US Politics

According to the religious nutters on AFR, namely Bryan Fischer via 'Focal Point', the SPLC is being labeled a hate group by the right, far right, and religious right. They are citing SPLC's listing of Fischer, Nawaz, et al as proof the SPLC is now a hate group and being dismissed by others.

Any truth in this or just more alternative/twisting of facts to support an agenda?
 
NRA is fantastic at propaganda and yet this clip went well past any rights chatter or amendment nonsense. It's an outright call to arms, a pleading for a civil war. The woman in the clip, Dana Loesch, works for The Blaze. Would Jesus approve of such vitriol?

http://www.salon.com/2017/06/29/the-nra-just-released-a-violent-terrifying-ad/

https://www.pastemagazine.com/artic...-the-new-nra-ad-that-stops-just-short-of.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/national-rifle-association-ad-call-to-violence-2017-6
 
Illinois is in a world of hurt financially.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/29/investing/illinois-budget-crisis-downgrade/index.html

And it is a huge mess that BOTH parties share the blame for.

3 straight years of not passing a budget. In the past out-right lies being written into the budgets to make it appear it was a balanced budget when it was not. $251 BILLION....YES BILLION in unfunded pensions. Powerful Unions that fought for pension plans that it knew the State could never afford and the State giving in to them. $15 BILLION....yes that is BILLION again in unpaid bills. Might not be able to pay out to any large lottery winners soon (just goes to show the cash problem they have).

What a freaking mess in the 5th largest state in the US.

And again, this is one that falls on the plates of BOTH parties.
 
David Frum with an excellent piece for The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/01/the-great-republican-revolt/419118/

Long read though.

Since 1984, nearly every Democratic presidential-primary race has ended as a contest between a “wine track” candidate who appealed to professionals (Gary Hart, Michael Dukakis, Paul Tsongas, Bill Bradley, and Barack Obama) and a “beer track” candidate who mobilized the remains of the old industrial working class (Walter Mondale, Dick Gephardt, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton).


:lol: what the feck? How does hillary "america is already great" clinton get in the second category? the same hillary clinton whose firewall evaporated in the old "working class" states like wisconsin ohio michigan and pennsylvania?
 
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Not sure what De Blasio was thinking by deciding to go to Germany to attend some protests.

He missed a swearing-in ceremony for NYPD recruits which comes a day after a cop got assassinated in New York whilst she was in her police car.
 
Democrats just won 2 local special elections in Oklahoma. The 2 previous GOP representatives had resigned after allegations of inappropriate conduct.

Impressive stuff especially when you look at the stats below.



 
U.S. Lawmakers Seek to Criminally Outlaw Support for Boycott Campaign Against Israel

THE CRIMINALIZATION OF political speech and activism against Israel has become one of the gravest threats to free speech in the West. In France, activists have been arrested and prosecuted for wearing T-shirts advocating a boycott of Israel. The U.K. has enacted a series of measures designed to outlaw such activism. In the U.S., governors compete with one another over who can implement the most extreme regulations to bar businesses from participating in any boycotts aimed even at Israeli settlements, which the world regards as illegal. On U.S. campuses, punishment of pro-Palestinian students for expressing criticisms of Israel is so commonplace that the Center for Constitutional Rights refers to it as “the Palestine Exception” to free speech.

But now, a group of 43 senators — 29 Republicans and 14 Democrats — wants to implement a law that would make it a felony for Americans to support the international boycott against Israel, which was launched in protest of that country’s decades-old occupation of Palestine. The two primary sponsors of the bill are Democrat Ben Cardin of Maryland and Republican Rob Portman of Ohio. Perhaps the most shocking aspect is the punishment: Anyone guilty of violating the prohibitions will face a minimum civil penalty of $250,000 and a maximum criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in prison.

PC gone mad, freedom under attack, etc.
 
After years of Tea Party demands for smaller government, Republicans are now pushing up against a growing consensus that the government should guarantee health insurance. A Pew survey in January found that 60 percent of Americans believe the federal government should be responsible for ensuring that all Americans have health coverage. That was up from 51 percent last year, and the highest in nearly a decade.

The belief held even among many Republicans: 52 percent of those making below $30,000 a year said the federal government has a responsibility to ensure health coverage, a huge jump from 31 percent last year. And 34 percent of Republicans who make between $30,000 and about $75,000 endorsed that view, up from 14 percent last year.
...
There has been an increase in the percentage of Republicans and Democrats saying that Medicaid is important for them and their families; between February and July the percentage of Republicans saying so had increased 10 points, to 53 percent.
...
Mr. Greenberg said the growing belief that the government should make sure people have health coverage was less an outbreak of compassion than a matter of affordability. In focus groups he conducted, Trump voters said they wanted the president and Congress to lower their health insurance premiums; they did not want to lose the Affordable Care Act’s protections against insurers charging more to people with pre-existing conditions, or denying coverage of basic health benefits.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/20/...n-pennsylvania.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur
 
Long may that trend continue.

Now if we can get people to stop voting against their own interests like idiots.
If you ask voters honestly which means including costs and other consequences, the results look very different. Obviously everybody likes a free lunch. Paying for it? Not so much. That's why the ACA is constructed in a way to hide the costs.
 
If you ask voters honestly which means including costs and other consequences, the results look very different. Obviously everybody likes a free lunch. Paying for it? Not so much. That's why the ACA is constructed in a way to hide the costs.

Not very different.
Support=60%, oppose = 23% wtht taxes mentioned
Support=44%, oppose=31% after taxes mentioned (different sample)

So obviously the way forward for leftists would be to target the 20-25% unsure. Including arguments about the final cost in Canada, etc.
 
Most people hold contradictory views and consequently the results of polls are 90% dependent on the framing of the question.
People want good and cheap (for them personally) healthcare. Consequently that creates a great deal of opportunism and universal healthcare is a way to combine these things: most people get somewhat decent care and the costs are hidden for most. Nobody can actually identify (except if you are a high income earner) how much in hidden contributions he has to pay.
That's important because most people simply don't want to know about it.
In that sense government administrated universal healthcare is something that is probably supported by a majority.
Still the approval of any specific law/proposal depends entirely on the subjective framing.
 
I can’t even remember why I opposed it,” said Patrick Murphy, who owns Bagel Barrel, on a quaint and bustling street near Mr. Brahin’s law office here in Doylestown.
Obama might have something to do with it.
 
If you ask voters honestly which means including costs and other consequences, the results look very different. Obviously everybody likes a free lunch. Paying for it? Not so much. That's why the ACA is constructed in a way to hide the costs.
If you point out to people honestly that the taxes will take the place of the premiums and deductibles they are currently paying, I'd imagine they'd still support it.

When you see taxes mentioned and people turn against it, it is typically because they believe the taxes are going to be on top of what they're already paying for healthcare