American Politics IX: Winter is Coming

[Greater Miami Shores 3]

So what did Trump actually do to be the Second Greatest President in history?

Oh my god, who cares?

I care and millions of American Patriot Citizens of the USA care. We just happen to strongly disagree with you and you guys. GMS with Pride and Honor.

[Weivaren]

Oh my god, who cares?

I care and millions of American Patriot Citizens of the USA care. We just happen to strongly disagree with you and you guys. GMS with Pride and Honor.

Two words: cognitive dissonance.

[Thermodolia]

President Biden has raised the minimum wage for federal workers to $15/hr

Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. federal agencies have been directed to raise the minimum wage for government employees to $15 an hour, according to a new guidance from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

The directive will impact almost 70,000 federal employees most of whom work at the Departments of Defense, Agriculture and Veteran Affairs, OPM said in a statement on Friday.

President Biden made supporting blue-collar workers a priority of his presidential campaign, saying strong unions and higher wages could resurrect America's middle class while helping bridge economic and racial inequities.

Last year Biden issued an executive order raising wages of federal contract workers to $15 an hour.

"Raising pay rates across the federal government to a minimum of $15 per hour reflects our appreciation for the federal workforce and our values as a nation," Kiran Ahuja, Director of the Office of Personnel Management, said in the statement.

OPM has asked agencies to implement the new wage by Jan. 30, and it excludes the U.S. Postal Service and Postal Regulatory Commission, the statement said.

Great. Now make it universal

Can’t do that without congress but Biden could have also required federal contractors to raise their wages as well

[Thermodolia]

I have a question for this thread: If America had a government similar to the ones in Canada or Britain, which allows for the legislature to issue a vote of no confidence or the president/prime minister could call an election what would that look like?

In this case let’s look at the Trump and Biden government chances are I can see democrats issuing votes of no confidence and congress being dissolved.

We'd have gone probably the past 20 years without a functioning government lol

At least we’d put stupid Belgium in second place

[Umeria]

Nuclear energy isn't all bad but it's not going to fix climate change. The problem isn't even the meltdowns or the waste, it's that building them, maintaining them, mining and transporting the fissionable material, etc. requires a significant amount of fossil fuels. Also we don't have an infinite supply of fissionable material.

You’ve got all those problems with renewables (mining, transport etc.)

There’s not an infinite amount of stuff for anything and that includes the stuff needed make and supply renewable infrastructure too.

Yes, that's why neither technology solves climate change.

It’s the antinuclear Luddite attitude that has helped contribution to the current situation. As I have said before, anyone who has opposed nuclear energy in the past (for any reason) should have no place in the discussion. It’s really worse than racism.

So the energy industries and governments of the world ignored environmentalists with regards to coal and oil, but listened to them with regards to nuclear? Isn't a simpler explanation that nuclear power just isn't the endless energy source with no downsides that it's been portrayed as?

True, but we have enough for a century, taking increased consumption into account.
That gives us extra time to find a true alternative like nuclear fusion or efficient solar harvesting.

During this century, natural disasters and extreme weather events are going to intensify from the greenhouse gases we've already emitted. Nuclear power plants need to be built next to a large body of water. What happens during a hurricane? Maybe the plant won't melt down, but it will have to shut down. What's the secondary power source if that happens?

Fusion isn't a true alternative either. While there's much more lithium than uranium or thorium, the process of mining and transporting it, in addition to building and maintaining the plants, requires fossil fuels.

There’s an absurd amount of thorium. And fuel can be reprocessed etc. Running out isn’t really a problem for now - at least compared to billions dying from a climate crisis.

There's only about 3-4x more thorium than uranium. And it's not really about running out, it's about needing to dig deeper and deeper to find it. These processes are almost impossible to do without using fossil fuels at some point.

And it’s technology thanks needed to bootstrap to the next generation of power sources.

Let's say we find a power source that generates an infinite amount of energy with no environmental cost. What do you think we're going to do with that power? Expand. Deforestation, industrialized agriculture, overfishing etc. would continue until we run out of those resources and armageddon ensues with mass starvation and wars over water. Remember that fuel for electric power is just one of many scarce resources that we're consuming at an unsustainable rate.

[Kowani]

Biden raises federal minimum wage to $15 an hour

The Biden administration will start paying federal civilian employees a $15 hourly minimum wage by the end of the month, the Office of Personnel Management announced Friday, raising the pay for thousands of workers across the federal government.

