Political Roundtable Part XVIII

[Pointgod]

The Democratic Party needs to be a Party of realism and outreach.
Both Democrats & Republicans have become fiscally irresponsible and have used gimmicks to try and seduce the populous with giveaways and lower taxes. I believe that a majority of American voters realize they are being bribed and then shook down. You need to realize that the Republican administrations either directly or indirectly causing a economic collapse because of the lack of regulations from Bush 2.
The latest Republican tax fiasco is already showing signs of a boondoggle which will add significantly to the deficit while enriching the top 10%. I agree that entitlements are fiscally expensive but can be properly managed and that a universal style healthcare system can be fiscally responsible and provide improved impact and coverage. The social security system must be protected and become actuarial sound. The system should be allowed to invest the funds in the market. The reality is the USA is at a tipping point in that the birthrate is not replacing the current population and without young workers coming into the economy entitlements become increasingly expensive.
The only resolution to this is to fix the current immigration policy including DACA and the other 9 million illegal workers in the USA. Obviously this meet only the status quo and the need of a new immigration policy is needed to bring at least 1.5 + immigrants to the USA every year. The USA only needs to look at Canada to set a immigration policy that works and helps the economy.
The Democrats need to register more currently disenfranchised people across the board and develop a program to turnout those voters. It is less expensive to do that than costly advertisement. I believe that the Democrats need to be more nationalist in giving a dream to people and a vision of the future but with the costs involved.
This is a very shoestring analysis but I think a revitalized Democratic Party could exert power long enough to make credible changes.

Dems are a big tent party. I don’t think that there will be an all encompassing message that’s going to get them across the finish line. When it comes to the midterms I think they should follow the blueprint in Virginia and Alabama. Let the grassroots organizers help shape the message, the DNC should just give money and stay out of the way. At this point the focus should be on taking the House and the Senate, 2020 is far away and who the bell knows what will happen from now until then.

I think it boils down to this. Donald Trump and the Republicans are a global embarrassment. Coming from an outside observer the US is looking like a joke. So in the end it’s up to Democrats, Independents, Third Party Voters and even some Republicans to decide, does Donald Trump and the Republicans represent what I stand for as an American. If the answer is no then do something about it.

[Zonkerbl]

Watch on YouTube

What as the real point of the "Release the Memo" propaganda campaign, assisted by Russian bots? I posit the following:

1. Solidify support of "The base", go offense ahead of Mueller's next move
2. Create an atmosphere in-which there is a ground-swell of support to fire Rosenstein
3. Continue the public Gaslighting of the public, making them believe that all of this is about a plot to get Trump

Yeah it’s pretty transparent but it seems to have backfired against the Trump camp. The problem is that all these guys involved are so used to being in their right wing bubble that they don’t realize the non crazy public at large can see the memo is deeply misleading. People that watch Fox News, read Breitbart and Infowars might start foaming at the mouth with unsubstantiated claims but the rest of the rational world can use critical thinking and sources their news from various credible sources.

It didn’t backfire-it’s had exactly the desired effect. Trump’s numbers have improved:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html

[cammac]

Watch on YouTube

What as the real point of the "Release the Memo" propaganda campaign, assisted by Russian bots? I posit the following:

1. Solidify support of "The base", go offense ahead of Mueller's next move
2. Create an atmosphere in-which there is a ground-swell of support to fire Rosenstein
3. Continue the public Gaslighting of the public, making them believe that all of this is about a plot to get Trump

Yeah it’s pretty transparent but it seems to have backfired against the Trump camp. The problem is that all these guys involved are so used to being in their right wing bubble that they don’t realize the non crazy public at large can see the memo is deeply misleading. People that watch Fox News, read Breitbart and Infowars might start foaming at the mouth with unsubstantiated claims but the rest of the rational world can use critical thinking and sources their news from various credible sources.

It didn’t backfire-it’s had exactly the desired effect. Trump’s numbers have improved:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html

Polls are funny things in that they reflect everything from a 2 day to a one week time period.
Trump had his SOU address that is good for most Presidents in that they can be a center of attention for a brief period. Plus the hype and buildup of "Nunes Memo" which in the end landed like a cow plop on a hot summer day. Then take the 666 drop in the Dow a definite sign of the devil and black unemployment rising are negatives that will dominate the news cycle.

