So…BOOM back DOWN to a negative GDP, historically high unemployment, closing businesses at unheard of rates, thousands dead per day, closed schools, exploding inflation, crashed stock market, empty shelves, complete supply chain gridlock, civil unrest, a failed violent coup, etc.?

What are you talking about? You MAGA morons always forget about 2020, or think Biden was president then. Hate to tell you, most economic indicators and trends are actually better than before the pandemic that Diaper Don Poorleon utterly failed on, causing irreparable damage to America and the economy in every way.

You are incapable of accepting reality.
You are also incapable of speaking English without making idiotic mistakes a second grader would be embarrassed of…but claim to have earned a degree! 😂

Perhaps, something about MAGA sure seems to cause more brain damage than a full blown meth addiction in once intelligent people, but even with functioning brains 80 year olds are not as in touch with current events, morals, or norms, nor do they have skin in the game.

It’s easy to vote for programs or projects that won’t have to be paid for, or whose deleterious effects won’t be felt until long after their death….like denying climate change. They can gamble recklessly with the future to see monetary benefits today because they won’t be here when their gamble fails disastrously in 20 years to pay the piper themselves.
I think people making the rules and laws should be expected to live under them for a minimum of 20 years, maybe more, making the age cutoff for election below 60. Nobody is getting smarter or more up to date and in tune with current events and new advanced methods of problem solving after 60.
Once upon a time experience was a valuable feature in a politician, but today the best you could say is they have lots of experience at failure and partisan gridlock no matter which party they’re in. 2 terms is enough for presidents, it should be plenty for senators, representatives, and Supreme Court justices. Professional politicians are an anathema to America, as is a political ruling class or politicians getting rich while in office, and we now have all 3 as the norm.

You have no clue how economies work. That’s obvious to everyone.
Every professional economist will tell you clearly, the attempted blackmail using the debt ceiling as a hostage has already cost hundreds of millions or more in lost revenue/investment, and will cost TRILLIONS if our credit rating is lowered significantly, which it will be soon.
How much of that spending was Republican spending (and unprecedented economic losses) from 2019-20?
How much did they/you care in 2017-20? ZERO…that’s how much.

The economy was doing great under Biden until over leveraged banks started failing. It’s still doing well, but could falter. The bank failures are 100% due to thoughtless deregulation by maggots.

“What the Republicans passed is fair even if Democrats dont like it.”
You don’t even know the topic now? “Whatever the maggots passed”…like trillions handed back to billionaires then claiming poverty, claiming millions to feed children bankrupted us, not TRILLIONS TO BILLIONAIRES. (Or do you mean the MAGA brainless budget proposal guaranteed to create a depression, massive unemployment, and doubling or tripling the homeless while bankrupting the nation?). You are such a silly little boy.

What they should have done is repeal the Trump handouts, reinstate reasonable corporate rates (with minimum tax rates so no company and no one making $75k pays zero), that would erase any need to raise the debt, but to your ilk that’s a non starter because those poor billionaires need that money for buying and destroying companies like Twitter.

ROTFLMFAHS!! First, Bush left two wars off those books, then crashed the economy into depression. Obama pulled it out and left the economy healthy and growing. Trump in 4 years, starting with a healthy economy and balanced budget spent as much in 4 years as Obama in 8, raising the spending levels like an rocket and lowered the income of the government by trillions, made gdp a NEGATIVE number, unemployment skyrocketing like never before in history, (and don’t forget over 1 MILLION DEAD Americans and what, 10 million disabled?)

Government has both an income and spending problem…wasting $40 billion on a fence that has INCREASED immigration rates (but refusing to increase border control spending to hire more agents)…wasting $10 billion on a border stunt by Texas that didn’t catch a single smuggler but caused shortages and gridlocks at the border and ports for weeks. Outraged at the idea of staffing the IRS enough to enforce tax laws despite it being guaranteed to make billions in recovered taxes that otherwise go unpaid. Causing billions to be spent protecting government workers and buildings from terrorist maggots and their mobs and death threats and bombs, molotovs, guns, nooses, etc.

