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

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#245801: Jun 15th 2018 at 4:08:56 PM

I mean, it wouldn't even be the first time the government shipped a bunch of Americans of Mexican descent to Mexico.

He's just following history guys, totally nothing wrong with that.

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#245802: Jun 15th 2018 at 4:15:47 PM

The only thing is the US close to Apartheid currently is the fact that Native American reservations have legal similarities to the β€˜nations’ that black South Africans were declared to officially live in.

β€œAnd the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael β€œIf the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
SciFiSlasher from Absolutely none of your business. Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#245803: Jun 15th 2018 at 4:17:50 PM

Also, is it just me, or is this site going slow and not loading stuff properly for anyone else too?

Same. Hell, starting today, whenever I've tried to get to this thread through Google and click on the first result, it just takes me to a blank page that says "Sorry, no discussion with that id exists." When clearly, that is not the case.

"Somehow the hated have to walk a tightrope, while those who hate do not."
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#245804: Jun 15th 2018 at 4:21:35 PM

The only thing is the US close to Apartheid currently is the fact that Native American reservations have legal similarities to the β€˜nations’ that black South Africans were declared to officially live in.

Native American Reservations have long tried to use the supposed independence they had. But, no, they can't grow pot and apparently if you want to put a oil pipeline through their territory then you're just SOL.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
DeathorCake Since: Mar, 2016
#245805: Jun 15th 2018 at 4:25:09 PM

[up]X7

Well obviously we're not omniscient, so fair enough. In general terms of difficulty I'd guess that it's harder to raise taxes than lower them judging by Grover Norquist having a job. I know there's another Budget Reconciliation thing coming up before the midterms, so that might be another big whack at some important program.

Also, do the Republicans get to use their massive control of state legislatures to further gerrymander things, or do you get to take a few back before the next redistricting?

edited 15th Jun '18 4:25:31 PM by DeathorCake

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#245806: Jun 15th 2018 at 4:27:35 PM

Control of states are a part of the midterms in most cases (Virginia was decided last year), that includes not just state legislators but also governors mansions.

It’s actully the area where Dems are predicted to do best in 2018, because they’ve got so much room for gains.

Edit: Just checked the numbers, it’s 87 of the 99 state legistlstive chambers (one state obviously has only a single chamber), 6 of 9 territorial legistlstive chambers, 36 state governorships, 3 territorial governorships and the mayor of DC. All up for election this November (note that for some state legistlstive elections not all seats in all chambers will be up).

Edit: This[1] Wikipedia page has a very handy table, all the Bank spaces on the second part are results that will be determined in November.

edited 15th Jun '18 4:33:28 PM by Silasw

β€œAnd the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael β€œIf the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
TroperOnAStickV2 Call me Stick from Redneck country Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: is commanded toβ€” WANK!
Call me Stick
#245807: Jun 15th 2018 at 4:33:24 PM

... it seems to me like the budget reconciliation thing could be turned into an advantage, used to force some positive things through.

[up] do not pass Go, do not collect 200$.

edited 15th Jun '18 4:36:35 PM by TroperOnAStickV2

Hopefully I'll feel confident to change my avatar off this scumbag soon. Apologies to any scumbags I insulted.
DeathorCake Since: Mar, 2016
#245808: Jun 15th 2018 at 4:53:58 PM

[up]

You'd probably have to remove the majority of the giant pile of restrictions on it that prevent you increasing spending. Having everything be deficit neutral seems like a good way to slowly ratchet your taxes and spending down and down until your state is once more just a pension fund/insurance company with an army. Apparently you don't need to offset tax cuts because the US is always and forever on the right side of the Laffer Curve or something.

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#245809: Jun 15th 2018 at 5:14:52 PM

"If a Democrat wins in 2020, what's the actual prognosis for clearing up the mess Trump's made already? Because he already neatly cancelled out pretty much everything Obama got done with the exceptions of the ragged remnants of the ACA and then passed a massive tax cut to offset that. I'm guessing that 1.5 trillion in tax increases would be much harder to pass even if it did just cancel out the Trump cuts and reallocate that government spending to more productive ends, but most of the rest seems to be executive orders that IIRC are easy for a successive president to reverse."

Repairing and reversing Trump won't be done in our lifetimes, but it can be done and it needs to start.

Battling the American Antichrist isn't something that's done and dusted in four years.

edited 15th Jun '18 5:15:37 PM 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."
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#245810: Jun 15th 2018 at 5:19:13 PM

Incidentally, with Trump pushing for "merit-based" immigration again, I encourage everyone to look at Wikipedia's overview of the RAISE Act, which details how many points a candidate needs (30) and on what metrics those points get allotted.

I did the math for Trump's grandfather while being generous in some areas (English proficiency and age/education level, due to 18 being the minimum age you can apply and his having completed an apprenticeship) - he still only managed to gain 17 points out of the required 30.

