So i got a question regarding Trumps interview … He said he did more for the black community than anybody else with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln.
Is he refering to something specific? Did he actually do something or he is talking complete nonsense like he does most of the time?
American Politics: A Brand New Day
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Rashida Tlaib won her primary tonight with a cool two thirds of the vote, while Justice Democrat Cori Bush unseated Lacy Clay in MO-01, a seat held by the Clay family for over 50 years and the first time a CBC member has been succesfully primaried by a JD.
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Shame about Talib winning. Hopefully Omar's primary challenger fares better. We'll see what this Cory Bush can do, hopefully good things there.
Glad that Missouri voters tonight passed the amendment to expand Medicaid as well.
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So i got a question regarding Trumps interview … He said he did more for the black community than anybody else with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln.
Is he refering to something specific? Did he actually do something or he is talking complete nonsense like he does most of the time?He's taking credit for Obama's black unemployment numbers.
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Pretty decent night for election results. Missouri opting in to the ACA is probably the biggest one, though I'm glad Tlaib won too.
In Kansas, both Kris Kobach and Steve Watkins got primaried. They're total crapsacks, but either one winning would have given Democrats a very good shot at picking up a Senate or House seat, respectively. Still, hard to be too annoyed.
Lacy Bush seemed like a pretty decent Representative, but Cori Bush sounds like a baller and I'm all for more progressive women of color in Washington!
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So i got a question regarding Trumps interview … He said he did more for the black community than anybody else with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln.
Is he refering to something specific? Did he actually do something or he is talking complete nonsense like he does most of the time?If ginning up more hatred and contempt towards black people (along with other minority groups) equals doing more for the black community I don’t think he’s even succeeded at even that.
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@Dorobō:
Shame about Talib winning.
Is there anything particularly bad about Tlaib besides booing Clinton and having a chunk of her fanbase being dirtbag left?
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Quick question, do undocumented immigrants pay taxes? I could google this and it would be a lot quicker, but believe it or not I actually like interacting with most of you guys, lol.
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@The:
Quick question, do undocumented immigrants pay taxes? I could google this and it would be a lot quicker, but believe it or not I actually like interacting with most of you guys, lol.
Are they paying things like Property tax, or their local State and Fed taxes? Most likely not. However they're paying into local sales tax on their regular every day purchases, much more of their income goes to landlords and employers who DO pay State and Fed taxes.
But in terms of straight up "crossed the border, have been living in the US for 10 years" most of the taxes they've paid have likely been sales taxes funding the local economy, and the legal parties benefiting from them being here.
I can't speak though to the taxes of the VERY large amount of "illegal" immigrants in the US who came here on a legal Visa, and simply overstayed their legal welcome from the varying policies that gave them legal entry to the country.
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What the hell does he have exactly against China
He's got nothing against CHina at all. He made behind the scenes deals with them last fall, part of the reason he failed so spectacularly on his Covid response.
But
1. They're a useful scapegoat.
2. If Covid had started in Africa he'd be insulting the darkies instead of the slanties
3. He thinks if he attacks them publicly, that will make people less suspicious that they own him and give him deniability.Mind you, they don't own him as much as Russia does, he never says anything bad about Vladamir, but…
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a seat held by the Clay family for over 50 years.
The hell? Hereditary democracy is a real thing in the US huh.
@Dorobō:Shame about Talib winning. Hopefully Omar's primary challenger fares better.
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Is there anything particularly bad about Tlaib besides booing Clinton and having a chunk of her fanbase being dirtbag left?
She is quick to tweet about about young boys being kidnapped and killed by Israel before it being verified as untrue and then never apologizing for it. Not the first time she has done something like that with just deleting tweets and hoping people forget it. And yes the booing and having the worst fanbase does not help. She is better than Omar simply because she is not as corrupt but still not a good look from her. Both are pretty dumb about how the economy works as well. Being antagonistic toward Democrats is not helpful either. She needs to do a lot better as a rep and a Democrat to earn her favor among Democrats across the nation. She was once again lucky her district voted for her if you ask me.
As is only Pressley and AOC (simply because she pisses the GOP off) are any good of the 4 squad members.
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Are they paying things like Property tax, or their local State and Fed taxes? Most likely not. However they're paying into local sales tax on their regular every day purchases, much more of their income goes to landlords and employers who DO pay State and Fed taxes.