Social security isn’t a general fund item, dummy. Cutting it doesn’t put money in the coffer, it merely lowers how much workers pay into their accounts and takes some from those who already paid in.

Bank failures are due to deregulation that allowed over investment without cash reserves so when interest rates went above zero, which was guaranteed to happen sometime, they were guaranteed to lose their shirts. Regulations were put in place to make that 100% illegal after 08, and were removed in 18 guaranteeing a repeat.

Inflation caused by 1/3 of every dollar being created out of thin air under Trump while our GDP tanked. Both caused inflation.

Yeah, sure…Trump caused the crisis, failed to properly address it exacerbating it by a factor of 10, finally started to a hundred days late and billions of dollars short. Biden turned a negative Trump gdp around to positive, fixed the unprecedented high unemployment under Trump, and got Covid under control…but it’s Biden that broke the camel’s back with his 10% contribution, not Trump’s 90%….in fact we should get Trump back and get the ball rolling downhill again. 🤦‍♂️

Blaming both sides (which you are attempting) doesn’t solve the problem. Solving the problem solved the problem, and Biden has solved many problems Trump left behind and solves more every day while Trump gets another indictment for criminally personally benefiting from mismanagement, fraud, thefts, sale of state secrets, covering for murders, vote fraud FOR HIM, etc.

Trying to blame Dark Brandon for the horrific mess Trump left does not solve the problem, it attempts to distract from it with nonsense.

Lol. So dishonest. Such ability at stretching reality and precognition you must have. “Everything’s good now, but it’s going to be terrible soon!”…pretty much what you said Jan 2021 but it’s been all uphill since then.

Under Trump- highest unemployment in memory : you just ignore and try to forget
Lowest gdp ever in history : you say it didn’t happen, wasn’t Trump’s fault, and when those sad excuses fall apart “doesn’t matter”
Inflation rising faster than ever with more dollars printed in 4 years than any other decade under Trump : you don’t know why that causes inflation so you blame anything but government until Biden takes office, then it becomes 100% the president’s fault.
Markets crashing : you ignored it under Trump and proclaimed it a great time to buy Tesla, and now you ignore the consistent market rise under Biden. My portfolio added 7% in the last 2 months, and the Dow is up, reaching record highs under Biden…maybe your stupid anti woke investments just suck.
Sounds horrific with over 1 million dead, millions disabled, trillions in medical bills and a near depression : you say “nothing burger, Trump’s the best at economy ever”
Food shortages, parts shortages, shipping gridlocks making it much worse : you pretend Biden was in charge in 2020 and blame him, (so ridiculous that your righty media posted dozens of photos of empty shelves from 2020 in 2021 to pretend it wasn’t better and you bought it) then you ignore that the shortages ended shortly after he was sworn in.

Republicans won’t raise the ceiling because the MAGA wing thinks default under Biden will be good for them because they believe voters are as ignorant as they are and will buy whatever they say when they blame Biden for their sabotage of the economy,….in your case they’re right. They’ve already cost untold millions by delaying so long with more harm done daily, and when they fail to raise it by June they’ll cost America trillions and kickstart a worldwide depression. Understand they still don’t have a plan at all now months after it was their duty to raise the debt ceiling like they did every year for Trump who spent like a drunken sailor with the captains treasure….squandering over 1/4 of today’s total US debt on personal ego stroking projects and gifts to billionaire donors…not one word of protest from the right as he blew up the deficit and debt by trillions every year. Not one complaint when Republican stunts cost billions (like Abbot’s grandstanding truck inspection farce that found absolutely nothing but cost $4 billion).

Republicans were in charge fully, it’s their mess. Covid didn’t hurt countries like NZ that took it seriously even a small fraction of how much Trump’s denials for months and lack of a plan ever decimated America. Trump’s/MAGA’s fault.
Government waited too long to start subsidies, giving people a reason to go to work and spread disease, ending with over 1 million deaths. You really DO get literally EVERYTHING wrong, then can’t understand why you are failing so consistently.

