American Politics

[QUOTE=ChuchoLoco;2780640]The experts BS'the everyone when they kept all the KN95's for healthcare workers and said any mask is good enough when the government should have mandated more manufacturing of the KN95's and also control the price.[/QUOTE]I think that played a big part in Fauci's initial recommendation not to wear masks. That and the fact that for influenza the data wasn't so compelling. Again, the case is much stronger for good quality masks with coronaviruses, based on what I was reading a couple of years ago.

And I agree, we should have pumped a lot more money into KN95 and N95 masks. I was disappointed by both Trump and Biden. Trump's gotten a lot of criticism for not encouraging testing and masks. But the Biden administration was really caught unprepared when Omicron hit. Another $10 billion or whatever for good quality masks and for testing would have been a drop in the bucket compared to the $5 trillion spent on stimulus.

[QUOTE=ChrisP;2780501]Imagine a leftist saying the above, when no less than "Vice President" Kamala Harris applauded the BLM / antifa rioters and looters during their rampages across America which cost billions in damages and tens of lives, telling them to keep going.

Leading leftists in politics and media actually started funds to bail their pet rioters out of jail, so they could go and attack more federal courthouses and burn more cities.

When leftist antifa rioters attacked the White House when the President was inside, the media mocked him because the Secret Service moved him to a secure bunker in the basement because of the threat.

When rightwing protesters walked through open doors into the Congress, the media had a meltdown about "insurrection", and the democrats, RINOs and deep state tried to do Soviet-style purges.

You can't have a sustainable country held together by such brazen lies and hypocrisy. The sooner we split, the better.[/QUOTE][B]Former candidate arrested in drive-by shooting case that targeted Democrats' homes in New Mexico[/B]

[URL]https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/16/failed-candidate-arrested-nm-shootings-targeted-democrats-homes/11065793002/[/URL]

[QUOTE]A failed Republican state legislative candidate who authorities say was angry over losing the election last November and made baseless claims that the election was rigged against him was arrested Monday in connection with a series of drive-by shootings targeting the homes of Democratic lawmakers in New Mexicos largest city.

Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina held a news conference Monday evening hours after SWAT officers arrested Solomon Pena at his home.

Medina described Pena as the mastermind of what appears to be a politically motivated criminal conspiracy leading to four shootings at or near the homes of two county commissioners and two state legislators between early December and early January.
...
Police said Pena, an election denier, had approached county and state lawmakers after his loss claiming the contest had been rigged against him despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud in New Mexico in 2020 or 2022. The shootings began shortly after those conversations.

And more...
[/QUOTE]This is beginning to become the "conservative", "rightwing" and Repub solution to every election that doesn't go their way.

No info yet on whether that particular Repub loon lied about it really being "antifa" or "BLM" committing the violence the way their most iconic Repub loon leader Trump lied about his rightwing version of a democratic handover.

[QUOTE=Elvis2008;2780564] If China goes down, the US is in a depression. It is a different dynamic than traditional rivalries. Say what you want but IMO the Chinese US relationship has benefitted and made both countries richer. I do not want China to fail but the issue with Biden and China is how is he representing our interests. This whole green energy thing where we go all green where China burns as much coal is they want is an issue more with Biden than China.[/QUOTE]Great points Elvis. Globalism, driven in large part by the USA and China, has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and helped most of us. And yes, it's places like China and India and Indonesia that will determine the level of carbon emissions in the future. The USA is at 15% of the worldwide total and falling. We can spend many trillions reducing carbon emissions and it's not going to do jack if the developing world doesn't follow along.

[QUOTE=EihTooms;2780587]The same reason I have not yet received my tax refund, the first for me in decades, for 2021 even though I filed my return for it electronically in May 2022.[/QUOTE]That's bizarre. I hope you get it straightened out. Have you accessed the IRS site on line? I did that for the first time the other day, and they have a ton of information there about your old payment history and tax returns. It might give you a clue to what's going on.