[verbal8]

I think the recent swing of polls in favor of Republicans is a blip. I think things like the Dow drop and the dud memo, will reverse the recent positive news.

[cammac]

The gist of the Nunes Memo is the FBI & DOJ had absolutely no right to investigate that saintly man Carter Page.

In 2013 Page himself said.

Over the past half year, I have had the privilege to serve as an informal advisor to the staff of the Kremlin in preparation for their Presidency of the G-20 Summit next month, where energy issues will be a prominent point on the agenda,” Page wrote, according to Time.

Page told Time that during 2013 he “sat in on and contributed to a few roundtable discussion with people from around the world,” starting when a Russian representative visited the United Nations in New York that year.

http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/372190-former-trump-adviser-called-himself-adviser-to-kremlin-in-2013

[cammac]

I absolutely loved the Ryan tweet about a secretary thanking him for a $1.50 raise because of a tax cut. That it will help her pay for her COSTCO membership. I assume that lady might be truly glad especially if she is unfortunate enough to live in Ryan's "right to work" Wisconsin and wonder how much her hourly wage is????

The reality is hopefully she doesn't need to replace anything that Trump has raised the tariff on like a washing machine or good bye raise. Most American's have no idea of many of the trade implications of the Trump era that will bring higher prices and higher profits to corporations. Many of these tariffs will be overruled and the tariffs rescinded. But in the interim the consumer pays the surcharge and isn't reimbursed.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/paul-ryan-tax-cut-weekly-pay-bump_us_5a76151de4b06ee97af318e8

Shout out to "IRON STASH" if I legally could would send a donation for you to oust Ryan in the midterms.

[verbal8]

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/paul-ryan-tax-cut-weekly-pay-bump_us_5a76151de4b06ee97af318e8

Shout out to "IRON STASH" if I legally could would send a donation for you to oust Ryan in the midterms.

I think it is allowed if you are Russian using shell organizations like the NRA.

[cammac]

Parental leave for pushed by Ivanka & Rubio is frankly a joke to other advanced democracies.
It penalizes "women in having to wait for social security benefits taking leave" and that really isn't enough for Republican Troglodytes.

“We still have to work on members of my own party,” Rubio said in an extended interview with POLITICO about his effort. “I think there will be significant initial resistance to it, because it’s just not an issue that’s been identified with the Republican Party.”

Rubio has barely started crafting a paid leave bill, much less a broader legislative strategy. But he envisions an idea that has recently gained traction in conservative circles: allowing people to draw Social Security benefits when they want to take time off for a new baby or other family-related matters, and then delay their checks when they hit retirement age.

For instance, a person who would begin receiving full benefits when he or she turns 67 years old but wants to take six weeks of paid leave wouldn’t draw Social Security checks until six weeks after his or her 67th birthday.

“That’s a new idea for Republicans who still identify it as something that comes out of the left,” Rubio said of paid family leave. “Forcing companies to provide it is perhaps an idea that finds its genesis on the left, but the notion that pregnancy should not be a bankruptcy-eliciting event is one that I think all Americans should be supportive.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/04/rubio-ivanka-trump-family-leave-385050

In retrospect Canada just made some changes in family leave!

Simply put, starting on Dec. 3, new parents will be able to opt for either 12 months or 18 months of combined maternity and parental leave.

If they choose to stick with 12 months, the system will mostly remain the same. New birth moms and surrogates will still be eligible for 15 weeks of maternity benefits, with federal employment insurance (EI) providing them with 55 per cent of their average weekly salary (up to a maximum $543 a week).

There is one key change to note here, however. Starting Dec. 3, pregnant women can start claiming the maternity benefit 12 weeks prior to their due date, up from the current eight weeks.

But once those 15 weeks are up and you switch over to parental benefits, the government will pay out just 33 per cent of weekly salary (to a maximum of $326 per week) over the longer time span of 61 weeks.

https://globalnews.ca/news/3852880/new-parental-leave-benefits-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

[dckingsfan]

cammac - Canada isn't bleeding money.

[popper]

What is the least harmful way (to the US economy) to raise approx $1 trillion annually in order to balance the budget?