🤦‍♂️

Arizona secretary of state, Katie Hobbs sent a letter to the Arizona attorney general yesterday asking him to please investigate Donald Trump. And of course his close allies, Rudy Giuliani, and possibly even Sidney Powell for possible election interference in the state of Arizona.

Here's what happened in case you missed it last week, it was revealed that both the Trump white house and Rudy Giuliani on separate occasions and on multiple occasions made phone calls to officials in the state of Arizona following the November election, trying to get them to stop the counting, begging to be called back. In fact, it got so bad, the Arizona Republic detailed two separate attempts by Trump to reach Republican supervisor Clinton Hickman in the weeks after the election, as the president's allies sought to alter the election results in a state he narrowly lost to Democrat Joe Biden at the time, Hickman was chairman of the board of supervisors, the elected body that oversees elections in the state's most populous county, Maricopa. Hickman received the first call from the white house switchboard on December 31st while he was out celebrating the coming new year with his wife and friends, he let the call go to voicemail.

Second call came on the night of January 3rd after the Washington post published a recording of Trump's hour long phone call with Georgia secretary of state Hickman sought to avoid talking to the president because of ongoing litigation, any let the call go to voicemail and yes, for the record, the Arizona Republic does in fact have those voicemails where you can hear what they were trying to do. Then of course, Rudy Giuliani steps in, he starts emailing or I'm sorry, texting and calling the chairwoman of the Arizona Republican party, trying to get her to somehow interfere, stop the counting of the votes. Honestly, it is pretty much identical to what these idiots were doing over in Georgia, trying to get them to stop the vote, trying to get them to go find the votes as Trump said, and let's not forget... Trump is already under criminal investigation in Georgia. I know we all get distracted with New York, but there have been two grand juries empaneled in the state of Georgia regarding Donald Trump's potential criminal election interference in that state. That's a big deal that everybody seems to have forgotten about.

And now the same thing might happen in Arizona. There's a catch here. Arizona's attorney general, a Man by the name of Brenna Vich Is running for US Senate as a Republican. So he's got a lot, uh, got a lot at stake here. He can't PISS off Republicans by investigating Donald Trump.

Brenna Vich did, in fact, support Arizona's sweeping new voter suppression laws.

Edit: btw, multiple Republicans including but not limited to McConnell have gone public with their plan of hoping they can cause maximum chaos and division for the next 18 months because it will help them successfully block any and all legislation, then they can blame the gridlock on Democrats during the election. Total nationwide chaos with the corresponding rise in crime and damage to the economy....that's the Republican plan for victory. True patriots. 🤦‍♂️

Better donate to the Trump Twitter lawsuit quick before they manage to destroy your investment portfolio with the planned chaos...Trump can't sue social media without your cash donations because he's really a billionaire so he needs your cash...pay no attention to his standard microscopic fine print explaining that he may, at his discretion, use your donation for personal debts. Doesn't matter, DONATE NOW. He needs your money....to fight the invisible fight against those paper tigers and windmills. Please don't remember when he did the exact same thing begging for money to fight for the "election fraud" fraud in court but then pocketed the money and fired his (now disgraced and disbarred) lawyers without filing a legitimate lawsuit.

[T]hat is not the America I know.

The America I know is full of courage, and optimism, and ingenuity. The America I know is decent and generous. Sure, we have real anxieties—about paying the bills, protecting our kids, caring for a sick parent. We get frustrated with political gridlock, worry about racial divisions; are shocked and saddened by the madness of Orlando or Nice. There are pockets of America that never recovered from factory closures; men who took pride in hard work and providing for their families who now feel forgotten; parents who wonder whether their kids will have the same opportunities we had.

