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Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#115101: Mar 9th 2016 at 1:46:36 PM

If they still don't want to vote even with automatic registration and I Ds, that's on them. You can't force the horse to drink.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#115102: Mar 9th 2016 at 1:48:43 PM

[up][up][up][up]

Nah, he's a Democrat, so he wants to make sure everyone gets a free colonoscopy (the cleansing process is great for his line of work), but he's also corrupt, so he wouldn't want to fix the Flint, Michigan crisis because the tainted water is doing wonders for him as well.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
darksidevoid Anti-Gnosis Weapon from The Frontiers (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Robosexual
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
#115103: Mar 9th 2016 at 1:48:51 PM

While the difficulties associated with voter registration and other laws specifically intended to make it hard for the poor to vote are certainly a thing, you should also never underestimate voter apathy.

Certainly true. Apathy and obstacles to voting are likely to feed into each other indirectly, as well. Damn negative feedback loops.

edited 9th Mar '16 1:49:40 PM by darksidevoid

GM: AGOG S4 & F/WC RP; Co-GM: TABA, SOTR, UUA RP; Sub-GM: TTS RP. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire.
PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#115104: Mar 9th 2016 at 1:51:26 PM

Why everyone got Michigan so wrong: Antiquated polling methods and failure to properly poll young voters (who don't use landlines)

Basically, the youth stormed the primaries. UAW votes were under analyzed/expected. And failure to grasp Sanders appeals across most racial lines for youth voters, it seems.

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#115105: Mar 9th 2016 at 1:52:27 PM

You could always make not voting illegal.

PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#115106: Mar 9th 2016 at 1:55:24 PM

But then you'd get fraud of Democrats walking into poll stations with a beard and mustache. And then they come back without the mustache. And then everything but the sideburns. And then just their hair. And then shaved bald!

They'll stuff the ballot!

(Bloomberg) When Trump Steaks at a Trump Event Aren’t Really ‘Trump Steaks’

edited 9th Mar '16 1:56:48 PM by PotatoesRock

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#115107: Mar 9th 2016 at 1:57:17 PM

[up][up] "But mah freedoms!" The idea has been advanced, but it's far from proven to have beneficial results. We'll have to see. It could certainly never happen in our current political environment.

Krugman has a different take on the Michigan primary, one based on the issue of protectionism, which Bernie Sanders advocates but Hillary Clinton does not, or at least not overtly.

Notably, he bashes both Sanders' aspirations to tear down global trade liberalization and the conventional, establishment view that it is Super Awesome (tm).

The truth is that if Sanders were to make it to the White House, he would find it very hard to do anything much about globalization — not because it’s technically or economically impossible, but because the moment he looked into actually tearing up existing trade agreements the diplomatic, foreign-policy costs would be overwhelmingly obvious. In this, as in many other things, Sanders currently benefits from the luxury of irresponsibility: he’s never been anywhere close to the levers of power, so he could take principled-sounding but arguably feckless stances in a way that Clinton couldn’t and can’t.

But it’s also true that much of the elite defense of globalization is basically dishonest: false claims of inevitability, scare tactics (protectionism causes depressions!), vastly exaggerated claims for the benefits of trade liberalization and the costs of protection, hand-waving away the large distributional effects that are what standard models actually predict. I hope, by the way, that I haven’t done any of that; I think I’ve always been clear that the gains from globalization aren’t all that (here’s a back-of-the-envelope on the gains from hyperglobalization — only part of which can be attributed to policy — that is less than 5 percent of world GDP over a generation); and I think I’ve never assumed away the income distribution effects.

He also notes the same thing that I mentioned previously: globalization only helps the incomes of the little people if it's accompanied by significant wealth redistribution efforts, otherwise the benefits tend to be collected by the people at the top of the wealth pyramid.

edited 9th Mar '16 1:57:53 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#115108: Mar 9th 2016 at 2:02:08 PM

Which makes the whole Neo Liberal argument of Deregulation, Free Trade and 'Entitlement' Reform basically the equivalent of Shmuck Bait. And like Krugman said, Hillary should give up on the TPP and TIPP.

But I can't help but feel that being in the Neo Liberal Elite Bubble, she thinks it's a good idea and tut tut we must proceed forward.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#115109: Mar 9th 2016 at 2:05:05 PM

I don't know; I keep getting vibes from Hillary that she'd like to step out of the neoliberal bubble if she could, but feels constrained by her political obligations. Which is an argument in favor of Sanders, but only slightly. We need someone in the White House who doesn't need to spend half of their term building the connections and relationships that they need to make things happen. We also need someone who will make things happen that we generally agree are good for the country, even if those things go against the inertia of the system. Paradox.

edited 9th Mar '16 2:06:45 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#115110: Mar 9th 2016 at 2:11:12 PM

I get similar sort of vibe, but it rings more "Good intentions, but she's an upper class yuppie who might be a bit of a twit and never steps out of her upper class yuppie bubble, but she sort of gets it, but she's convinced of the good her bubble has told her is good."