OPM Director Kiran Ahuja in a new memo provided guidance to agency leaders for adjusting pay rates to at least a $15 hourly rate for federal employees stationed in the United States. An estimated 67,000 employees across the 2.2 million federal civilian workforce will be affected by the policy changes, OPM said.

"As the largest employer in the country, how the federal government treats its workforce has real impact," said Ahuja in a statement. "The Biden-Harris Administration believes that the federal workforce should be treated with dignity and respect. Raising pay rates across the federal government to a minimum of $15 per hour reflects our appreciation for the federal workforce and our values as a nation." The salary changes "must be effective beginning on the first day of the first applicable pay period commencing on or after January 30, 2022," the OPM memo states.

This comes after President Joe Biden, within days of taking office, directed OPM to issue a report with recommendations for promoting a $15 per hour minimum wage for federal employees. In response, OPM established an interagency working group to develop those recommendations, which then issued a report to the White House, OPM said. Friday's announcement is reflective of those recommendations, the office noted.

Most of the federal employees paid below $15 hourly are currently employed by the Departments of Agriculture, Defense and Veterans Affairs, per OPM. The US Postal Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission are not included in the $15 minimum wage policy since they are outside OPM's authority, OPM noted.

Friday's announcement further highlighted how federal workers in a variety of roles across the country will benefit from this new minimum wage policy, including about 130 wildland firefighters, 400 plant protection technicians, 3,800 custodial workers and roughly 50,000 Defense Department employees at military bases around the US, among others.

"Increasing pay rates to at least $15 per hour will keep the federal government competitive in the marketplace and is another way that we can serve as a model employer, setting a high bar for other sectors to follow," Ahuja said Friday.

This measure also follows Biden's executive order issued in April requiring federal contract workers' hourly minimum wage to be increased to $15 in early 2022.

[-Astoria-]

Reporting on what happened — even if it turns out to be not in your favour — is not "maligning"; have you read the articles yet?

Don't...expect him to. Evidence comes behind fealty to and worship of the Republican's Golden Lamb.

Humour me a while... oh, wait.

[Greater Miami Shores 3]

Don't...expect him to. Evidence comes behind fealty to and worship of the Republican's Golden Lamb.

Humour me a while... oh, wait.

The Maverick and I and millions of us worship President Ronald Reagan, President Donald Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis for being great Presidents and a great Governor, according us. Not in the negative ways you guys describe.

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

Humour me a while... oh, wait.

The Maverick and I and millions of us worship President Ronald Reagan, President Donald Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis for being great Presidents and a great Governor, according us. Not in the negative ways you guys describe.

Do you worship Our Lord in Heaven as well?

[Fauzjhia]

The Maverick and I and millions of us worship President Ronald Reagan, President Donald Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis for being great Presidents and a great Governor, according us. Not in the negative ways you guys describe.

I wouldn't go as far as worship, and I'm not Reagan's biggest advocate, but they're definitely in my good books.

I can't respect a man who had ties with the mafia, and whose ideology of removing the state as regulator of economy, is the very fundamental cause of our societal, environmental, social and political problems.
the very idea that business will self-regulate if we leave them be by themselves is BULLSHIT.

it seem the concept of responsibility is just gone from our world.

edit : and that I am not saying that business are evil by nature, but there are certainly too many people who are not willing to limit their own greed.

[The Alma Mater]

edit : and that I am not saying that business are evil by nature, but there are certainly too many people who are not willing to limit their own greed.

Obviously. Remember - in capitalism the goal is to provide the lowest quality for the highest price.

[Greater Miami Shores 3]

The Maverick and I and millions of us worship President Ronald Reagan, President Donald Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis for being great Presidents and a great Governor, according us. Not in the negative ways you guys describe.

I wouldn't go as far as worship, and I'm not Reagan's biggest advocate, but they're definitely in my good books.

The leftists, liberal, Democrat, progressives, leftist of all kinds and anti Trump Republicans, call us Cultists, say Trump is our Messiah, our Dear Leader, God Emperor and Lord. So I respond to them we are Trump Cultists, Ronald Reagan Cultists and Ron DeSantis Cultists, with Pride and Honor, because we strongly agree with most of their economic, political and social policies. This is why I say not in the negative ways they describe. I would love to read a Factbook on your South Florida Republic.