But in terms of straight up "crossed the border, have been living in the US for 10 years" most of the taxes they've paid have likely been sales taxes funding the local economy, and the legal parties benefiting from them being here.
I can't speak though to the taxes of the VERY large amount of "illegal" immigrants in the US who came here on a legal Visa, and simply overstayed their legal welcome from the varying policies that gave them legal entry to the country.
Cool cool. Thanks.
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@Dorobō:
Being antagonistic toward Democrats is not helpful either. She needs to do a lot better as a rep and a Democrat to earn her favor among Democrats across the nation. She was once again lucky her district voted for her if you ask me.
Would it really be better if conservative, centrist and progressive Democrats all quietly worked together and didn't criticize each other, though?
They stand for radically different things. -
Would it really be better if conservative, centrist and progressive Democrats all quietly worked together and didn't criticize each other, though?
They stand for radically different things.Its what the republicans do and why they keep winning.
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Its what the republicans do and why they keep winning.
Is it really worth sinking to that level, though?
It's what got them Trump, and kept him from being impeached for essentially treason.
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Are they paying things like Property tax, or their local State and Fed taxes? Most likely not. However they're paying into local sales tax on their regular every day purchases, much more of their income goes to landlords and employers who DO pay State and Fed taxes.
But in terms of straight up "crossed the border, have been living in the US for 10 years" most of the taxes they've paid have likely been sales taxes funding the local economy, and the legal parties benefiting from them being here.
I can't speak though to the taxes of the VERY large amount of "illegal" immigrants in the US who came here on a legal Visa, and simply overstayed their legal welcome from the varying policies that gave them legal entry to the country.
Majority do actually pay state/federal income taxes, social security and medicare taxes. Unfortunately when they do pay income tax, they usually don't file to get it back.
I'm speaking from my experience and research as an accountant
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Is it really worth sinking to that level, though?
It's what got them Trump, and kept him from being impeached for essentially treason.
And yet they've kept anything from moving since year 3 of the Obama administration if they didn't want it to, done tons of grifting, appointed countless judges to mess with the system for decades to come, and most of them have gotten away scott free for committing crimes thus far.
And despite EVERYTHING, it's still a coin toss as to if Trump is going to win the next election and become dictator for life.
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Would it really be better if conservative, centrist and progressive Democrats all quietly worked together and didn't criticize each other, though?
They stand for radically different things.That kind of "unity" breeds stagnation. The progressive voices would always be drowned out because centrist and conservative dems would unite in favor of mediocrity. That's how we got stuck with biden. Not enough progessives actually gave a shit and voted. Once trumpy is gone there's no reason for any progressive to stick with half measure uncle joe.
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Is it really worth sinking to that level, though?
It's what got them Trump, and kept him from being impeached for essentially treason.
@The:
That kind of "unity" breeds stagnation. The progressive voices would always be drowned out because centrist and conservative dems would unite in favor of mediocrity. That's how we got stuck with biden. Not enough progessives actually gave a shit and voted. Once trumpy is gone there's no reason for any progressive to stick with half measure uncle joe.
I don't mean to sound rude, but it seems pretty obvious to me that collaboration is extremely necessary. Progressives shouldn't not be progressive, but it's absolutely imperative that they work with those closer to center so that the base is built up enough that those who are today considered close to center become the new right. The country is not going to become purely democratic in the next 50 years, but it is for sure possible for the republican party of tomorrow to look more like Obama's era and the democrats, then, to look like AOC. In a country as big and culturally varied as ours, it's about as hopeful as we can get.
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I don't mean to sound rude, but it seems pretty obvious to me that collaboration is extremely necessary. Progressives shouldn't not be progressive, but it's absolutely imperative that they work with those closer to center so that the base is built up enough that those who are today considered close to center become the new right. The country is not going to become purely democratic in the next 50 years, but it is for sure possible for the republican party of tomorrow to look more like Obama's era and the democrats, then, to look like AOC. In a country as big and culturally varied as ours, it's about as hopeful as we can get.
It's silent obedience to the party leadership we're talking about, not collaboration. "The Squad" already collaborates with the Democratic leadership just fine.
Public disagreements and criticisms are not proof that they're undermining the party or anything. They would, however, undermine the kind of unhealthy cult-like devotion the Republican Party intentionally foments in its supporters. -
I wouldn't characterize the GOP as being in lockstep with their leadership, considering the Tea Party led Boner to resign with such a huge amount of PTSD that he became a weed lobbyist. But they did set the agenda for the '10s, without much electoral backlash.
