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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Does that really mean he's for sale, though? Or that he just didn't want to be lit on fire? As a party line for Republicans, it can be reasonably assumed that anyone who wants to woo the Republicans would have to say it. That seems to be about the normal level of political corruption rather than an exceptional level of political corruption.
Toeing a party line is par for the course.
edited 3rd Feb '16 10:51:25 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.MEANWHILE IN THE LOSER'S CORNER
I'll be amazed if he stays in the race past Super Tuesday.
He must be so proud.
John Kasich conceded that he will call it quits if he gets crushed in New Hampshire.
To add to the discussion, I agree with the sentiment that Cruz is gonna burn out like Huckabee and Santorum. However he might act as the kingmaker between Trump and Rubio.
I think the Don is gonna regret being so hard on Cruz.
edited 3rd Feb '16 11:17:44 AM by Demonic_Braeburn
Any group who acts like morons ironically will eventually find itself swamped by morons who think themselves to be in good company.Kasich may have a chance in NH. I don't associate politics there with right wing extremism, not really. Although Kasich does fit a "Blue Dog" pattern far better than the current R pattern.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanThere's also the point for Trump that Iowa was kind of a naturally sketchy state for him to begin with. It's a mostly white state whose Republican base leans bible-thumper. He may very well do much better in New Hampshire.
(Most of the more racial resentment would probably be in uh, the South and North East, potentially?)
edited 3rd Feb '16 11:25:12 AM by PotatoesRock
Rubio is more blatantly for sale than virtually any other politician out there. Essentially Rubio's entire career has been enabled by billionaire funders
, who lift him up, give him all his money, give Rubio's wife a $50,000 part-time job working for a charity that gives no money to charity
, and who Rubio has cut deals in favor of every step of his political career.
The money has flowed both ways. Mr. Rubio has steered taxpayer funds to Mr. Braman’s favored causes, successfully pushing for an $80 million state grant to finance a genomics center at a private university and securing $5 million for cancer research at a Miami institute for which Mr. Braman is a major donor.
Even in an era dominated by super-wealthy donors, Mr. Braman stands out, given how integral he has been not only to Mr. Rubio’s political aspirations but also to his personal finances.
Mr. Rubio, 43, is unabashed in acknowledging the influence of Mr. Braman, a commanding and litigious figure with so much clout in Miami that he almost single-handedly recalled a sitting mayor.
In an interview, Mr. Rubio described Mr. Braman as a father figure who had given him advice on everything from what books to read to how to manage a staff. After Mr. Rubio’s father died in 2010, Mr. Braman called every other day to check in.
Records show Mrs. Rubio was paid at least $54,000 for her part-time job in 2013. The charity's IRS forms show it gave out only $250 that year despite having assets exceeding $9 million. The charity spent nearly $150,000 in air travel.
And as noted, Rubio is basically a typical Tea Party type whose only deviation from the party line was the immigration thing, which he disavowed as soon as it blew up on him despite spending years working on it. The only position he seems to truly hold and have real passion for is his anti-abortion policy, which would deny abortion even in the case of rape, incest, or the mother's life being in danger.
| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |Rick Santorum is reportedly going to be dropping out of the presidential race later today.
We're now down to 9 Republicans. And I'm counting the guy who only got 12 votes.
edited 3rd Feb '16 11:36:43 AM by Demonic_Braeburn
Any group who acts like morons ironically will eventually find itself swamped by morons who think themselves to be in good company.Mr. Cuomo's Housing Wrecking Ball
Housing is the centerpiece of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s agenda. He has promised to build or preserve 200,000 affordable apartments over 10 years — a tough proposition under the best of circumstances. It could be even tougher now that the governor has proposed placing new layers of state control over the city’s use of federal tax-exempt bonds to build and preserve affordable rental apartments. It’s not a stretch to call this sabotage.
Mr. Cuomo says it’s transparency and accountability, but it is more about intrusion and control. It would give the head of the Empire State Development Corporation, a Cuomo appointee, the power to sign off on the flow of tax-exempt bonds to New York City, which uses them almost exclusively for affordable housing. It would also require that every single affordable-housing project in New York City that uses the bonds get the approval of the Public Authorities Control Board, a shadowy entity controlled by the governor and the leaders of the Assembly and Senate.