[Vassenor]

I wouldn't go as far as worship, and I'm not Reagan's biggest advocate, but they're definitely in my good books.

The leftists, liberal, Democrat, progressives, leftist of all kinds and anti Trump Republicans, call us Cultists, say Trump is our Messiah, our Dear Leader, God Emperor and Lord. So I respond to them we are Trump Cultists, Ronald Reagan Cultists and Ron DeSantis Cultists, with Pride and Honor, because we strongly agree with most of their economic, political and social policies. This is why I say not in the negative ways they describe. I would love to read a Factbook on your South Florida Republic.

OK, cool. Now when are you going to address the evidence of Republican voter fraud I provided to you?

[The Jamesian Republic]

The Maverick and I and millions of us worship President Ronald Reagan, President Donald Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis for being great Presidents and a great Governor, according us. Not in the negative ways you guys describe.

Do you worship Our Lord in Heaven as well?

“I am the lord your god you shall have no god before me.”

[Lady Victory]

The Maverick and I and millions of us worship President Ronald Reagan, President Donald Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis for being great Presidents and a great Governor, according us. Not in the negative ways you guys describe.

I wouldn't go as far as worship, and I'm not Reagan's biggest advocate, but they're definitely in my good books.

Reagan:

• Gun grabber
• Racist
• Homophobe
• Spread lies and misinformation about AIDs
• Gutted welfare, education, and social services until rendered useless
• Expanded the power and influence of the military-industrial complex
• Expanded the power and influence of corporate America
• Tripled the national debt
• Supported brutal dictatorships
• Imperialist
• Supported Right-wing death squads and terrorists
• Supported the Mujahideen
• Expanded the war on drugs which only empowered the cartels and turned prisons into labor camps
• Hypocrite
• Pathological liar
• Enriched the wealthy at the expense of the poor

Trump:

• Tried to overturn a free and fair election via coup
• Sent a secret police to Portland
• Put kids in cages in concentration camps along the border
• Racist
• Sexist
• Rapist
• Grifter
• Supporter brutal dictatorships
• Betrayed virtually all of our allies in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East
• Denied and downplayed a pandemic, then when that failed tried to shift blame on China/Democrats
• Spent a year's worth of days on the gold course
• Hypocrite
• Juvenile
• Imbecile
• Petty
• Selfish
• Pathological liar
• Did virtually nothing while the pandemic ravaged the U.S., save for taking credit for people's victories and and spreading lies and misinformation about masks, vaccines, lockdowns, etc.
• Tripled the national debt
• Crashed the economy even before the pandemic hit us
• Endorsed actual Nazis

DeSantis:

• Pathological liar
• Tried to cover up COVID deaths
• Barely tried to contain the pandemic during the Trump Admin, absolutely refuses to under the Biden Admin
• Pathological liar
• Hypocrite
• Racist
• Continuing his predecessor's work of suppressing information about climate change even though Florida will be the worst state affected by it out of all of them

And this is just the stuff I can recall. There's probably much more. Basically what I'm trying to say is that if you think these men did/are doing a good job, your opinion is worth less than dirt.

[The Alma Mater]

And this is just the stuff I can recall. There's probably much more. Basically what I'm trying to say is that if you think these men did/are doing a good job, your opinion is worth less than dirt.

Trump was a gungrabber as well.
It is amazing how republicans refuse to remember that.

[Genivaria]

edit : and that I am not saying that business are evil by nature, but there are certainly too many people who are not willing to limit their own greed.

Obviously. Remember - in capitalism the goal is to provide the lowest quality for the highest price.

I think you just described EA's business model.

[Daniel-Franklin]

Obama:

1. Allowed Citigroup to handpick his cabinet.
2. Outdid Bush in deportations.
3. Renewed the Patriot Act.
4. Continued the war in Iraq and Afghanistan while starting new wars in Libya and Syria.
5. Backed the Saudi genocidal war in Yemen.
6. Reluctantly gave support for the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion and other neo-Nazi militia troops in Ukraine to repel Russian intervention.
7. Continued the war on drugs.
8. Approved a Republican healthcare plan, which admittedly the Republicans denounced once he did so. Including its last proponent, Mitt Romney.
9. Ended habeas corpus.
10. Ordered repeated drone strikes, including against American citizens.
11. Refused to pardon Snowden, Assange, or Manning, though he did grant Manning clemency.

