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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Falrinn Since: Dec, 2014
#119301: Apr 18th 2016 at 4:39:25 AM

[up]

I was thinking about that. It's certainly a little ironic how New York and California could end up determining not only the 2016 Republican presidential candidate, but the future of the Republican party as a recognizable entity when neither of those states have voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1988,

Ogodei Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers from The front lines Since: Jan, 2011
Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers
#119302: Apr 18th 2016 at 6:39:37 AM

Just as fair as the complaints that Hillary is getting elected on the backs of Democrats from the Deep South, those folks have interests too.

Though remember, per RNC bylaws, only someone with 8 state wins under their belt can be considered, so all of those delegates mean nothing for Kasich unless he can pull some wins.

BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#119303: Apr 18th 2016 at 6:55:26 AM

Ted Cruz Just Reminded the Republican Establishment Why They Hate Him

It's entirely about his love of the gold standard.

He told CNBC on Friday that he wants to push America back to the gold standard. This is a hare-brained policy that no other country uses and not a single surveyed economist thinks is a good idea. Under the gold standard, a dollar is worth a certain amount of gold.

That’s great, you might think: the value of the dollar will be stable. But the exact opposite is true; gold is a commodity and its price, driven by supply and demand and speculation, swings wildly.

yoneld Thus speaks yoneld: from Haifa, Israel Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Thus speaks yoneld:
#119304: Apr 18th 2016 at 7:06:21 AM

[up]I think someone accidentally added a digit to this year; it seems we're back in AD 216.

Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.
theLibrarian Since: Jul, 2009
#119305: Apr 18th 2016 at 7:21:32 AM

I hear the denarii will be doing well this year.

Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#119306: Apr 18th 2016 at 7:23:39 AM

Isn't Kasich interested in going back to the gold standard as well?

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#119307: Apr 18th 2016 at 7:25:41 AM

For those of y'all that were not watching Good Morning America, apparently Ted Cruz did a few (bad) impressions of a few characters from The Simpsons.

Is he normally this creepy trying to act like he's a human being?

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#119308: Apr 18th 2016 at 7:27:20 AM

@Falrinn: Minor correction: New York last voted for a Republican in 1984. Dukakis won it in 1988.

"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."
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#119309: Apr 18th 2016 at 7:36:18 AM

[up][up] Yes. You should check out his Tonight Show appearance from a few days ago.

AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#119310: Apr 18th 2016 at 7:37:39 AM

I can't help but find it funny that the only good impression Cruz was able to do was Flanders.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#119311: Apr 18th 2016 at 7:48:32 AM

(Cross-posted in the General Economics thread)

Krugman: Robber Baron Recessions

Thanks in large part to Ronny Ray Gun, the last few decades have seen a staggering upswing in monopoly power, leading to both reduced capital investment and a reduced share of profits going to labor. This is why you can't get FIOS: because Verizon has no financial incentive to bother expanding service when it can milk its existing customers for cash.

edited 18th Apr '16 7:49:23 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Xopher001 Since: Jul, 2012
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#119313: Apr 18th 2016 at 9:07:45 AM

[up] That's poor etiquette. Write up a paragraph summary, don't make us click the link to have any idea what you're talking about.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
CassidyTheDevil Since: Jan, 2013
#119314: Apr 18th 2016 at 9:42:00 AM

Krugman: Robber Baron Recessions

Thanks in large part to Ronny Ray Gun, the last few decades have seen a staggering upswing in monopoly power, leading to both reduced capital investment and a reduced share of profits going to labor. This is why you can't get FIOS: because Verizon has no financial incentive to bother expanding service when it can milk its existing customers for cash.

The comments seem critical of Krugman, apparently from Sanders supporters.

I suppose you could see a disconnect between his criticism of liberals on economics, and his left-wing commentary. You see lots of criticism from right-wing commentators on other sites about that, saying his left-wing commentary is totally at odds with his economics, or used to be anyway (he's changed his mind based on evidence on some things, I believe).

He does criticize liberals and neoliberals both, despite seemingly partly supporting each in a sense (market is good, but there's a role for government). Which I guess is a little too nuanced for right-wing apologists living in fantasyland, and not satisfying to leftists who dislike academic economists on principle.

But as far as his criticism of Sanders goes, I agree with it. And I like Clinton, too. But I also feel Clinton being centrist-left is disappointing in terms of countering monopoly power, as Krugman put it. So it draws more apathy from me than enthusiasm, though not hostility. And to me, apathy is the biggest killer.