[URL]https://www.irs.gov/payments/your-online-account[/URL]

[QUOTE=PVMonger;2780539][B]... "the average American voter agrees with the political perspective of Breitbart."[/B] If you had said that the average rightwing voter agrees with Breitbart's opinion, I'd agree with you.

The "average" American voter is relatively in the "center". In other words, they range from slightly left to slightly right. Evidently you forgot that Breitbart's former leader was Steve Bannon, one of Donnie the Dumbass' most ardent supporters and one of the idiots who urged the attack on the Capitol. [URL]https://www.npr.org/2017/03/14/520087884/researchers-examine-breitbart-s-influence-on-misleading-information[/URL] and [URL]https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/07/broad-agreement-in-u-s-even-among-partisans-on-which-news-outlets-are-part-of-the-mainstream-media/[/URL].

And, BTW, I am one of the "average American voters" of whom you speak. I am white, Christian, heterosexual and English is my first language. I am not a typical supporter of Donnie the Dumbass who are misogynistic and xenophopic and racist dummies with maybe a high-school education.[/QUOTE]And, BTW, I am one of the "average American voters" of whom you speak. I am white, Christian, heterosexual and English is my first language. I am not a typical supporter of Donnie the Dumbass who are misogynistic and xenophopic and racist dummies with maybe a high-school education.

Are you sure? Because your posts don't reflect any of that.

Either you're clinically delusional or you're not and you are just an America hating white hating cuck for the DNC, so which is it.

Because I have never met a CIS white hetero Christian male that writes what you write and doesn't vehemently hate Christian White America.

You refer to Trump supporters as racist dummies?

The lady doth projects too much, methinks.

[QUOTE=Tiny12;2780703]Great points Elvis. Globalism, driven in large part by the USA and China, has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and helped most of us. And yes, it's places like China and India and Indonesia that will determine the level of carbon emissions in the future. The USA is at 15% of the worldwide total and falling. We can spend many trillions reducing carbon emissions and it's not going to do jack if the developing world doesn't follow along.[/QUOTE]Chinas power generation additions last year: 110 GW solar, 40 GW wind, 30 GW nuclear, 30 GW coal. Indias projected additions to 2030: coal 20 GW, Nuclear 4 GW, Hydro 6 GW, Renewables 300 GW. India has not been growing coal as its local supply is constrained and imports are too expensive. They have been expanding solar manufacturing and putting in as much solar as they can because it can be installed with minimal grid upgrades and the power is cheap.

[QUOTE=Tiny12;2780704]That's bizarre. I hope you get it straightened out. Have you accessed the IRS site on line? I did that for the first time the other day, and they have a ton of information there about your old payment history and tax returns. It might give you a clue to what's going on.

[URL]https://www.irs.gov/payments/your-online-account[/URL][/QUOTE]Thanks. I already have an account on that site but I doubt there is anything new for me to know there.

I received an actual snail mail letter from the IRS several months ago confirming that I will in fact be getting the full amount of the refund my tax preparer and I originally submitted electronically last May after all. Which was in response to a letter I sent to them after getting a letter from them regarding their adjusting down a big chunk of it due to some unnamed "error" on my return. The letter confirmed they reviewed my claim, that I was right and that I will get what I claimed, the actual dollar amount stated in the letter.

And I have the IRS2 Go app that tells me the status of my refund. See the photo below, minus my Social Security number and other info that I edited out.

On top of the loss of staff due to Trump's Pandemic, Repubs have worked so hard to defund the IRS over the years, making it almost impossible for it to hire and replace staff that has moved on due to attrition, update their computers and the computer systems, the remaining staff is overwhelmed. They are reduced to actually doing much of this stuff [I]by hand[/I] and backlogs are still in the millions.

Hence, Biden's 87,000 new IRS hires all armed with AR-15's ready to kick our doors down to confiscate our gas ovens, etc.

[B]IRS backlogs causing massive delays in processing returns[/B]

[URL]https://www.wsaz.com/2022/05/13/irs-backlogs-causing-massive-delays-processing-returns/[/URL]

This is a screenshot of my refund update on the IRS2 Go app today:

[QUOTE=Xpartan;2780639]My first reply has failed to post. Let's try again.