These are the proverbial “three men in a room” who hold a death grip on policy-making power in New York State government. The phrase evokes the low-minded, chronically corrupt jockeying and deal-making that govern how the Albany game is played. That two of the three — Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos — were ejected from the room last year, because of federal felony convictions, is about all you need to know.
Neoliberalism at work, everybody!
The Trump campaign's tax plan calls for reducing the corporate tax rate to 15% concurrent with the elimination of various loopholes and deductions.[206] Notably the plan would include a cap on business interest expense deductions, which were first made deductible in 1918.[207] Opponents (primarily large banks and Wall Street private equity firms) of this change claim that capping business interest expense deductions would reduce corporate borrowing and thereby reduce the level of corporate investment. Proponents argue that a cap would reduce use of debt financing, in turn reducing systemic economic volatility. Another claim is that the lower tax rates enabled by such a cap would stimulate economic activity and slow or reverse the flight of US companies and capital moving to offshore tax "havens".[208][209]
In September 2015, economist Larry Kudlow said that he supported Donald Trump's corporate tax plan, stating that the 15 percent plan is a "pro-growth, supply-side" program that would grow the nation's long-slagging economy.[210] During the October 28 primary debate, Trump made note of Kudlow's support of his plan.[211]
Source: Wikipedia
Trump's a supply-sider, just a slightly less odious one than the other candidates.
"Closing loopholes", while undoubtedly a useful exercise, enjoys a particular cachet as a meaningless buzzword that one uses to seek applause from audiences whilst simultaneously committing to no concrete actions.
edited 3rd Feb '16 11:48:45 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"I hate that I find his tax plan reasonable and would like to see it enacted.
Can I vote just for that part? Like, can we elect just the T, while booting out the rump?
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Cuomo is such a sneaky, manipulative, back stabber that I think it's an insult to snakes to compare him to one. (And I say that as someone who isn't all that kindly disposed towards snakes.) He has a regular habit of holding press conferences simply to insult and belittle other Democrats who speak their minds, or to mock their policy proposals, despite the fact Cuomo sometimes co-opts those same proposals later.
For example, Mayor Bill DeBlasio of New York City gave an address laying out some ideas, including a $13 dollar an hour minimum wage in the city, and less than a half hour after he finished speaking Cuomo called together a press conference just to call the idea stupid. Now Cuomo is trying to act like the champion of the downtrodden by supporting a $15 minimum wage after it started getting popular and making headlines.
Cuomo also spent the mid-term elections of 2014 wagging his finger at losing Democrats and telling how they were losing for being too liberal, and toward the end of 2015, after having passed one of the harshest, (and in some cases, most non-sensical) gun control measures after Newtown, Cuomo blasted Congress for even trying to pass gun control legislation.
I have no use for the noxious little bastard. I held my nose to vote for him in his first term, mostly because his opponent was Tea Party and hoped I was wrong about him, but I wouldn't even do that again. Cuomo is the walking, talking embodiment of what people mean when they say "Fuck that guy!"
Can I vote just for that part? Like, can we elect just the T, while booting out the rump?
Trump's tax plan is whatever he needs it to be. He proposed a fairly progressive tax plan one day, mocked Jeb's on day two, then copied Jeb's almost word for word on day three. Who knows what it would be on day four or five?
edited 3rd Feb '16 11:52:26 AM by TheWanderer
| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |I'm very curious to see how support is redistributed amongst the Republican race now that several third-tier candidates have suspended their campaigns.
Who was the second-choice of their supporters? Are those choices still the same, or will the results of Iowa change that, too?
Cruz, Trump, Rubio, and Carson. There's a chance the latter two might surge before dropping.
Just don't talk about the "Santorum surge", or you might get something highly unintended.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Tobias Drake, if you want the honest opinion of someone who may actually vote for one of the Republican candidates you'll probably have to look elsewhere - this forum is heavily Democrat-biased. Just scan over a few posts and you'll see outrageous (and often vulgar) criticism of any and every Republican and lots and lots of defense of the Democrats against what would be fair criticism elsewhere.
I'm not blaming anyone - just pointing out the obvious.
