2020 Elections

[nebo113]

You realize, of course, that it's all the stuff people call SOCIALIST that allowed you to move across social boundaries and enjoy the life you live, correct?

Why must people automatically go to an inaccurate label instead of looking at the tradeoffs between individual government actions, as I already wrote?

• The WPA probably built the electric, telephone and sewer systems in your region so you could have light bulbs and flush toilets at home.

Yes, that's the infrastructure I wrote about being a good use of public funds.

• Labor unions so your grandparents and parents could have weekends and living wages and job security.

I come from farmers who don't really do weekends, wages, or job security.  I worked my ass off for years in school where again weekends weren't really a thing.  As a member of the professional class, I don't work 9-5, but instead work until the work is done.

• Your family might even have relied on food stamps and Medicaid at some point to keep you fed and healthy.

Nope, again, that farmer thing means I have helped the family in many ways since I was knee-high-to-a-grasshopper including flat out labor during harvest and hunting season.  You could make a case for farm subsidies as being a targeted tax-funded program under which I have personally benefited as someone on a small family farm in some lean years.

If there are any farmers reading, Polly_Mer is a respected scholar, member/architect of this online community and proud advocate of the 'pulling yourself up by your bootstraps' slogan. She's against government programs that subsidize people that a few bleeding heart activists think are in meritorious position, such as farmers. OK with you?

Even white folk can be graduates of the Clarence Thomas (I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps) subsidized College of Delusional Thought.

[pigou]

My primary concern with Sanders isn't so much the policies he advocates for, but that he seems to have a genuine belief that there are no trade-offs in policy. It's evident in M4A where you can get a plan that is better on every dimension and it will cost you less (unless you're a billionaire -- but there are only 500 of them in the US). His economic adviser is Stephanie Kelton, one of the pre-eminent supporters of modern monetary theory. This is an extreme fringe view that basically says the government should just print money to pay for things and hyperinflation cannot happen in the United States. This is why the question "how do we pay for it" doesn't phase Sanders: his economic policy is that we'll just print the money and so don't need to worry about raising the revenue.

People who don't believe in trade-offs frighten me. They pursue their goals with the drive of a religious zealot. Because when there are no trade-offs, people who oppose you must genuinely be evil -- they want others to suffer when there's no cost to stopping their suffering. But of course there always are costs, they're sometimes just not as obvious. And in the case of "let's just print money" we actually have plenty of precedent and it's always ended in disaster.

[ciao_yall]

You realize, of course, that it's all the stuff people call SOCIALIST that allowed you to move across social boundaries and enjoy the life you live, correct?

Why must people automatically go to an inaccurate label instead of looking at the tradeoffs between individual government actions, as I already wrote?

• The WPA probably built the electric, telephone and sewer systems in your region so you could have light bulbs and flush toilets at home.

Yes, that's the infrastructure I wrote about being a good use of public funds.

• Labor unions so your grandparents and parents could have weekends and living wages and job security.

I come from farmers who don't really do weekends, wages, or job security.  I worked my ass off for years in school where again weekends weren't really a thing.  As a member of the professional class, I don't work 9-5, but instead work until the work is done.

• Your family might even have relied on food stamps and Medicaid at some point to keep you fed and healthy.

Nope, again, that farmer thing means I have helped the family in many ways since I was knee-high-to-a-grasshopper including flat out labor during harvest and hunting season.  You could make a case for farm subsidies as being a targeted tax-funded program under which I have personally benefited as someone on a small family farm in some lean years.

If there are any farmers reading, Polly_Mer is a respected scholar, member/architect of this online community and proud advocate of the 'pulling yourself up by your bootstraps' slogan. She's against government programs that subsidize people that a few bleeding heart activists think are in meritorious position, such as farmers. OK with you?

Even white folk can be graduates of the Clarence Thomas (I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps) subsidized College of Delusional Thought.

Okay, let's all move to a farm and plant Victory Gardens.

[Parasaurolophus]

Watched the South Carolina debate last night. It was far and away the worst of them all, and it's entirely CBS's fault. They did an appallingly poor job, and were clearly just trying to get a fight going to save their ratings.

[marshwiggle]

People who don't believe in trade-offs frighten me. They pursue their goals with the drive of a religious zealot. Because when there are no trade-offs, people who oppose you must genuinely be evil -- they want others to suffer when there's no cost to stopping their suffering. But of course there always are costs, they're sometimes just not as obvious.

This is particularly problematic in the U.S. which is basically a two party system. In Canada, there are at least 3 parties with seats, and more often 4 or 5. Even though only the two most popular have a hope of forming the government, the existence of the others is a reminder that there are not only two ways of looking at any issue. (Technically, even if there are only two viewpoints, they don't have to be diametrically opposed, but in practice, that is often the perception.)

Ironically (to me anyway) is that this is why the primaries in the U.S. can be so chaotic, like this one. Since there are so many candidates, (i.e. more than two), then there are more than two perspectives on many issues, and the chaos comes from that being so unfamiliar.

[Parasaurolophus]

Buttigieg has... Petered out.

[clean]

Buttigieg has... Petered out.

Im surprised that he pulled out on Sunday, only 48 hours before Super Tuesday. Is there a strategic reason to suspend NOW?  I suppose that IF he puts his support behind Biden now, he may be able to make the VP play, but Im not sure that the weaknesses he has on his candidacy will be a positive to the ticket. 

The latest polls show my state leaning toward Sanders.  Im not sure who Ill vote for on Tuesday.  I wasnt sure before Pete's news, but Im not sure that Im eager to vote for anyone over 70 and that leaves Amy, and she doesnt seem to have any chance, from what I can see.   

[mamselle]

I'm moving back towards Warren....believe it or not.

We're pickled...

M.

[clean]

Amy just suspended too, throwing her support to Biden.
NO under 70 now.

[magnemite]

Amy just suspended too, throwing her support to Biden.
NO under 70 now.

Drats, but at least she did so before I've voted. I was hoping she would choose to hang in after Mayor Pete threw in the towel.

[magnemite]

So, now I'm back to voting for Warren

[Parasaurolophus]

Buttigieg has... Petered out.

Im surprised that he pulled out on Sunday, only 48 hours before Super Tuesday. Is there a strategic reason to suspend NOW?  I suppose that IF he puts his support behind Biden now, he may be able to make the VP play, but Im not sure that the weaknesses he has on his candidacy will be a positive to the ticket. 

Good question. I assume it's mostly to avoid the negative impression that would result from a major shellacking in CA and TX, and possibly elsewhere, since that might damage his future congress/senate/whatever prospects, or his viability with billionaire donors.

Plus maybe he figured he could boost Biden? Although I'd have expected an endorsement before ST if that's the case. Could be he's weighing a Warren endorsement. Shrug.

[Anselm]

At a dinner event on February 24th:

My name is Joe Biden. I'm a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate

This may be his most serious gaffe to date.

[hmaria1609]

Besides Buttigieg and Sen. Klobuchar ending their campaigns, Tom Steyer ended his bid at the close of the SC primary.

[writingprof]

At a dinner event on February 24th:

My name is Joe Biden. I'm a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate

This may be his most serious gaffe to date.

Well, he did say that 150 million Americans had been killed by gun violence.  On the other hand, people on these fora may not be aware that that's wrong.