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@Dorobō:
Shame about Talib winning. Hopefully Omar's primary challenger fares better.
It's one thing to think Biden will have a better chance against Trump than Bernie, but actively hoping for the failure of reps who win huge chunks of their primary for their own seats is some straight up anti-left brain worms.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
I don't mean to sound rude, but it seems pretty obvious to me that collaboration is extremely necessary. Progressives shouldn't not be progressive, but it's absolutely imperative that they work with those closer to center so that the base is built up enough that those who are today considered close to center become the new right. The country is not going to become purely democratic in the next 50 years, but it is for sure possible for the republican party of tomorrow to look more like Obama's era and the democrats, then, to look like AOC. In a country as big and culturally varied as ours, it's about as hopeful as we can get.
You can collaborate and also criticize, which is exactly what the Squad has done. Both of those are extremely important, you can't prize one over the other without your party being a broken wreck.
And worrying about it from a minuscule fraction of the House is ridiculous to begin with. The Democratic party should reflect the spectrum of the left, not be a stronghold of left-centrism.–- Update From New Post Merge ---
I wouldn't characterize the GOP as being in lockstep with their leadership, considering the Tea Party led Boner to resign with such a huge amount of PTSD that he became a weed lobbyist. But they did set the agenda for the '10s, without much electoral backlash.
Was also going to say this. Yeah.
Even Trump himself shot up the ranks of the 16 primaries by freely shitting on the Republican establishment left and right. The only reason he doesn't still do it is because he essentially conquered the party. -
I wouldn't characterize the GOP as being in lockstep with their leadership, considering the Tea Party led Boner to resign with such a huge amount of PTSD that he became a weed lobbyist. But they did set the agenda for the '10s, without much electoral backlash.
Ideologically, no, supporters are not fully in line with GOP leadership, and Republicans believe all kinds of different things.
Functionally however, they loyally show up on election day and vote Republican.
Edit: I guess this post and your post pretty much destroy the claim that public disagreements among congresspeople from the same party would damage party loyalty among voters, so now I'm not really sure what benefit banning "The Squad" and others from criticizing the DNC would yield.
It's a bad idea, regardless.
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@Monkey:
It's one thing to think Biden will have a better chance against Trump than Bernie, but actively hoping for the failure of reps who win huge chunks of their primary for their own seats is some straight up anti-left brain worms.
This is your brain on centrism.
@Neko what corrupt thing did Omar do?
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It's silent obedience to the party leadership we're talking about, not collaboration. "The Squad" already collaborates with the Democratic leadership just fine.
Public disagreements and criticisms are not proof that they're undermining the party or anything. They would, however, undermine the kind of unhealthy cult-like devotion the Republican Party intentionally foments in its supporters.@Monkey:
You can collaborate and also criticize, which is exactly what the Squad has done. Both of those are extremely important, you can't prize one over the other without your party being a broken wreck.
And worrying about it from a minuscule fraction of the House is ridiculous to begin with. The Democratic party should reflect the spectrum of the left, not be a stronghold of left-centrism.That's my bad on not reading the conversation close enough. I'm in agreement that collaboration and criticism are both possible and welcome.
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I've been lax but here's the past few days' What the Fuck Just Happened Today for Monday-Wednesday, spoiler-tagged to avoid giant walls of text, which I may do going forward now that I've realized it works.
Day 1292: "Extraordinarily widespread."
! * Dept. of “We Have It Totally Under Control.”
