $5/month) But people won't even call to get on these because they're too lazy to do it. Would rather get a warrant issued after avoiding these things and then blame the system once arrested with several people white knighting for them on how unfair this system is. It isn't. 

- Traffic school(some states have these that get rid of these citations completely if you attend one of these)

- Just call and ask for reduction or more time(many many counties allow this as well)

But no, we are going to hold the system as irresponsible here instead of the person who drives like a maniac(especially if you're getting these tickets on a regular) even when we know the number of fatalities we see on the roads every year. 

Once you are done paying these, maybe just maybe be more careful and not get these tickets over and over?  I know, too much to ask. 

And these same people who cannot afford whatever $$$ in speeding tickets can afford alcohol and cigarettes in the same amount every month. Sorry no study to cite here. 

Exactly! Zero poverty, substance abuse, all students will make A's and everybody will be doctors and lawyers if they just had some bootstraps! Simple as that!

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Just now, Winona's Big Orange Bevo said:

Exactly! Zero poverty, substance abuse, all students will make A's and everybody will be doctors and lawyers if they just had some bootstraps! Simple as that!

Exactly! Tax everything and free shit for everyone! Simple as that!

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Just now, Brisketexan said:

It's offered by way of contrast.  Regulations that, if removed, make life easier for a developer to make $50 million -- ROLL THEM BACK!  THIS IS A PRIORITY!  Regulations that, if removed, make life livable for poor people -- crickets chirping.

 

Counter point.

The developer making money(paying taxes) on the development produces economic activity and wages(taxes), real property(more taxes forever) and perhaps could put a dent in the housing crisis that allegedly creates the current homeless problem.

Nah... fuck that.  Much better when two bureaucrats stop a job because the regional office of agency XYZ hasn’t decided if the damp area in the development is three toed salamander habitat.

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3 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Counter point.

The developer making money(paying taxes) on the development produces economic activity and wages(taxes), real property(more taxes forever) and perhaps could put a dent in the housing crisis that allegedly creates the current homeless problem.

Nah... fuck that.  Much better when two bureaucrats stop a job because the regional office of agency XYZ hasn’t decided if the damp area in the development is three toed salamander habitat.

Want to know how I know that you know nothing about development?

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Just now, Incredulity said:

Counter point.

The developer making money(paying taxes) on the development produces economic activity and wages(taxes), real property(more taxes forever) and perhaps could put a dent in the housing crisis that allegedly creates the current homeless problem.

Quite true, particularly in Austin. However, a better regulatory regime would streamline the development process while containing externalities, not simply eliminate guardrails that prevent the public from paying the cost of development in the form of flooding, public safety problems, pollution, water quality issues, etc. 

 

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7 minutes ago, hornhorn said:

But that's not entirely the truth is it? Society has realized that it could be difficult for people to pay for these fines so we have:

- Payment plans for these people(I've seen as low as $5/month) But people won't even call to get on these because they're too lazy to do it. Would rather get a warrant issued after avoiding these things and then blame the system once arrested with several people white knighting for them on how unfair this system is. It isn't. 

- Traffic school(some states have these that get rid of these citations completely if you attend one of these)

- Just call and ask for reduction or more time(many many counties allow this as well)

But no, we are going to hold the system as irresponsible here instead of the person who drives like a maniac(especially if you're getting these tickets on a regular) even when we know the number of fatalities we see on the roads every year. 

Once you are done paying these, maybe just maybe be more careful and not get these tickets over and over?  I know, too much to ask. 

And these same people who cannot afford whatever $$$ in speeding tickets can afford alcohol and cigarettes in the same amount every month. Sorry no study to cite here. 

Well that's fine, we all know racist anecdotes are way more reliable.

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3 minutes ago, hornhorn said:

But that's not entirely the truth is it? Society has realized that it could be difficult for people to pay for these fines so we have:

- Payment plans for these people(I've seen as low as $5/month) But people won't even call to get on these because they're too lazy to do it. Would rather get a warrant issued after avoiding these things and then blame the system once arrested with several people white knighting for them on how unfair this system is. It isn't. 

- Traffic school(some states have these that get rid of these citations completely if you attend one of these)

- Just call and ask for reduction or more time(many many counties allow this as well)

But no, we are going to hold the system as irresponsible here instead of the person who drives like a maniac(especially if you're getting these tickets on a regular) even when we know the number of fatalities we see on the roads every year. 