You didn't say that, huh?

Anything else?[/QUOTE]No, I didn't say Gaetz "doesn't care about money". I said he "doesn't need money" because his family is super-rich. Entirely different. Why bother wasting your time doing rubber-chicken dinners out in the sticks for a couple grand net when you're worth $30 m?

Now, for the fourth time, do you think Donald Trump is richer now than he would have been if he had never entered politics in 2015 and had instead continued to focus on his TV show, his businesses, and his many positive media appearances?

[QUOTE=Tiny12;2780543]
But true, Democratic politicians will not be forcing sex change operations and new pronouns on people.[/QUOTE]No, they'll just take your kids away and perform sex change operations on them after they've been brainwashed by blue-haired public school teachers in secret to think they're a tranny.

[QUOTE=EihTooms;2780577]Then please quote the section of that ruling that states, "Oh, and at no point is the private property owner allowed to tell the guests whose behavior he disapproves of, such as passing out certain flyers, to get the fuck off his property and instead they must be welcome and allowed to stay there as long as they damn well please doing whatever the hell they want to do. ".

This ought to be good.[/QUOTE]"Any municipal ordinance that prohibited distributing religious literature in a public street clearly would violate the First Amendment. A company town does not have the same rights a private homeowner in preventing unwanted religious expression on his property. While the town is owned by a private company, it is open for use by the public and thus becomes limited by the constitutional rights of the people there, who are entitled to the freedoms of speech and religion. Conflicts between property rights and constitutional rights generally must be resolved in favor of the latter. ".

[URL]https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/326/501/[/URL]

"Open for use by the public" - just like social media.

[QUOTE=ChrisP;2780797]No, they'll just take your kids away and perform sex change operations on them after they've been brainwashed by blue-haired public school teachers in secret to think they're a tranny.[/QUOTE]I think it's more the parents' fault. Here are a couple of examples from left of center sources, so hopefully our Democratic friends won't complain, like with Breitbart.

[URL]https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/14/jeff-younger-transgender-care-house/[/URL]

The woman described in the Texas Tribune article, a pediatrician, apparently began dressing her son up in women's clothes when he was 2 years old, and was planning to get him started with puberty blockers. He's now 7 years old. Her ex-husband is fighting this tooth and nail, and he's being characterized as a poster boy for the far right.

[URL]https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/27/us/transgender-inclusive-families-texas-trnd/index.html[/URL]

The CNN article is a good bit more self righteous than the Texas Tribune piece. A woman took her 6 year old to California, so he'd have a smoother pathway to transitioning.

I don't get it, at 6 or 7 years old. OK, yeah, you'll get no argument from me if someone's 20 years old, and maybe not much of one at 15 years. But this is just crazy.

[QUOTE=GDreams;2780737]Chinas power generation additions last year: 110 GW solar, 40 GW wind, 30 GW nuclear, 30 GW coal. Indias projected additions to 2030: coal 20 GW, Nuclear 4 GW, Hydro 6 GW, Renewables 300 GW. India has not been growing coal as its local supply is constrained and imports are too expensive. They have been expanding solar manufacturing and putting in as much solar as they can because it can be installed with minimal grid upgrades and the power is cheap.[/QUOTE]The key word is "additions. " The USA, Europe, Japan, etc. have been retiring coal fired plants and not building new ones. I have a friend who's done a good bit of research into coal and India. I don't remember the numbers, but he's convinced India will add a lot more coal fired generation than people think. And remember people in the developing world will be consuming more diesel, plastics and other petroleum products, gasoline, and natural gas too, not just coal. Admittedly the natural gas will reduce carbon emissions to the extent it replaces coal.

[QUOTE=EihTooms;2780747]Thanks. I already have an account on that site but I doubt there is anything new for me to know there.

I received an actual snail mail letter from the IRS several months ago confirming that I will in fact be getting the full amount of the refund my tax preparer and I originally submitted electronically last May after all. Which was in response to a letter I sent to them after getting a letter from them regarding their adjusting down a big chunk of it due to some unnamed "error" on my return. The letter confirmed they reviewed my claim, that I was right and that I will get what I claimed, the actual dollar amount stated in the letter.