All that is real. We’re challenged to do better; to be better. But as I’ve traveled this country, through all fifty states; as I’ve rejoiced with you and mourned with you, what I’ve also seen, more than anything, is what is right with America. I see people working hard and starting businesses; people teaching kids and serving our country. I see engineers inventing stuff, and doctors coming up with new cures. I see a younger generation full of energy and new ideas, not constrained by what is, ready to seize what ought to be.

Most of all, I see Americans of every party, every background, every faith who believe that we are stronger together – black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American; young and old; gay, straight, men, women, folks with disabilities, all pledging allegiance, under the same proud flag, to this big, bold country that we love.





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If you need it to sound more like Trump, just pretend in the middle somewhere that he said he wanted to kill a hooker and feed a dead cat to an ATM.

Hmmmm...ok, that's not legislation but is what I meant. A forced buyback program is going to have issues.

1) I have no problem with companies having to answer for injuries caused by the prescribed, advertised proper use of their product. If shoes were sold as having the greatest shin kicking power, doing the most damage when you kick someone, shoe manufacturers should be sued by those who get kicked. If manufacturers haven't modeled and advertised in a way that suggests dangerous uses, the suits will lose. Lawyers don't take loser cases, so it won't be an issue imo. Special protections from liability are a problem imo.

2) I've never understood the endgame there. What is an assault rifle, and how are their capabilities special? That said, no one is clamoring for Uzis to come back. Without a legitimate reason for high capacity fast shooting rifles, and no attempts to ban semi auto rifles, I'm just not that bothered by it, but I do think it's placating not meaningful legislation.

3) I have zero issues with registration or background checks. That seems the right way to deal with "assault rifles". There's no reason it should be expensive or time consuming if records are up to date. If they make it expensive as a tax disincentive against ownership, I have a problem. Shooting isn't a cheap sport, $10-20 a year shouldn't bother those who spent $2k on one rifle.

4) No issue at all with voluntary buy backs. Involuntary buybacks are going to be a legal and practical nightmare.

5) one purchase per month, a bit much. One purchase at a time, I'm ok with, that's 3 a month, right? I'm suspicious of anyone who needs multiple guns quick before they calm down.

6) I'm all for universal background checks. I don't want nutjob and violent criminals buying guns they aren't allowed to own.

7) I'm all for not allowing those who can't handle day to day existence to buy guns. I'm even ok with TEMPORARY removal of their guns in some cases, but only if they're returned immediately after they're deemed competent.

misdemeanor hate crime? I thought hate crime was an enhancement charge that took a misdemeanor up to felony level. I'm definitely against taking gun rights away permanently for misdemeanors.

9) dunno what that is.

10) the problem is you can buy a receiver that needs to be finished, as little as one tiny drill hole is enough, with no serial number or registration. It's just a chunk of metal until it's finished. No problem with a background check for every purchase, but a maximum of one check per month seems a reasonable compromise.

11) with proper oversight and a system that ensures it's not abused, no problem for me.

12) Yes, strict guidelines and quick return seem necessary. 48 hours without a doctor stating it's necessary would work, but as of now they aren't ready for prime time on that it seems.

13) had that in cali forever, not an issue yet.

14) as designed, smart guns wouldn't be hackable, there's no reason for wireless connectivity. Battery? Make it charge itself by shaking it like some flashlights? I like the idea that guns can only be used by the owner, solves so many issues, mainly being shot with your own gun.

15) depends on what constitutes "safe". I agree, guns for home defense need to be available quickly.

16) some ghost guns are milled on professional cnc mills but unfinished. 3d printed guns, I'm not a fan. 3 shots is plenty to murder someone, and with no identification it's a near perfect weapon for crimes.
3d printing is advancing constantly. You can print in metal with fine details now on home equipment. I think it won't be long before stable guns can be printed if they aren't already.

Thanks for doing the research. I seriously doubt most could pass even a democratic congress but some would, and most won't pass court challenges, but I understand your reluctance to put that to the test.