Once you are done paying these, maybe just maybe be more careful and not get these tickets over and over?  I know, too much to ask. 

And these same people who cannot afford whatever $$$ in speeding tickets can afford alcohol and cigarettes in the same amount every month. Sorry no study to cite here. 

Read the ABA piece I cited.  And read the literally hundreds of others on the same subject.  And read the REBUTTAL of some of your very points (payment plan my ass -- how about the opposite?  How about incredibly high interest and penalties piled up on top of the fines and costs?)

See the number of those fines etc. related to minor drug and alcohol offenses (not just traffic offenses)...the kind of offense that a well-dressed white kid gets sent home to his parents for, but the "thug" on the street gets taken in for.

It is a cold hard fact that poor people have low/zero margin for error.  Yet we happily perpetuate a system that doesn't just fail to acknowledge that lack of margin, it preys on it.  But you know, fuck 'em.....they shouldn't be all poor and shit.

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1 minute ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Quite true, particularly in Austin. However, a better regulatory regime would streamline the development process while containing externalities, not simply eliminate guardrails that prevent the public from paying the cost of development in the form of flooding, public safety problems, pollution, water quality issues, etc. 

 

Totally agree.

 

From my perspective, I have seen shit moving forward faster to the same standard of workplace safety,  environmental and other standards.  There hasn’t been a fuck it, dump whatever, don’t worry about workers and cut corners change.

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7 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Quite true, particularly in Austin. However, a better regulatory regime would streamline the development process while containing externalities, not simply eliminate guardrails that prevent the public from paying the cost of development in the form of flooding, public safety problems, pollution, water quality issues, etc. 

 

That....is about as solid and concise of a smackdown that y'all will see around here, folks.

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2 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Totally agree.

 

From my perspective, I have seen shit moving forward faster to the same standard of workplace safety,  environmental and other standards.  There hasn’t been a fuck it, dump whatever, don’t worry about workers and cut corners change.

I mean, except for, you know, multiple instances of relaxation/rollback of regulations to allow for toxic discharges in numerous cases in the past couple of years.  Just as one example (see the regs on coal waste, for example).

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1 hour ago, hornhorn said:

Are you saying once you're rich you don't get traffic citations? Or are you saying that the ungodly rich make cars for the poor that only go 15 over the speed limit while theirs doesn't?

Bear with me because I'm just spitballing here but I know there has to be a way to not get speeding tickets...ooh ooh, what about not speeding??? I know plenty of people who average 2 tickets/decade, so it is possible to avoid those absolutely gut wrenching anti poor speed traps.

That’s your takeaway from his post? Jesus you people are fucking dumb.

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If MMT is going to save us, as many liberals espouse, then what difference do lower marginal rates make in the long run if deficits won't matter anyway?  
(for the record, I think our personal income tax system is a joke, just like Texas property taxes.  Increase corporate/Enterprise taxes, that's how you make for a fairer system).
And Trump thinks MMT is the sport where that ring girl worked, that he tried to bang in Atlantic City a few years back.  

MMT's answer in their own words:


https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/539618f8-b88c-3125-8031-cf46ca197c64

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2 hours ago, Chrispy_ said:

I’m not trying to sell you or anyone else in this thread on anything, I think many of you are too dig in, including myself. I say tinkering because the latest jobs report was better than I anticipated, unemployment is at a 50 year low, and stocks an all time high. Times are very good, but I also understand there can always be improvements, as there is no perfect system. Especially when it comes to the wealth disparity; I think more republicans are willing to listen to this issue if the Democrats provide a cogent argument. Government isn’t the enemy Reagan made it our to be, but it also isn’t the savior the modern Democrats make it out to be either. They seem to be missing their opportunity, though, with these silly ideas of free healthcare, free college, Green New Deal, etc. 

 

 

Nobody is gonna waste time engaging in a “substantive” debate with you Chrispy troll. Or at least they shouldn’t. 

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Just now, Brisketexan said:

Read the ABA piece I cited.  And read the literally hundreds of others on the same subject.  And read the REBUTTAL of some of your very points (payment plan my ass -- how about the opposite?  How about incredibly high interest and penalties piled up on top of the fines and costs?)

