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General politics thread (was: General U.S. politics thread)

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Comments

  • Also great news. Because voters rejected Amendment 1, Tesla is now finally setting up shop in Orlando with plans to expand throughout the state for solar power.



    http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/nations-largest-solar-installer-open-florida-facility-43899405
  • edited 2016-12-01 18:18:29
    Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Re Frank Powers: This was the 2008 general election to replace Vito Fossella in NY-13, after he decided not to run for re-election following revelation of a scandal.  Basically, the Republicans wanted to run Frank Powers, and then Powers's son, Frank M. Powers, decided to run against his dad because of political disagreements, and then the elder Frank Powers died, and then the Republicans scrambled to find another person to run.

    More details (because they don't fit when I copy-paste them): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vito_Fossella#2008_election

    Re Dede Scozzafava: This was the 2009 special election to replace John M. McHugh in NY-23, after McHugh became Secretary of the Army.  Local Republicans nominated State Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, but national Republicans, fueled by Tea Party sentiment, hated her for being "too liberal" and backed Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman instead.  This became a huge drama with national attention from politically-involved people, and eventually ended with Scozzafava dropping out, then endorsing Owens, within days of the special election.

    More details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dede_Scozzafava#2009_special_election
  • ... only in Florida.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Larry Craig still isn't gay.
  • President Obama has denied a drilling permit to the Dakota Access Pipeline.



    Fuck yes
  • "In a mad world, only the mad are sane!"-Akira Kurosawa, Ran
    *insert autistic screeching here about how this is protest working and not politics working*
  • He who laments and can't let go of the past is forever doomed to solitude.
    My issue is that the company will just reroute.
  • BeeBee
    edited 2016-12-07 06:48:38
    My issue is that it took a supposedly progressive president a fucking month to get around to saying "yeah maybe we shouldn't be violently ejecting natives from land we gave them in a treaty after violently ejecting them the first time".  And people wonder why I don't like the guy.  He took so long to do it that they can keep it alive in litigation long enough for Trump to shove it back through again.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    vandro wrote: »
    My issue is that the company will just reroute.


    Given that the "default" would be that they'd still get the pipeline anyway, just in a worse place, it's at least a partial gain to bother them about it to pick a better route, even if it's not the best possible outcome which would be no pipeline at all.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Detailed observations from someone who served as a recount observer in
    Michigan.  Worth a read if you care about the details of how the voting,
    vote-counting, and recounting processes work.

    http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/8/1608704/-Notes-from-the-Michigan-Recount
  • It's official: Keith Ellison vs Labor Secretary Tom Perez for DNC chair.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Some disgusting stuff from the North Carolina Republicans.  Requires quick action to respond because it's going to happen (if it does) in the lame-duck session.

    http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/14/1611242/-North-Carolina-GOP-shreds-democracy-acts-to-strip-power-from-new-Democratic-governor-and-high-court
  • Even Worse. Tom Wheeler will step down, giving Trump the majority he needs to remove net neutrality on his first day
  • Which they can do without doing a thing. They can just not enforce it or keep it, but allow zero netting (basically pay your ISP to give you unlimited free Wi-Fi). That's the best case scenario. Worst case is Congress makes it impossible to restore net neutrality
  • edited 2016-12-31 15:48:10
    Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/30/1615777/-Law-stripping-Dem-NC-Gov-Elect-of-his-powers-blocked

    Wake County Superior Court Judge Don Stephens ruled Friday that the risk
    to free and fair elections justified stopping the law from taking
    effect this weekend until it could be reviewed more closely. Stephens
    plans to review the law Thursday.
  • Meet Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, a potential candidate for Governor next year in Florida. http://floridapolitics.com/archives/229778-andrew-gillum-possible-2018-governor-candidate-launches-campaign-defend-local-solutions

    He's my pick, personally.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX-03), an 86-year-old representing part of the Dallas suburbs that went from 64-34 Romney to 55-41 Trump, has decided he will not run for re-election.
  • edited 2017-01-06 22:19:09
    Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    FYI, a couple special elections coming up on January 10, in Virginia -- SD22 and HD85.

    The HD85 Dem candidate is an environmental science high school teacher IIRC.

    Handy links to campaign sites here: http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/5/1617417/-I-predicted-this-Republicans-freaked-by-Daily-Kos-Thanks-to-David-Nir
  • Jared Kushner, Trump's son in law, was just named Senior Advisor to the President.