- Global: Total confirmed cases: ~18,161,000; deaths: ~691,000
- U.S.: Total confirmed cases: ~4,469,000; deaths: ~156,000
- Source: Johns Hopkins University
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! 1/ Dr. Deborah Birx warned that the country is in a “new phase” of the coronavirus pandemic and that the current outbreak is “extraordinarily widespread.” Birx stressed that Americans need to follow public health recommendations, including wearing a mask and practicing social distancing. She added: “What we are seeing today is different from March and April.[…] It’s into the rural as equal urban areas. […] To everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or protected from this virus.” (CNN / New York Times / Axios)
! * The U.S. recorded more than 1.9 million new coronavirus infections in July – nearly 42% of the more than 4.5 million cases reported since the pandemic began and more than double the number documented in any other month. (New York Times)- The former head of the FDA warned that the country’s rate of coronavirus infections indicates “it’s going to be hard to keep the virus out.” (CBS News)
- [Perspective] A coronavirus vaccine won’t change the world right away. “The declaration that a vaccine has been shown safe and effective will be a beginning, not the end. Deploying the vaccine to people in the United States and around the world will test and strain distribution networks, the supply chain, public trust and global cooperation. It will take months or, more likely, years to reach enough people to make the world safe.” (Washington Post)
- [Public Records] Millions of dollars of Paycheck Protection Program loans went to China-backed businesses in critical sectors. According to a review of publicly available loan data, “$192 million to $419 million has gone to more than 125 companies that Chinese entities own or invest in. Many of the loans were quite sizable; at least 32 Chinese companies received loans worth more than $1 million, with those totaling as much as $180 million.” (New York Times)
- [Public Records] A defense contractor was accused of misrepresenting its size in order to received a loan worth at least $2 million through the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses. “A review of business data by Project on Government Oversight and the nonprofit Anti-Corruption Data Collective concluded that Atlantic Diving Supply was one of at least 27 PPP recipients estimated annual sales of more than $1 billion in 2019. Another 2,068 loan recipients cleared $100 million in sales last year, according to the analysis.” (Washington Post)
! 2/ Trump tweeted that Dr. Deborah Birx’s performance has been “pathetic.” Prior to Dr. Birx’s comment that the virus is in a “new phase,” and that it is “extraordinarily widespread,” Nancy Pelosi said Dr. Birx had been “too positive” about Trump’s handling of the pandemic. Trump then accused Dr. Birx of unfairly criticizing the administration’s response to the pandemic, saying she “took the bait & hit us.” Pelosi also said she does not have confidence in Dr. Birx, linking her to Trump’s disinformation about the virus spread of the coronavirus. “I think the president is spreading disinformation about the virus and she is his appointee,” Pelosi said, “so I don’t have confidence there, no.” (CNN / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / Politico / Reuters / Daily Beast)
! * Trump rebuked Dr. Anthony Fauci, retweeting a video of Fauci explaining to a House subcommittee that the U.S. has seen more cases than European countries because it shut down a fraction of its economy in response to the pandemic. “Wrong!” Trump wrote. (Politico)
! 3/ Trump floated the possibility of using an executive order to impose a moratorium on evictions as talks on a new coronavirus relief plan have stalled in Congress. The two sides are trying to find a compromise between the $3.5 trillion Democratic plan and the $1 trillion package that Senate Republicans introduced last week. The Republican proposal did not include a federal moratorium on evictions. The White House is also exploring whether Trump can unilaterally extend enhanced unemployment insurance payments that were part of the March stimulus legislation that has since expired. Trump told reporters at the White House: “I have a lot of powers with respect to executive orders and we’re looking at that very seriously right now.” He didn’t specify those powers were, though. (Bloomberg / Washington Post / New York Times / Wall Street Journal)
4/ The Manhattan District Attorney’s office suggested that it’s investigating Trump and his company for bank and insurance fraud. Until now, Cyrus Vance’s inquiry had appeared focused on hush-money payments made in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election to two women who said they had affairs with Trump. But, in a court filing Vance said Trump’s arguments that a subpoena for eight years of his personal and corporate tax records was too broad stemmed from “the false premise” that the probe was limited to hush-money payments. Vance told the judge that he was justified in demanding the financial records, citing public reports of “extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization.” The filing doesn’t say specifically what Vance is investigating, but instead quotes from an October opinion by a district judge in New York, who listed a number of publicly reported investigations that included allegations of “insurance and bank fraud by the Trump Organization.” (New York Times / Associated Press / Bloomberg / CNN / Axios)
! * Deutsche Bank opened an internal investigation into a 2013 transaction between Trump’s personal banker and a company part-owned by Jared Kushner. In June 2013, the banker, Rosemary Vrablic, and two of her Deutsche Bank colleagues purchased a Park Avenue apartment for about $1.5 million from a company called Bergel 715 Associates. In 2011, Kushner introduced Vrablic to Donald Trump – a time when most mainstream banks refused to do business with Trump because of his history of defaults and bankruptcies. Vrablic and her superiors agreed to take Trump on as a client, despite defaulting on a Deutsche loan three years earlier. In an annual personal financial report, Kushner and Ivanka Trump reported that they had received $1 million to $5 million last year from Bergel 715. (New York Times)- Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner earned at least $36.2 million in outside income as they served in the White House last year. The Office of Government Ethics require administration officials to report the worth of assets and liabilities in ranges. The two advisers reported a minimum combined income that was at least $7 million higher than in 2018, when they reported making at least $29 million. (Washington Post)
! 5/ Trump threatened legal action after Nevada’s Legislature passed a bill to automatically send mail-in ballots to all active voters. Trump tweeted that lawmakers were “using Covid to steal the state” in an “illegal late night coup.” Trump also claimed without evidence that the “Post Office could never handle the Traffic of Mail-In Votes without preparation.” House Majority Whip James Clyburn, meanwhile, said he believes Trump is “trying to put a cloud over the election” and has has no intention of “peacefully” transferring power if he loses in November. (Politico / Bloomberg / Axios / CBS News)
poll/ 52% of Americans believe Trump will not accept the results of November’s election if he loses. 55% of Trump supporters say they refuse to accept a narrow Trump loss if mail-in ballots contribute a Biden victory. (Yahoo News)
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! Notables.