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

So how does Obama being shit make Ronnie any less shit?

[Genivaria]

Obama:

1. Allowed Citigroup to handpick his cabinet.
2. Outdid Bush in deportations.
3. Renewed the Patriot Act.
4. Continued the war in Iraq and Afghanistan while starting new wars in Libya and Syria.
5. Backed the Saudi genocidal war in Yemen.
6. Reluctantly gave support for the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion and other neo-Nazi militia troops in Ukraine to repel Russian intervention.
7. Continued the war on drugs.
8. Approved a Republican healthcare plan, which admittedly the Republicans denounced once he did so. Including its last proponent, Mitt Romney.
9. Ended habeas corpus.
10. Ordered repeated drone strikes, including against American citizens.
11. Refused to pardon Snowden, Assange, or Manning, though he did grant Manning clemency.

Yes Obama was like Bush 2.0 Hip Edition.

[Daniel-Franklin]

So how does Obama being shit make Ronnie any less shit?

No. Just wanted to point out that one's political heroes are often less than their image.

[Daniel-Franklin]

Obama:

1. Allowed Citigroup to handpick his cabinet.
2. Outdid Bush in deportations.
3. Renewed the Patriot Act.
4. Continued the war in Iraq and Afghanistan while starting new wars in Libya and Syria.
5. Backed the Saudi genocidal war in Yemen.
6. Reluctantly gave support for the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion and other neo-Nazi militia troops in Ukraine to repel Russian intervention.
7. Continued the war on drugs.
8. Approved a Republican healthcare plan, which admittedly the Republicans denounced once he did so. Including its last proponent, Mitt Romney.
9. Ended habeas corpus.
10. Ordered repeated drone strikes, including against American citizens.
11. Refused to pardon Snowden, Assange, or Manning, though he did grant Manning clemency.

Yes Obama was like Bush 2.0 Hip Edition.

Drone Wars 2: Now With Female Pilots.

[Kerwa]

Let's say we find a power source that generates an infinite amount of energy with no environmental cost. What do you think we're going to do with that power? Expand. Deforestation, industrialized agriculture, overfishing etc. would continue until we run out of those resources and armageddon ensues with mass starvation and wars over water. Remember that fuel for electric power is just one of many scarce resources that we're consuming at an unsustainable rate.

Yes, there also needs to be a global one child policy. The challenge is how do we get to global sustainability while avoiding miserable deaths for billions. Nuclear is part of avoiding that. But for sure th8ngs like foreign aid need to be tied to one child policies. (As would happen domestically too).

Or we could, as you suggest, just throw our hands in the air and do nothing.

[Neutraligon]

Let's say we find a power source that generates an infinite amount of energy with no environmental cost. What do you think we're going to do with that power? Expand. Deforestation, industrialized agriculture, overfishing etc. would continue until we run out of those resources and armageddon ensues with mass starvation and wars over water. Remember that fuel for electric power is just one of many scarce resources that we're consuming at an unsustainable rate.

Yes, there also needs to be a global one child policy. The challenge is how do we get to global sustainability while avoiding miserable deaths for billions. Nuclear is part of avoiding that. But for sure th8ngs like foreign aid need to be tied to one child policies. (As would happen domestically too).

Or we could, as you suggest, just throw our hands in the air and do nothing.

There is a reason China no longer has the 1 child policy.

[Genivaria]

Let's say we find a power source that generates an infinite amount of energy with no environmental cost. What do you think we're going to do with that power? Expand. Deforestation, industrialized agriculture, overfishing etc. would continue until we run out of those resources and armageddon ensues with mass starvation and wars over water. Remember that fuel for electric power is just one of many scarce resources that we're consuming at an unsustainable rate.

Yes, there also needs to be a global one child policy. The challenge is how do we get to global sustainability while avoiding miserable deaths for billions. Nuclear is part of avoiding that. But for sure th8ngs like foreign aid need to be tied to one child policies. (As would happen domestically too).

Or we could, as you suggest, just throw our hands in the air and do nothing.

Um, why? You want sustainability just make access to birth control, condoms, comprehensive sex ed, and abortion cheap and easy.
Overpopulation is a myth, we don't have a supply problem we have a distribution problem because capitalism doesn't concern itself with fulfilling need but seeking profit.