And if anyone tries arguing that "Oh it's totally based on how well you might do!" - point out the "Job offer/highly compensated employment" and "Investment and active management of new enterprise" sections. You can get 13 points if your salary is 300% of the median for the State you're moving to, and 12 points if you invest in a new business that you have a hand in running... provided the investment is at least $1.35 Million, but that only nets you 6 points, compared to $1.8 Million getting you 12, though it does at least have the requirement that it be your primary occupation.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#245811: Jun 15th 2018 at 5:21:30 PM

[up]x2 Actually, since most of what Trump has done has been through Executive Order, it will be incredibly easy to undo most of what Trump has done, even without a Democratic House and Senate. That's sadly one of the greatest flaws of the Obama Presidency; since almost everything he did was through Executive Order (because of Congress), it was easy for Trump to undo almost all of it, except for Obamacare, which he is still having trouble with.

The hardest things to fix will be the Tax Cuts (repealing them will be massively unpopular in the short term), and the repatriation of the Illegal Immigrant Children with their Families. Both of these will require a Democratic House and Senate to fix.

edited 15th Jun '18 5:29:26 PM by DingoWalley1

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#245812: Jun 15th 2018 at 5:23:10 PM

[up] although it helps that the tax Scam is already massively unpopular.

edited 15th Jun '18 5:23:44 PM by megaeliz

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#245813: Jun 15th 2018 at 5:26:20 PM

Most of Trump's evil will simply require a mass evil with the words;

"YOU'R FIRED."

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
TroperOnAStickV2 Call me Stick from Redneck country Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: is commanded toβ€” WANK!
Call me Stick
#245814: Jun 15th 2018 at 5:26:45 PM

About the tax scam... wouldn't it go over better with the American people if the tax cuts for the lower and middle classes were kept to some extent and those on the rich and corporations reversed?

Hopefully I'll feel confident to change my avatar off this scumbag soon. Apologies to any scumbags I insulted.
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#245815: Jun 15th 2018 at 5:27:41 PM

Probably, but the rich and corporations wouldn't actually like that set up.

DrDougsh Since: Jan, 2001
#245816: Jun 15th 2018 at 5:34:28 PM

Sounds more like a feature than a bug.

Mio Since: Jan, 2001
#245817: Jun 15th 2018 at 5:45:25 PM

[up][up][up]Most Americans didn't even really see a benefit from the tax cuts so all the tax cuts could theoretically be reversed with little grief. However it's unclear how well that would go over with people in reality so it might be good for rhetoric if nothing else.

[up]There is always a risk that companies could try to do what Amazon, Starbucks, and co. did in Seattle this week, but I don't think we need to worry about it as much at the national level.

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#245818: Jun 15th 2018 at 5:48:31 PM

Might have to be a little clearer on what it was they did this week, as most of my news has to do with Starbucks shutting down for sensitivity training and Trump basically hating on Amazon's owner because he also owns the Washington Post.

TrashJack Confirmed Doomer from beyond the Despair Event Horizon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Confirmed Doomer
#245819: Jun 15th 2018 at 5:51:36 PM

[up]x3 It does, until the rich and corporations throw their financial weight behind the next Republican candidates' campaigns in an attempt to save as much of their cash from taxation as possible. Once the GOP win those races, they start pandering to the rich and corporations while dismantling everything else you've tried to accomplish.

edited 15th Jun '18 5:55:49 PM by TrashJack

"Cynic, n. β€” A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be." - The Devil's Dictionary
Mio Since: Jan, 2001
#245820: Jun 15th 2018 at 6:00:29 PM

[up][up]Seattle passed a tax on certain large businesses in order to try to fund efforts to combat homelessness a month or so ago. Amazon, Starbucks and other large companies immediately began a campaign to get it repealed and succeeded in making Seattle do so this week.

https://www.npr.org/2018/06/13/619444956/seattle-repeals-tax-on-big-business-after-opposition-from-amazon-starbucks

TroperOnAStickV2 Call me Stick from Redneck country Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: is commanded toβ€” WANK!
Call me Stick
#245821: Jun 15th 2018 at 6:27:58 PM

[up][up] Which is why campaign finance reform needs to be a priority, by brute (political) force if need be.

Hopefully I'll feel confident to change my avatar off this scumbag soon. Apologies to any scumbags I insulted.
pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#245822: Jun 15th 2018 at 7:41:26 PM

I vaguely recall, a decade or three ago, some politician (almost certainly a Republican) suggesting the deportation of everyone from New Mexico — until somebody pointed out to him that New Mexico is actually a US state, and not part of a neighboring foreign country.

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

edited 15th Jun '18 7:52:29 PM by pwiegle

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#245823: Jun 15th 2018 at 8:19:39 PM

"The hardest things to fix will be the Tax Cuts (repealing them will be massively unpopular in the short term), and the repatriation of the Illegal Immigrant Children with their Families. Both of these will require a Democratic House and Senate to fix."

The dozens of judge vacancies Trump filled are going to stick around much longer.

"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."
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#245824: Jun 15th 2018 at 8:53:47 PM

Somehow I feel like there will be plenty of vacancies to fill. Since he's basically just let a whole bunch of offices lie empty.

And frankly, I feel like they should start fielding a bill for making the showing of their tax returns a requirement of a candidate. That, I hope, would save us some trouble in the future.

TheRoguePenguin Since: Jul, 2009
#245825: Jun 15th 2018 at 8:56:56 PM

The vacancies he's leaving open are ones in his own administration. Those would get swapped out or filled by the next pres anyway. It's the judges that will stick around, and McConnell damn well knows it.


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