American Politics IV: 1400 Reasons Why(A Stimulus Serial)

[San Lumen]

https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/542370-white-house-says-bidens-dogs-will-return-soon

White House says Biden's dogs will return soon.

A reporter had the audacity to ask if Major would euthanized and Press Secretary Psaki said that would not happen.


https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ed_content
Psaki also said the upcoming White House cat will be an internet sensation when it arrives.

1. Good! They're good boys. And girls, potentially!

2. White House kitty! Yay!

https://www.today.com/pets/biden-s-dogs ... se-t211146

CNN reported that the dogs typically stay at the Biden's home in Wilmington when the First Lady is traveling.

This is not the first time presidential dog has bit someone. One of George W. Bush's terriers Barney bit a Reuters reporter causing a minor injury. Both Barney and Miss Beazley had issues with reporters.

Clinton was the last President to have a cat.

[Kowani]

Iowa bills would prevent teachers from talking about Trans issues, restrict trans students from using bathrooms that align with their gender, force schools to “out” students to their parents if they choose to use pronouns that are different from the ones listed on their birth certificates, and deny transgender athletes the ability to compete in sports or on teams which align with their gender.

[San Lumen]

Iowa bills would prevent teachers from talking about Trans issues, restrict trans students from using bathrooms that align with their gender, force schools to “out” students to their parents if they choose to use pronouns that are different from the ones listed on their birth certificates, and deny transgender athletes the ability to compete in sports or on teams which align with their gender.

I wonder if Republicans are trying to lose elections. This type of thing doesn;'t gain them new voters.

[Fartsniffage]

I wonder if Republicans are trying to lose elections. This type of thing doesn;'t gain them new voters.

They don't care. They'll just supress the vote of people who disagree with them. They're doing it now.

[Kowani]

Senate will hold final confirmation votes on Merrick Garland for Attorney General, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) for HUD Secretary, & Michael Regan to head the EPA tomorrow

[San Lumen]

Senate will hold final confirmation votes on Merrick Garland for Attorney General, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) for HUD Secretary, & Michael Regan to head the EPA tomorrow

It’s about time.

[Kowani]

The PRO-Act has just passed the House, 225-206

4 Republicans ( Brian Fitzpatrick, John Katko, Chris Smith, Jeff Van Drew, and Don Young) for it, one Democrat (Kurt Schrader) against it

[A-Series-Of-Tubes]

Well, AOC and Sanders did. But what they call "democratic socialism" is more what in Europe we would call "left-wing social democrats". They don't actually want to get rid of private property of means of production, they just want to fix the worst flaws of capitalism without changing the core of the system.

This is happening sooner than I thought in the U.S if socialists are winning elections. It honestly concerns me a little.

Don't be concerned.
(a) As KB just said, "socialist" in the US means Bernie Sanders or thereabouts.
(b) They're just party positions: this isn't a primary let alone a general election
(c) Party officials (eg DNC, RNC) are still quite capable of backing candidates quite different to them politically, since a candidate's politics don't matter if they don't win.
(d) Historically Nevada has been a swing state, both levels considered, and the State party would be taking a big risk to move much to the left.

[A-Series-Of-Tubes]

The PRO-Act has just passed the House, 225-206

4 Republicans ( Brian Fitzpatrick, John Katko, Chris Smith, Jeff Van Drew, and Don Young) for it, one Democrat (Kurt Schrader) against it

Pro-union sounds good, but damn are Democrats bad at naming bills. Sounds like some kind of incontinence aid ...

[Borderlands of Rojava]

This is happening sooner than I thought in the U.S if socialists are winning elections. It honestly concerns me a little.

Don't be concerned.
(a) As KB just said, "socialist" in the US means Bernie Sanders or thereabouts.
(b) They're just party positions: this isn't a primary let alone a general election
(c) Party officials (eg DNC, RNC) are still quite capable of backing candidates quite different to them politically, since a candidate's politics don't matter if they don't win.
(d) Historically Nevada has been a swing state, both levels considered, and the State party would be taking a big risk to move much to the left.

There's plenty of full on socialists in America. Sanders is just the most mainstream friendly "socialist."

[New haven america]

Wait, Socialists actually won elections in the United States of America?

Well, AOC and Sanders did. But what they call "democratic socialism" is more what in Europe we would call "left-wing social democrats". They don't actually want to get rid of private property of means of production, they just want to fix the worst flaws of capitalism without changing the core of the system.

Barnie is a socialist.

He just can't go full on socialist because he still needs to get votes.

[Eahland]

17 House Democrats introduce legislation to provide $6 billion to the US Postal Service to buy tens of thousands of additional electric delivery vehicles

Because that's what we need right now in this time of crisis.

I'm not at all opposed to electric vehicles, and more people should have them, but I think there's more immediate concerns at the moment.

Yes, it unironically is. The Republicans have been actively working to cripple the USPS for years, and as the pandemic has made a functional postal service more important than ever, they've doubled down on their efforts because it's part of their voter-suppression strategy.