[Wizardspride]

"Carter Page shouldn't have been a target of the FBI"-- Devin Nunes


Yeah.....

[cammac]

cammac - Canada isn't bleeding money.

You are right because our politicians are responsible they set a agenda to help the people not enrich the ruling class. America has become little more than a "Banana Republic with muscle" you are a crusader for integrity in government stop whining and pick a side.

Canada in the early 90s was in the same situation but politicians and parties made the hard choices. They raised taxes and introduced the GST which was a highly unpopular VAT Tax began running surpluses and adding social benefits.

Somehow you feel responsible government is a idealistic dream in the USA it isn't just need the guts to change dynamics.

[cammac]

When I lived in China I was giving some lectures in a Chinese university mostly open forums with students asking questions. One I remember well was a young man asking "if China and USA had a war what side would Canada be on". My answer was and still is that America is our older brother that many times we view that brother as muscular but somewhat dimwitted. That they react emotionally and get into fights that they should avoid but Canada is still there brother and we have a 200 year history of brotherhood. Right now on the Korea problem again the dimwitted are coming out and postulating conflict rather than diplomacy.

North Korea is very unpopular by the populous in China and if a poll was taken would have a favorably rating of maybe 10%. The government knows this and would be open to a solution that maintains a border with China that doesn't include South Korea and the USA. In all the talks that have gone before one simple solution has never been discussed? At the DMZ include Chinese Troops and even Russians with the American and South Korean forces. North Korea would not dare to be aggressive against South Korea with 2 of it's few allies in danger. The Chinese could pour troops over the Northern border at a whim and destroy the Kim regime.

While McMaster was a supposed adult in the room he is looking more and more like a General MacArthur 1950's approach to a 21st Century crisis.

When I lived in China I was giving some lectures in a Chinese university mostly open forums with students asking questions. One I remember well was a young man asking "if China and USA had a war what side would Canada be on". My answer was and still is that America is our older brother that many times we view that brother as muscular but somewhat dimwitted. That they react emotionally and get into fights that they should avoid but Canada is still there brother and we have a 200 year history of brotherhood. Right now on the Korea problem again the dimwitted are coming out and postulating conflict rather than diplomacy.

North Korea is very unpopular by the populous in China and if a poll was taken would have a favorably rating of maybe 10%. The government knows this and would be open to a solution that maintains a border that doesn't include South Korea and the USA. In all the talks that have gone before one simple solution has never been discussed? At the DMZ include Chinese Troops and even Russians with the American and South Korean forces. North Korea would not dare to be aggressive against South Korea with 2 of it's few allies in danger. The Chinese could pour troops over the Northern border at a whim and destroy the Kim regime. Yes it is a simplistic solution but many Chinese people look at the current North Korea regime and see the bad days of Mao!

The belief that Kim can’t be deterred from conquest but can be deterred once the United States has brought force against him demonstrates a highly selective strategic understanding. What form retaliation would take, again, is up to Kim, not McMaster. Yet the national security adviser seems to hold an erratic view of strategic dynamics that conveniently supports a use of force by the United States against North Korea, and privileges this path over all other options.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/the-cataclysm-that-would-follow-a-bloody-nose-strike-in-north-korea/ar-BBIxiTk?li=AAadgLE&ocid=spartandhp

[dckingsfan]

cammac - Canada isn't bleeding money.

You are right because our politicians are responsible they set a agenda to help the people not enrich the ruling class. America has become little more than a "Banana Republic with muscle" you are a crusader for integrity in government stop whining and pick a side.

Canada in the early 90s was in the same situation but politicians and parties made the hard choices. They raised taxes and introduced the GST which was a highly unpopular VAT Tax began running surpluses and adding social benefits.

Somehow you feel responsible government is a idealistic dream in the USA it isn't just need the guts to change dynamics.

Yep - can't wait until either party (or a third one) gets behind responsible government - when they do - I am fully onboard. What change happened in Canada to make that happen? Do you see any parallels from either party to what Canada did?
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/11/17/martin.cutting.deficit/index.html

[cammac]

cammac - Canada isn't bleeding money.