See the number of those fines etc. related to minor drug and alcohol offenses (not just traffic offenses)...the kind of offense that a well-dressed white kid gets sent home to his parents for, but the "thug" on the street gets taken in for.

It is a cold hard fact that poor people have low/zero margin for error.  Yet we happily perpetuate a system that doesn't just fail to acknowledge that lack of margin, it preys on it.  But you know, fuck 'em.....they shouldn't be all poor and shit.

What high interest and fees? Payment plans are basically your fine divided into several monthly payments. Zero fines and interest unless you CHOOSE not to pay on time. But yeah, that again is someone else's fault. System, yes.

So now we're moving on from traffic offenses to other "minor" drug and alcohol offenses. I'm not white so spare me your white guilt bullshit as I've dealt with racists before, its life, it happens. Sometimes people are racists, some of those people are cops, do you know the best way to avoid it? Oh I know, maybe stay away from drugs especially since its drilled into you since kindergarten. But oh no, again its someone else's fault that I got caught with drugs even though I was reminded of staying away from it since I gained consciousness.

Poor people do have a lower margin for error but so do the rest of us in different forms. All of us come with some predisposed issues in life, genetic at times that cannot be avoided. I come from a family with heart problems so I have to watch out on my consumption of red meat. But if I continue to eat burgers everyday and drop dead at 45, its me, not the system. Similarly if you're poor, maybe stay away from illegal drugs that you know could land you in trouble because you don't have the bandwidth to deal with it. 

I'm not saying that they shouldn't be poor and shit. But I am saying that if you're poor maybe avoid shit that is avoidable. Getting speeding tickets and drugs are those things. And if you do get caught doing that shit, don't point to how someone else gets away with it because they can throw money at lawyers. You knew you couldn't and still chose to do it, now pay the fucking price for it. 

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14 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

what a cuck.

 

 

I wonder if the King expressed condolences regarding the death of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi or the deaths of thousands of innocent women and children in Yemen over the past 4+ years or the deaths of innocent Mexicans in an El Paso Wal Mart.

Edited by Hornius Emeritus
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2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Let's not forget infinite regulations and penalties for poor people who get a traffic citation, etc.

My life has been a roller coaster of fat and lean times. In lean times I learned that the penalty for being poor is fines.

My upward roller coaster always caught me up on that, but I never forget what a burden this must be for people who don't have my (white, educated, likable) advantages.

Once I was in line to pay a light bill to keep the lights on. I owed about $50 which I borrowed from a friend while I awaited a paycheck. The black woman in front of me was trying to negotiate a $230 bill for electricity. She was not a woman of means. She likely lived in cheap housing with no insulation and was probably making food versus bills decisions. It was an eye-opener for this suburban boy.

When she left I couldn't meet her eyes even if she bothered to look my way. I felt ashamed after that brief glimpse of another life.

Edited by RomaVicta
Rollercoaster should be a single word. Fuckin' Trump.
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4 hours ago, Lobo said:

If MMT is going to save us, as many liberals espouse, then what difference do lower marginal rates make in the long run if deficits won't matter anyway?  

(for the record, I think our personal income tax system is a joke, just like Texas property taxes.  Increase corporate/Enterprise taxes, that's how you make for a fairer system).

And Trump thinks MMT is the sport where that ring girl worked, that he tried to bang in Atlantic City a few years back.  

For the record - MMT is hot garbage. But, liberals don't espouse MMT. The DSA left does in words, and the Republican party does in deed. 

If you want to know what MMT feels like, it's essentially what we've been living with since the 2001 tax cut. 

Edited by Bozo_Casanova
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1 minute ago, wildcat09 said:

It's cute how you guys still think this shit is clever.

If you think there's only a particular race that ends up in jail or hardship, its really gives us a view into your thoughts more than anything else. But hey, you do you bub. 

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2 minutes ago, hornhorn said:

If you think there's only a particular race that ends up in jail or hardship, its really gives us a view into your thoughts more than anything else. But hey, you do you bub. 

Jesus Christ, do some fucking homework.  I have no doubt it's worse now than in 2010, but let's just run with this.  (In case you can't handle math, that's 5.8X more incarcerated black Americans per capita than white Americans.)

Graph of racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system

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