I had to renew my driver's license last year, and it took two full months, primarily because of mail delays, and I didn't get my new license until two days after the old one expired. I voted in-person on Town Meeting Day last week because I didn't get my ballot request form in the mail until far too late to send it back and get my ballot back in time to vote it. Other people have had problems with time-critical things vital to their livelihoods or even lives, like baby chicks or insulin, not being delivered in a timely fashion.

We need to start undoing the damage the Republicans have done to the USPS, and we need to do it yesterday. Their existing vehicles are well past their replacement dates, and they have a nasty habit of catching on fire. They need to be replaced now, and they need to be replaced because of the crisis.

[New haven america]

I wonder if Republicans are trying to lose elections. This type of thing doesn;'t gain them new voters.

A. They don't care.
B. Republican supporters support this.

[San Lumen]

https://www.centralmaine.com/2021/03/09 ... -election/
https://bangordailynews.com/2021/03/09/ ... democrats/

A historic special election was held today for the Maine Senate in district 14. The district contains several towns around the capital of Augusta. The incumbent was elected Secretary of State.

Former state Rep Craig Hickman (D) held this district for Democrats with 62 percent of the vote over former state Rep William Guerrette. He is the first black man ever elected to both chambers of the Maine legislature.

[Kowani]

Tennessee commission votes 25-1 to move bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest from the state Capitol building to a nearby museum

[A-Series-Of-Tubes]

Is there anything like Impeachment at state level ?

Yes all states have it.

All but one, it turns out. Oregon does not have impeachment, but criminal courts are empowered to remove an official if they are convicted of a serious crime. Sounds good to me!

The Hawaii constitution allows “For causes that may be provided by law” (Art. III § 19). But the law doesn't seem to specify any causes ... does that make it inapplicable?

A few state constitutions specify "habitual drunkenness" among the grounds for impeachment. Some specify no grounds at all, admirably dispensing with the bogus legalism of undefined "crimes".

Fairly reliable source

---

If I recall, my home turf (AZ) did this in the late 80s to then-Governor Evan Mecham on account of him being comically criminal.

I think Blago was impeached in the late 2000s over in Illinois, too. I don't think he resigned voluntarily.

Blago was impeached for setting the price too low for Obama's former seat.

Quite right too. A man who can't manage his own money should not be trusted with the public's.

---

Puerto Rico's finally filed a debt-restructuring plan to get out of bankruptcy....and its crownpiece is massive pension cuts

Which is harsh, considering the bulk of PR'ans who left the island with so much debt, were younger.

However, these are pensions for ex-government employees, and if any are cast into real poverty they should still be able to claim Social Security. I'm not sure if that can be supplemental to a pension tho.

---

They're cages under Trump, detention centers under Biden. Killing kids under Trump, "collateral damage" under Obama and Bush.

I honestly wonder how some Democrats think they're perfectly moral people that elect perfectly moral presidents

"Some Democrats" who you just imagined into existence. I don't think voters on either side genuinely believe "their guy" is without fault. Partisan bias only stretches as far as considering them less evil than the alternative.

Tho, I thought at the time Republican Nominee McCain was a pretty good guy, with not much wrong but his party. If he'd been running against John Kerry or Hillary Clinton he probably would have won.

---

An international hacking group breached 150,000 security cameras in hospitals, prisons, and schools

Unless they were looking for something specific in place and time, that's not too concerning. It's a huge quantity of badly-structured data (ie not searchable except by place and time) and hackers who don't want to get caught, have to route through places that don't have much bandwidth. Well usually anyway: a state actor might compromise a US telco, get a fat tube (I know, pipe, but I say tube) from there, then successfully destroy all traces of it when they're done. But I figure they would have better uses for such an opportunity than grabbing videos of distressed schoolgirls running into the toilets, or even the President's emergency groin operation.

[San Lumen]

https://www.centralmaine.com/2021/03/09 ... -election/
https://bangordailynews.com/2021/03/09/ ... democrats/

A historic special election was held today for the Maine Senate in district 14. The district contains several towns around the capital of Augusta. The incumbent was elected Secretary of State.

Former state Rep Craig Hickman (D) held this district for Democrats with 62 percent of the vote over former state Rep William Guerrette out performing the margins from 2020. He is the first black man ever elected to both chambers of the Maine legislature

[Postauthoritarian America]

There seems to be a crisis at the border, and the system is being stretched to its capacity

The crisis is the hash the previous administration made of immigration policy. Depending on who you ask it made between 400 and 1000 separate changes to immigration law, rule and procedure. ICE as an agency has gone completely rogue and unresponsive to directives from duly elected officials. When the previous bunch said to tear babies from their parents' arms and not bother to write down where they were sent to they complied in a heartbeat; when President Biden's administration said stop deporting people to Haiti who had never lived there they said "LA LA LA LA we can't hear you."

Migrants, particularly unaccompanied young migrants, don't come to the US because of what the US says or does about migration policy. They come because they are fleeing intolerable conditions in their home countries and hear from relatives in the US that things are better here.