If you're going to fight the swamp thing, I won't argue against leaving a few snakes in the black lagoon. Some opposition is healthy, but the ability to be obstructionist on every idea is gridlock. I don't see it getting better.

As a liberal (without TDS), I would prefer Trump just stay another 4, and we get a real Democratic candidate.

The good thing about Trump is that there is so much gridlock that neither party has the ability to pass any laws. Shit just coasts along without much change.

If Democrats win now, while TDS is in full swing, any law they pass will be an ideological (non-technocratic) over-correction.

I get that he's "the democratic party's man", but FFS, take things seriously for a change. Yang, Tulsi, Bern', all better candidates by far. But since they're not obedient party dogs I guess they're unsuitable for the job...

I mean, what's the logic? Hey, people are dumb enough to vote for a narcissist, so they must also be dumb enough to vote for someone brain damaged? Are they trying to double down on last election?

Really? This guy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FCGLidQN6M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA-GoeFGyIc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nl1b1rngXU#t=11m1s

I mean, his youtube campaign ad has him stumbling around for words. If that train wreck is what his own campaign put out, how bad were his other takes for them to say 'all right, this is the best we're gonna get' ?

If there ever was a campaign that embodied "party over country", this is it.

-scheherazade

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I've driven though South Dakota, and I have to say, a football field every three seconds is what they consider gridlock.

Interesting video. Reminds me of something I saw when I lived in Nashville in 2014. I left work at 5 and found that my usual route to I-40 was gridlocked. I figured I would flank whatever was causing it by turning around and taking the perimeter road around Nashville airport. A million other people had that same idea so we are inching along that road and then I noticed that Interstate 40 next to me was completely deserted, not a single car in either direction. I'm thinking some chemical or nuclear spill closed the interstate, that's all I could think of.

Then out of nowhere this massive motorcade like you see in the video comes flying down the interstate, sirens and blue lights flashing off of every vehicle. It was so surreal to see that appear on this dark empty interstate. Then the light bulb went off, I had no idea President Obama was in town, much less giving a speech at a high school 3 miles from my office.

Gridlock isn't on the highway, Gridlock is in the city. It's cars being "locked into the grid" of streets and cross streets. Where you can't cross an intersection on the green because the block in front of you is solid cars. Usually from people who just turned off the side street.

What are these people worried about? That traffic is hardly even bad at all. Everyone is cruising right along. That's relatively light traffic compared to where I live. I see no reason to need the shoulder, but I suppose it helps alleviate gridlock.

Before knowing that "lane" is legal to drive in, I was thinking they were all fucking douchebags because it's totally not legal here. But now it's just the driver of the silver car who is the piece of shit douchebag. I kind of wish there was such a law here, but then, where would cars pull over when they need to?

Then you end up with people taping mags together and reloading within a second or so.
Even faster if they count shots and stop firing at capacity-1 before reloading.
There are work-arounds...




Realistically, the end game of the political left is a gun ban + confiscation. The end game of the political right is total gun deregulation.
Each side needs something to argue to excuse their existence, so they will argue in their direction so long as there is anything left to argue, and those are the natural consequences.
Gridlock is literally the best thing that can happen for folks in the middle.




Syria isn't the best example. The people were not armed, and they turned to foreign auxiliaries to fight for them. They invited and gave shelter to all sorts of foreign militants to fight against their government, and made a mess of things. They would have been better off with a home-grown insurgency.

Not like a home grown insurgency would have done much good either way. The Syrian Arab spring was a democratic call for ... Islamic law. It originated in Hama, where an earlier Islamic insurgency was put down (the muslim brotherhood) by Assad's father. Half the country didn't support the insurgency against Assad, and anyone who is non-muslim or secular, or even moderate, is sitting on Assad's side of the country hoping he holds out.

But generally speaking, insurgency with small arms is what defeats occupiers over time. Not in pitched battles, but by making occupation so expensive and tedious that the occupier loses interest over time.


-schehearazde