Nov 2023 Mod notice:
There may be other, more specific, threads about some aspects of US politics, but this one tends to act as a hub for all sorts of related news and information, so it's usually one of the busiest OTC threads.
If you're new to OTC, it's worth reading the Introduction to On-Topic Conversations
and the On-Topic Conversations debate guidelines
before posting here.
Rumor-based, fear-mongering and/or inflammatory statements that damage the quality of the thread will be thumped. Off-topic posts will also be thumped. Repeat offenders may be suspended.
If time spent moderating this thread remains a distraction from moderation of the wiki itself, the thread will need to be locked. We want to avoid that, so please follow the forum rules
when posting here.
In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death or hoping that they die, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.
Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
But there are poor people who live in New York, New England, and the West Coast, too! It has nothing to do with poverty; they simply value less populated places more highly. Why should the leader of this country be chosen by decrepit, ultraconservative simpletons living in dying, all-white coal mining communities, holding cultural, political, social, and economic views alt least Two Decades Behind the rest of the country?
edited 10th Feb '17 11:22:03 AM by CrimsonZephyr
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
x4 Something to consider is that unless you flat out put a multipplier effect on poorer people's votes, you'd end disadvantaging certain groups of poorer people simply because they happen to live closer to rich people than other groups of poorer people.
Personally I favor going to a national popular vote, but with preferential or approval voting rather than one-person-one-vote. That way you eliminate the spoiler effect and favor candidates with the broadest possible appeal.
edited 10th Feb '17 11:31:00 AM by Falrinn
Gorsuch's appointment is ultimately irrelevant. Either he faces the SC without Gorsuch and has to persuade four judges that he's right, or he faces the SC with Gorsuch and has to persuade four judges that he's right. Having a single SC judge for a patsy doesn't actually affect his odds of winning overmuch.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.1) It weights toward votes in low-population states, not rural areas. Someone who lives in a major city has their vote count the same as someone who lives in the middle of nowhere, as long as they're in the same state. It's worth keeping in mind that this doesn't particularly favor one side over the other — low population states like Alaska and Wyoming are reliably red, but others like Delaware and Vermont are reliably blue.
2) Votes outside of swing states matter just as much as votes anywhere else. "Swing state" isn't some magical status bestowed upon favored states by the election fairy. States are swing states or safe states because of the way their voters vote. If voters in those states voted differently, then their state would be considered differently.
3) Votes for candidates who lose being effectively worthless is a problem with the first past the post system in general, not the electoral college specifically.
edited 10th Feb '17 11:37:37 AM by NativeJovian
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.Just learned this rotten cherry on top of the shit sundae that is Steve Bannon: he used to be a Chinese gold farmer in World of Warcraft.
re: Governor Inslee's comeback to Trump: I'm so very proud to have voted for him right now.
YO CALI, WA STATE GOT YO BACK, DAWG. Now we just gotta get Oregon to move its feet and we can have a proper West Coast Vanguard of Democracy going.
And then take kid sidekicks, and fall in a plane crash, then butt head with billionaires.
edited 10th Feb '17 11:48:37 AM by RAlexa21th
Continue writing our story of peace.There is no such thing as a "true american". Anyone born in the united states or who has become a naturalized citizen is as much as an american as anyone else different from them who fulfills that same criteria.
This is most salient in regards to the fact that the people in blue-collar rural communities are not any more "american" than anyone else living in the country. The "liberal elite" they so despise is much as a part of America as they are, whether they like it or not. America is a not homogenous country because it's a nation founded on the immigration of several different groups of people who have different values and ideas. Some of them are far more toxic and measurably harmful than others, but this does not make them less "american".
I think there are reports that the deportations have started already?
I think it's pretty clear that "illegal immigration" is a code word for "those damn mexicans", but I honestly don't know what should be done about illegal immigration. Probably start by making it easier to become a citizen/get a green card.
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison@Link: Referring to "Fear spreads in L.A. after immigration 'raid' described as routine by authorities
"?
Also some flood stories: Is California overdue for biblical, catastrophic flooding? History says it could be
and Gaping hole in Oroville Dam spillway is growing, officials warn
because there are more issues than just Trump there and it ties in into a personal project of mine.
Not ARk
hopefully.
So... I just found something even nuttier than the alt-right, the Neo-Reactionary (NRx) movement
.
Stocks for Nordstrom INCREASE after Trump Tweet
. Note that, for about an hour, they did drop, before jumping up much faster. Trump's Twitter attacks are no longer as effective as they were.
California's water issues are a goldmine. Although practically speaking they are more important for the "Southland" (is this a common term for that region?) than for the Bay area.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

I personally agree with the idea that less wealthy parts of the country should have higher weighted votes to even the scale but there' clearly been an over correction.