And I have the IRS2 Go app that tells me the status of my refund. See the photo below, minus my Social Security number and other info that I edited out.

On top of the loss of staff due to Trump's Pandemic, Repubs have worked so hard to defund the IRS over the years, making it almost impossible for it to hire and replace staff that has moved on due to attrition, update their computers and the computer systems, the remaining staff is overwhelmed. They are reduced to actually doing much of this stuff [I]by hand[/I] and backlogs are still in the millions.

Hence, Biden's 87,000 new IRS hires all armed with AR-15's ready to kick our doors down to confiscate our gas ovens, etc.

[B]IRS backlogs causing massive delays in processing returns[/B]

[URL]https://www.wsaz.com/2022/05/13/irs-backlogs-causing-massive-delays-processing-returns/[/URL]

This is a screenshot of my refund update on the IRS2 Go app today:[/QUOTE]

That's just crazy. Well, good luck.

I spend about a man month a year working on taxes and accounting to pay taxes, and someone working for me, the only person working for me full time, spends a lot more time than that. The rules are ridiculously complicated. I've gone through a couple of audits. There were no adjustments, because I pay what I owe and have spent the time to do the paperwork better than most. But they're nerve wracking, and very time consuming.

I sincerely hope the Republicans figure out a way to avoid the manpower increase, although I doubt it's going to happen. The bastards can go **** themselves. By bastards, I don't mean the men and women who work for the IRS. I mean the politicians and lawyers who are responsible for the complicated tax code and regulations.

[QUOTE=Tiny12;2780833]The key word is "additions. " The USA, Europe, Japan, etc. have been retiring coal fired plants and not building new ones. I have a friend who's done a good bit of research into coal and India. I don't remember the numbers, but he's convinced India will add a lot more coal fired generation than people think. And remember people in the developing world will be consuming more diesel, plastics and other petroleum products, gasoline, and natural gas too, not just coal. Admittedly the natural gas will reduce carbon emissions to the extent it replaces coal.[/QUOTE]True its not currently replacing coal but there will be a tipping point where it does. The point is there is a narrative that both China and India are all in on coal. They are not as the numbers demonstrate. China ID actually acutely aware of the poor air quality in the country and it is one of the few things where the people are strongly swaying the government to act which in many cases will be to phase out coal. India are much more cost conscious. They had a lot of coal plants planned and most of them still have no progression. India is very favorable for solar and when installed in urban settings there is minimal need for transmission infrastructure. Yes it only works during the day but when your choice is no power vs 8 hrs a day its no choice.

[QUOTE=MarquisdeSade1;2780712]And, BTW, I am one of the "average American voters" of whom you speak. I am white, Christian, heterosexual and English is my first language. I am not a typical supporter of Donnie the Dumbass who are misogynistic and xenophopic and racist dummies with maybe a high-school education.

Are you sure? Because your posts don't reflect any of that.

Either you're clinically delusional or you're not and you are just an America hating white hating cuck for the DNC, so which is it.

Because I have never met a CIS white hetero Christian male that writes what you write and doesn't vehemently hate Christian White America.

You refer to Trump supporters as racist dummies?

The lady doth projects too much, methinks.[/QUOTE]If you don't believe that I am white, Christian, heterosexual and English is my first language, then you'd be wrong.

Just because you believe that anybody who is white, Christian, heterosexual with English as their first language votes Repub, then you believe incorrectly. There are plenty of people like me. That's why Donnie the Dumbass lost. We don't "hate" Christian white America. What we "hate" is bigotry. What we "hate" is racism. What we "hate" is the stupidity of Repubs claiming that immigrants are going to replace them. What we "hate" is homophobia. What we "hate" is xenophobia. What we "hate" is is fascism. What we "hate" is idiots claiming that the 2020 election was stolen.

And, yes, supporters of Donnie the Dumbass are, for the most part, racist dummies. I haven't met one yet who isn't.

And, by the way, if you want a definition of "lady", look in the mirror. One will be looking back at you.