You are right because our politicians are responsible they set a agenda to help the people not enrich the ruling class. America has become little more than a "Banana Republic with muscle" you are a crusader for integrity in government stop whining and pick a side.

Canada in the early 90s was in the same situation but politicians and parties made the hard choices. They raised taxes and introduced the GST which was a highly unpopular VAT Tax began running surpluses and adding social benefits.

Somehow you feel responsible government is a idealistic dream in the USA it isn't just need the guts to change dynamics.

Yep - can't wait until either party (or a third one) gets behind responsible government - when they do - I am fully onboard. What change happened in Canada to make that happen? Do you see any parallels from either party to what Canada did?
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/11/17/martin.cutting.deficit/index.html

It was 1st the Progressive Conservative Party (no longer exists) with the election of Brian Mulrooney. They ran a election on the irresponsibility of previous governments and effectively tied the national debt to individuals. I think at the time each Canadian owed 20K+ in national debt. He worked out the initial free trade agreement with much trepidation of the public and instituted the 7% GST. While he had retired and the Progressive Conservatives were decimated in the next Federal Election with the Liberals running on the repeal of the GST. Once in government they found it a effective tool in harnessing and reducing deficit. I will give them credit for continuing the policy that was extremely effective in our countries financial health. The free trade agreement was also a boon for both the USA & Canada. Over the years the GST has been reduced to 5% but is still a effective consumption tax and the provinces have incorporated there sale tax into a HST harmonized sales tax to make it easier and cost effective. Obviously many products are exempt and a rebate program is in effect to reimburse the vulnerable. To give you a idea I bought a new Lexus and paid about $10,000 in HST.
To put this into prospective the USA national debt equals about $60,000 for every man, woman & child in the USA.

Yes Martin was a realist and continued the Progressive Conservative policies but without the electoral disaster. NOTE: Was a Progressive Conservative since they no longer exist a independent.

[FAH1223]

Read on Twitter

[stilldropin20]

What is the least harmful way (to the US economy) to raise approx $1 trillion annually in order to balance the budget?

I think this is a good question that each of us should make or own personal list. then look for common ground. I will work on my list.

This would be a nice group project.

Hmmm.... maybe go 5 deep on cuts. And then a separate list 5 deep on ways to raise money.

Sent from my SM-N920T using RealGM mobile app

[nate33]

What is the least harmful way (to the US economy) to raise approx $1 trillion annually in order to balance the budget?

I think this is a good question that each of us should make or own personal list. then look for common ground. I will work on my list.

This would be a nice group project.

Hmmm.... maybe go 5 deep on cuts. And then a separate list 5 deep on ways to raise money.

Sent from my SM-N920T using RealGM mobile app

$138B of remittance payments were sent out of the U.S. last year. Slap a 10% tax on that and you generate $14B a year while discouraging illegal immigration.

[closg00]

It didn’t backfire-it’s had exactly the desired effect. Trump’s numbers have improved:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html

The RCP average of polls has Trump at 41.9%, I suppose he should be grateful to be out of the 30's.

[cammac]

Putin knows how to get rid of those pesky people who dare to dispute his power no wonder he is the Trumpsters hero.

Yet the list of fatalities — 36 men and two women — suggests that Putin’s alleged attacks on his critics and whistle-blowers are more extensive and lethal than previously known. It also raises new concerns about contacts Putin and his lieutenants had with Trump’s campaign staff.

Trump praised Putin in March 2016 as a "strong leader," and in 2015 said “I’d get along great with” the Russian leader. On Feb 6, Trump defended Putin when Bill O’Reilly, then of Fox News, called Putin a killer. "There are a lot of killers," Trump replied. "Do you think our country is so innocent?"

With the Nune's Memo the Trumpster is trying his best to undermine the justice system and remember he would love nothing less than Prince (Blackwater) to head up his private intelligence agency.

Russian opposition activist Konstantin Sinitsyn has been found dead of head injuries in the entranceway to his St. Petersburg apartment building.

St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly lawmaker Boris Vishnevsky posted the news on February 2, although the incident apparently happened on January 26.

Vishnevsky said Sinitsyn died of trauma to the head and that police had detained one suspect.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/2/4/1738604/-Anti-Putin-activist-Konstantin-Sinitsyn-found-murdered