Like she says, she's ultimately a decent human being who gives a damn, but the way she expresses it is. Well. An artifact of the New Democrats and the whole "End of History" milarky, and having gotten very very rich.

Though there's also an issue of a sort of "Rules don't apply to me" thing with the E-Mail Server and Clinton Foundation investigations that Owl keeps bringing up.

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#115112: Mar 9th 2016 at 2:23:58 PM

I don't get it. Is it a gif or something.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Demonic_Braeburn Yankee Doodle Dandy from Defective California Since: Jan, 2016
Yankee Doodle Dandy
#115113: Mar 9th 2016 at 2:29:24 PM

Jeb Bush is meeting with the three Republican presidential candidates seeking to take down front-runner Donald Trump before Thursday's GOP debate, according to a new report.

Neil Bush, brother of George and Jeb, joins Ted Cruz's finance team.

Ted Cruz says he would have no problem with a contested convention over the summer in the event neither he nor Donald Trump secures enough delegates before then to lock up the Republican presidential nomination.

Trump is right in pointing out that Cruz was against this idea a few weeks ago. I think Cruz finally realized that he can't beat Trump without working together.

edited 9th Mar '16 2:46:28 PM 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.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#115114: Mar 9th 2016 at 2:29:38 PM

[up][up]If the link is working like it's supposed to, yes. It's a gif and where you should be looking is the bottom right corner

In hindsight, not sure it's legit, but it's amusing nonetheless.

edited 9th Mar '16 2:33:51 PM by sgamer82

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#115115: Mar 9th 2016 at 2:40:08 PM

I personally would still wish for a Congressional reassurance that Hillary won't be able to flipflop on the International Corporation Handouts. Hence what I said before about a Sanders campaign on Congress.

I also wonder what the actual effects of renegating on the older ICHs would be.

And for the record, I am rooting for Trump over Cruz.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#115116: Mar 9th 2016 at 4:06:18 PM

As an aside, here's the daily quote from my local newspaper:

"Anybody who wants the presidency so much that he'll spend two years organizing and campaigning for it is not to be trusted with the office." — David Broder (1929 - 2011)

So, I guess that rules out... everybody?

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#115117: Mar 9th 2016 at 4:14:24 PM

[up]Well, the problem (as is much with politics) is that just because it's underhanded doesn't mean it isn't effective, and there's an arms race going on between campaign strategies. Undesirable politicians are able to get away with "cheating", so the only way for "good" politicians to win is to cheat better.

Leviticus 19:34
Artificius from about a foot and a half away from a monitor. Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Norwegian Wood
#115118: Mar 9th 2016 at 4:55:15 PM

So I've been trying to explain Fpt P voting and the damn-near inevitability of a two-party system under it to my libertarian friend for like two years, and was always met with a glazed stare and a shift to a different element of politics or current events. One video about it using colorful animals, and I finally got through! CGP Grey rocks! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7tWHJfhiyo

edited 9th Mar '16 4:59:30 PM by Artificius

"I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once."
ILoveDogs Since: May, 2010
#115119: Mar 9th 2016 at 5:14:14 PM

It's a shame that nothing will ever change, because it seems simple enough to explain.

Artificius from about a foot and a half away from a monitor. Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Norwegian Wood
#115120: Mar 9th 2016 at 5:28:37 PM

It just might. My precinct caucus discussed the issues with Fpt P after the older folks left, and the younger folks are with one exception the delegates to the state convention. It seems a bit like awareness of voting mechanics might be blooming among the general population and not just among the political science majors. To borrow another Dune quote: "Knowing there's a trap is the first step on the road to avoiding it."

edited 9th Mar '16 5:29:30 PM by Artificius

"I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once."
tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#115121: Mar 9th 2016 at 6:27:14 PM

A Federal District judge out of Puerto Rico says the Supreme Court's gay marriage ruling does not apply to the territory since it is "unincorporated."

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#115122: Mar 9th 2016 at 6:29:40 PM

[up]

Kind of have to side with the judge on that one - Puerto Rico (and other "US Territories") are given the short end of the stick in regards to legal recognition, so why should US laws apply as stridently there? It'd be nice to see that used as a push to grant those territories Statehood, though.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#115123: Mar 9th 2016 at 7:24:28 PM

[up]I can see the judge's point, but I'd argue before the Supreme Court that gay marriage has been established as a fundamental human right and that it must be allowed anywhere within the sovereign territories of the United States.

SciFiSlasher from Absolutely none of your business. Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#115124: Mar 9th 2016 at 7:24:54 PM

[up] But fifty is a good number. We really don't need any more states.

"Somehow the hated have to walk a tightrope, while those who hate do not."
CassidyTheDevil Since: Jan, 2013
#115125: Mar 9th 2016 at 7:28:36 PM

I know a lot of people say they would move out of America if Trump is elected president, what if a lot of them follow through, causing mass emigration from America? Also there might be lots of refugees from Trump's official racist program.


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