    This violates anti nepotism laws.
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    I see US is reaching our standards, heheheheh.
  • BeeBee
    edited 2017-01-09 20:56:57
    From NY Times:

    Since speculation began about Mr. Kushner’s possible role in the White House, some ethics experts had questioned whether it would be legal under federal anti-nepotism laws. Norman L. Eisen, who was the chief White House ethics lawyer under President Obama, said he did not believe Mr. Kushner’s appointment would violate those laws, but he added that the case was “muddy” even if Mr. Kushner declined to accept a salary, as his lawyers have proposed.

    What I'm getting from this is that even Trump's shadier appointees like Kushner and Tillerson are taking better steps to properly divest than Trump himself is.  There are plenty of problems with these people, but legally it seems to be permissible.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Looks like we'll be seeing a good test of any and all fraud/corruption/graft prevention measures.

    Seems like the weak ones -- the "let's not do this because it makes us look bad" -- are already being run over.
  • We had the worst president of our lifetime twice. First with ideologue Bush, now with fascist Trump.
  • edited 2017-01-19 18:33:41
    Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human

    More Questions Arise About DeVos


    Secretary of Education-designate Betsy DeVos has had a rough time getting confirmed. She faced
    uncomfortable questions about her family's donations to the Republican Party (acknowledging that
    $200 million is well within the realm of possibility), about her understanding of standardized tests
    (she has no real understanding), and about guns in the classroom (which she suggested are
    essential for protecting students against grizzly bears). She was also asked about her
    role as vice president of the Focus on the Family foundation, a stridently anti-LGBT organization
    that—among other goals—promotes "gay conversion" therapy. DeVos said that she had nothing
    to do with the family-run foundation, and that if she was listed as an officer, it was a "clerical error."


    On Wednesday, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH)—who is getting her Senate career off to a very fast start,
    and leading the charge against DeVos—got
    her hands
    on 17 years' worth of tax returns for Focus on the Family, and found that DeVos was listed as
    vice president on all of them. The Senator observed that it's "concerning" to blame a clerical
    error for 17 straight years. Thus far, DeVos and the Trump camp have refused to comment, though
    this matter will undoubtedly come up very quickly when DeVos faces the Senate again. (Z)


    source: today's electoral-vote.com write-up

    Also from the same source:

    Pruitt Faces Withering Fire; Admits Climate Change is Man-made


    Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt
    went before
    the Senate on Wednesday, seeking confirmation as administrator of the EPA.
    Pruitt has, in the past, been skeptical that climate change is real, and/or that
    it is man-made. This made it serendipitous, perhaps, that the World
    Meteorological Organization
    released
    its annual report on Earth's climate just hours before Pruitt's hearing began.
    It revealed that 2016 was the hottest year on record. This broke the record set
    in...2015. Which broke the record set in...2014.


    Presented with this evidence, and under aggressive cross-examination from
    Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Pruitt broke with his boss-to-be Donald Trump,
    saying, "I do not believe climate change is a hoax. Science tells us that the
    climate is changing, and that human activity, in some manner, impacts that
    change."


    Despite the Senator's prodding, Pruitt would not go further, and pointedly refused to say
    that man is the primary cause of global warming. Nonetheless, for those who are concerned about
    this issue, it's a start. Indeed, there's a case to be made that only a Republican administration
    has the capacity to build a consensus on climate change action, since they have credibility
    with deniers that Democrats do not. Just as only Nixon could go to China, maybe only Trump (or Pence)
    can cool the planet. (Z)


    Certainly an optimistic assessment!
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Well we're now officially one step closer to the apocalypse.

    (Magus chuckles.)
  • edited 2017-01-21 14:31:15
    "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    "It's actually funny business with those lefties smashing windows in Starbucks. It's like shitting all over your nest."

    - from the internet, fixed for context. (edit reason: grammar)
  • edited 2017-01-21 19:19:35
    Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    The first executive action taken by Trump: screw over homeowners.  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/20/trumps-first-executive-action-cancel-obamas-mortgage-premium-cuts/96853446/

    in case you're curious, messing with the Affordable Care Act -- basically vaguely telling federal agencies to stop enforcement -- was his second.

    In more amusing (or maybe disturbing) news: http://ew.com/movies/2017/01/20/trump-bane-inauguration-speech/
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