I want less apathy. Dean Baker has the right of it, you need to take control of the narratives from the conservatives, regardless of the government vs. market red herring.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#119315: Apr 18th 2016 at 11:03:32 AM

Krugman is a person who calls out BS wherever he sees it: from left or right, and that makes him a lot of enemies in the form of people who have staked their claim on bullshitting people.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#119316: Apr 18th 2016 at 11:27:29 AM

[up]Such is the burden of the centrist.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#119317: Apr 18th 2016 at 11:32:33 AM

He detests centrism, at least the phony kind that insists on giving bad arguments a voice for the sake of being perceived to be fair. Not sure how you could reasonably call him that.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
CassidyTheDevil Since: Jan, 2013
#119318: Apr 18th 2016 at 11:44:26 AM

The concept of a political center that's the best of both worlds, reasonable about everything, and accommodates what everyone wants is certainly a pleasant one.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#119319: Apr 18th 2016 at 11:45:45 AM

Not that kind of centrism, but the pragmatic position that stakes out a position between/separate from either side. He knows there's a problem with the right's position/the status quo, but he doesn't like how far the left takes it and calls them when their plans are clearly unworkable. He seems to be in the middle of the political spectrum (at least the economic portion) to me anyway.

The Cult of Centrism doesn't encompass everyone who falls in between the two party system; though it is an issue.

[up]This. Now maybe its too idealistic, at least in a country that's so polarized like the US, but centrist parties have done a lot of good around the world (though like every other type of party, they have their fair share of failures as well).

edited 18th Apr '16 11:46:47 AM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#119320: Apr 18th 2016 at 11:46:18 AM

Right, well, then he (and I) are both proud to fall into that camp. I don't believe that there is a fair middle ground between left and right positions, though. Sometimes a position is just wrong and must be called out as such. The problem with our current political polarization is that doing so labels you not as a reasonable critic but as an enemy.

We see that on both sides, but much more so on the right... at least until Sanders came along. Now his faction makes a point of using that same tactic against anyone on the left who dares gainsay him.

edited 18th Apr '16 11:53:49 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
CassidyTheDevil Since: Jan, 2013
#119321: Apr 18th 2016 at 11:58:59 AM

Yeah I like the idea, it's just...Talking about the issue of inequality, it's not so much it causing problems that's issue. It's that in that kind of situation, even though the best off people are getting the best deal they ever had and are getting a big say while everyone else is alienated, the more things are good for them, the more they feel they feel they're getting a raw deal. That's why they're lobbying so much, not just money.

I don't see centrism really responding strongly to that.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#119322: Apr 18th 2016 at 12:05:18 PM

"Centrism" doesn't respond to things. That's a bafflingly illogical point of view.

Politically, the wealthy control a lot of influence and have to be accounted for. Economically, their hoarding of wealth causes serious systemic harm, but we need some accumulation of wealth in order to provide capital for investment. Government intervention carries the risk of being hijacked by ideology. Of the various solutions offered for this situation, which is most likely to work? That's a "centrist" line of thinking.

edited 18th Apr '16 12:31:41 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
CassidyTheDevil Since: Jan, 2013
#119323: Apr 18th 2016 at 12:12:12 PM

Of the various solutions offered to this situation, which is most likely to work? That's a "centrist" line of thinking.

Ohhhh, I see. It just confuses me because there's so many people who say shut up, it's a not a problem you dirty Marxist.

Politically, the wealthy control a lot of influence and have to be accounted for.

Only if they're not in a bubble. Echo chambers are no good.

The same principle is why you need biodiversity in ecosystems, monocultures will be ravaged.

edited 18th Apr '16 12:38:46 PM by CassidyTheDevil

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#119324: Apr 18th 2016 at 12:39:32 PM

I'm not talking about whether we should back them ideologically; I'm saying that they factually, empirically, wield massive influence. If you don't pass legislation favorable to them, they will sponsor your political opponents, bad-mouth you on political talk shows, hire people to dig through your closets, even start revolutionary astroturf movements to unseat the party of which you are a member (*cough* the Koch brothers). Any systemic changes must take this into consideration or they will fail.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#119325: Apr 18th 2016 at 12:44:30 PM

I would argue that centralization or monopolies or systems arent necesarily bad. They can be just as good as branching it out to several suppliers. When several of the same ocmpanies giving the same product exist, they also tend to get into under the table agreements instead of honest competition and providing good services also becomes a null point.

I am not so sure demonizing monopolies or descentralization works. I think both can work and both have strenghts and weaknesses.

Just my experience from seeing it happen ehre in latin america all the time. People bitch about companies, because companies suck. Government monopolizes or allows monopoly to other company. Monopoly sucks after a while. People complain and demand it is descentralized.

it is cyclical.

edited 18th Apr '16 12:45:22 PM by Aszur

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes

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