I read an interesting piece today about how people do still care about character in politics, but only in the character of the opposing candidate. American politics seem to have deteriorated to the point that just about everyone is willing to completely overlook behavior in "their guy" that they would never tolerate in the other side.
Does anyone—other than Trump supporters—not understand that he has made his fortune by cynically buying off politicians to get them to put their thumbs on the scale, his scale; that, over and over he has shown a willingness to say or do anything to further his own personal interests, happy to roll over anyone or anything that stands in his way; that at his own father’s funeral all he could talk about was himself, that he is a guy willing to cut off the health insurance of a deathly ill infant nephew if it suits his purposes; that he is a nasty, mean-spirited bully obsessed with self-aggrandizement so rampaging that it is possible to imagine him doing just about anything, changing any position at any time, in order to get his next magazine cover; and that his level of debate discourse rises only insignificantly above “Your mother wears combat boots”?
They don’t care. Or, more accurately, character only counts if it’s the other guy we’re talking about, and, even then, it only counts with people already inclined against the candidate, serving to deepen their antipathy, not create it.
It's a problem. And this article notes that it's been a problem since the '60s at least, citing the nation winking at JFK's various infidelities and Nixon's, well, Nixon-ness (Nixonitude?).
Trump taps into the seething resentment of people who go about their lives treating people fairly, working hard and trying to be decent citizens, and for their trouble are painted as racist, greedy, uncaring. unenlightened Yahoos. They are sick unto death of it and willing to overlook everything, or anything, if their guy is going to stand up and punch the bullies in the nose.
It’s of a piece; it’s not good, and to move beyond it we’re going to have to get smarter, fairer, more respectful of our opposites—and very, very lucky.
Being more respectful of people who have an opinion other than ours. There's a word for that...it's on the tip of my toungue...
I wasn't on this forum for the previous two primaries, but this year, the GOP's most prominent candidates are clowns - I am talking about Trump and Cruz, but Carson, Santorum or Huckabee also fall in the category. I honestly hope that there are Republican tropers, but that they are facepalming so hard watching the primary right now that they don't have the necessary strength to post in this thread. Because I really don't see why Tvtropes would favor liberals over conservatives. I don't think media as a whole has a political leaning - individually they do, but as a whole, considering all types of media, I don't think so.
edited 3rd Feb '16 12:39:20 PM by Julep
This forum definitely does skew liberal and Democrat, though I don't think that's an institutional bias in the site as much as a reflection of the fact that Most Tropers Are Young Nerds.
Well.
Trump is effectively a supply side centrist and a protectionist in terms of economic policy. However, most of that is muted by the fact he's based a lot of noise on deportation, stripping "right to be a citizen by birth", and Islam is fundamentally incompatible with America.
Macro Rubio is as noted, flip flops depending on the political winds. His positions change on political convenience. He gave up his signature policy of modest immigration reform that he wonked about for decades because it would cost him votes and party support if he ran in 2016 for Senator or President.
Hillary is a Neoliberal Democrat who takes donations from the Walton Family (of Walmart fame), Wall Street and the Pharmaceutical industry. She's essentially as bad as Rubio in terms of flip-flopping in terms of political convenience.
Ted Cruz is probably one of the two main candidates who sticks to his principles, but the thing is, he's still the man that spearheaded shutting down the government for his own political ambition, and most of the Republican establishment has been burned on his principles of hardliner right wing policy and calling out anyone on his side who doesn't fit a mold a phony.
Sanders is probably the most principled besides Cruz, but admittedly, most of the man's desires, policies and views regarding healthcare, gay rights, the economy, education are simply too left of the country's Overton window, and would effectively require Centrists and Right Wing Politicians be banned from holding office to get any of them through and keep them running.
Pretty much, it's not a fantastic choice between all five of the big names, ultimately, chiefly due to the hyper partisanship and income inequality in this country. (And regulatory capture)

Rubio's doubly so.
The guy had a pro-DREAM-ish immigration policy for years. Then when Republicans started lighting anyone on fire who didn't go "Deport all the Mexicans and build a 1000 foot tall wall", he morphed into "No immigration policy now, no immigration policy yesterday, tomorrow or ever. Throw all the funny brown people out and build a 1000 foot tall wall.".