The situation is complicated by COVID which is reducing capacity at facilities that otherwise might be able to handle the influx.

There are currently 330 million people living in the US. An extra 100,000 a month is a rounding error. At that rate it would take five months to replace the half-million people lost to the global pandemic largely because of the previous administration's callous indifference and incompetence.

The situation is changing but it will take time and effort to undo the damage done by four years of venal, corrupt, callous, indifferent, xenophobic, lawless, unrestrained misgovernment. Some of the people I knew in a previous life as a US diplomat are doing that work every day. I wish them all the best and trust that the Biden Administration has the capacity to deal with the problem.

[A-Series-Of-Tubes]

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ed_content
Psaki also said the upcoming White House cat will be an internet sensation when it arrives.

1. Must be adult or nearly-adult cat. No kitten!
2. Must be thoroughly American breed.
3. Must be tough enough to control Major.
4. Preferably Black cat
5. Should not pose a threat to staff.

The nearest match is Cougar. Suggested name: Melania, or "mellie" for short.

[Postauthoritarian America]

Don't let the door hit you on the way out

Wait, Socialists actually won elections in the United States of America?

Over 1,000 socialists have won elections to federal, state and local office in the US from over 350 localities since 1900. Two were elected to the US House of Representatives before WWI.

Victor L. Berger represented the 5th District of Wisconsin. After expressing support for nonintervention in WWI he was indicted under the Espionage Act but still won re-election. The wartime House refused to seat him, citing the 14th Amendment (so publicly opposing war disqualifies you from any position of trust under the US Constitution, inciting an attempted coup, not so much). The Supreme Court overturned his sentence in 1921 and he was returned to office three more times.

Meyer London represented New York's 12th District for two nonconsecutive terms. He cast the sole opposing vote in the House to the 1918 Sedition Act but despite also opposing US entry into WWI supported the war effort; that and his opposition to Zionism cost him his seat.

[Kowani]

Pentagon extends deployment of 2,300 National Guard troops at Capitol through at least May 23

[Rusozak]

Wait, Socialists actually won elections in the United States of America?

Over 1,000 socialists have won elections to federal, state and local office in the US from over 350 localities since 1900. Two were elected to the US House of Representatives before WWI.

Victor L. Berger represented the 5th District of Wisconsin. After expressing support for nonintervention in WWI he was indicted under the Espionage Act but still won re-election. The wartime House refused to seat him, citing the 14th Amendment (so publicly opposing war disqualifies you from any position of trust under the US Constitution, inciting an attempted coup, not so much). The Supreme Court overturned his sentence in 1921 and he was returned to office three more times.

Meyer London represented New York's 12th District for two nonconsecutive terms. He cast the sole opposing vote in the House to the 1918 Sedition Act but despite also opposing US entry into WWI supported the war effort; that and his opposition to Zionism cost him his seat.

Socialism wasn't as much of a bad word in America back then, though. The Right's efforts to get the word "socialism" detached from its true meaning over the past few decades have more or less succeeded.

[Postauthoritarian America]

Over 1,000 socialists have won elections to federal, state and local office in the US from over 350 localities since 1900. Two were elected to the US House of Representatives before WWI.

Victor L. Berger represented the 5th District of Wisconsin. After expressing support for nonintervention in WWI he was indicted under the Espionage Act but still won re-election. The wartime House refused to seat him, citing the 14th Amendment (so publicly opposing war disqualifies you from any position of trust under the US Constitution, inciting an attempted coup, not so much). The Supreme Court overturned his sentence in 1921 and he was returned to office three more times.

Meyer London represented New York's 12th District for two nonconsecutive terms. He cast the sole opposing vote in the House to the 1918 Sedition Act but despite also opposing US entry into WWI supported the war effort; that and his opposition to Zionism cost him his seat.

Socialism wasn't as much of a bad word in America back then, though. The Right's efforts to get the word "socialism" detached from its true meaning over the past few decades have more or less succeeded.

I feel the need to point out that the number of Socialists elected to the US Congress has increased 150 percent since 1990...

[A-Series-Of-Tubes]

Wait, Socialists actually won elections in the United States of America?

Over 1,000 socialists have won elections to federal, state and local office in the US from over 350 localities since 1900. Two were elected to the US House of Representatives before WWI.

Socialists didn't do so good after WWI though. A slight resurgence in the '30s but not much in comparison to Europe.

You may know better, but it looks a lot like pacifist sentiment driving support in WWI, but quite the opposite in WWII. Did socialists perhaps support war the second time (as the USSR obviously did)?

Government was slow to get the message: conscription creates domestic opposition to war. Though not rioting in the streets, public opinion was against the Korean War. But no, they went and did it again in Vietnam, and public opposition boiled over to the point there will never be conscription again.

Well you may not accept that analysis, but to the point: did socialists miss a great opportunity in the 1960's and even '70's, to take the side of workers in all countries rather than working within a Cold War envelope?

[Kowani]

Florida Republicans on their way to banning ballot drop boxes