! 1. Homeland Security reassigned a senior official whose office compiled “intelligence reports” about journalists and protesters in Portland. Brian Murphy, the acting under secretary for intelligence and analysis, was reassigned after his office disseminated “open-source intelligence reports” containing Twitter posts of journalists, noting they had published leaked unclassified documents. (New York Times / Washington Post)- Trump appointed his choice to fill the Pentagon’s top policy job to a temporary senior position in the same Defense Department office that does not require Senate approval. Anthony Tata confirmation hearing was canceled amid bipartisan opposition to the nomination. Tata’s role is essentially the deputy of the role he had been nominated for. (Politico / CNN / New York Times)
- Trump will allow Microsoft to pursue an acquisition of TikTok from its Chinese owner after he said he was planning to ban the social media app over concerns that it represents a national security risk. Trump also said that the U.S. should receive money in return for letting the deal happen. Trump indicated a deadline of Sept. 15, after which TikTok would be banned in the U.S. (Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Reuters / CNBC)
- House Democrats subpoenaed four top aides to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, accusing them of stonewalling their investigation into the firing of the State Department’s former inspector general earlier this year. Pompeo previously said he recommended that Trump fire Steve Linick as the State Department inspector general, citing leaks from Linick’s office and claiming that the internal watchdog was trying to undermine his department. At the time of his termination, Linick and office were investigating the Trump administration’s use of an emergency declaration to expedite arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. (Politico / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press)
! * Dept. of “We Have It Totally Under Control.”
- Global: Total confirmed cases: ~18,381,000; deaths: ~697,000
- U.S.: Total confirmed cases: ~4,752,000; deaths: ~157,000
- Source: Johns Hopkins University
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! 1/ Trump insisted that the coronavirus pandemic is “under control” and that U.S. deaths reaching 1,000 people a day “is what it is.” When asked how he could claim that his administration has the virus under control, Trump replied: “They are dying. That’s true. And it is what it is. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing everything we can. It’s under control, as much as you can control it. This is a horrible plague that beset us.” Trump then congratulated himself, saying his administration has “done a great job” despite more than 4.71 million confirmed cases and at least 155,478 deaths. Trump again suggested that “There are those that say you can test too much,” but when asked who says that, Trump relied: “Just read the manuals. Read the books.” When asked what books and manuals he’s referring to, Trump changed the subject instead. (Axios / CNBC / CNN / USA Today / The Guardian / Washington Post / CBS News / Vox)
! * [Watch] Full Axios interview with Trump- The 9 Wildest Answers in Trump’s Interview. (New York Magazine)
- At least six states will band together to purchase millions of coronavirus tests. Virginia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, and Maryland have formed a purchasing compact to request 500,000 rapid tests that could be deployed to address outbreaks from one of two companies approved by the FDA to sell antigen tests. (Washington Post / New York Times)
! 2/ The White House is considering three executive orders to bypass the stalled coronavirus relief negotiations. The plan by White House chief of staff Mark Meadows would delay the collection of federal payroll taxes, reinstitute an expired eviction moratorium, and extend enhanced federal unemployment benefits using unspent money already appropriated by Congress. The White House plans to reappropriate $81 billion in unspent CARES Act money and then direct the Labor Department to loan state unemployment agencies additional money so they could provide laid-off workers anywhere from $200 to $600 per week in unemployment benefits. (Politico)
3/ Trump downplayed the legacy of John Lewis and instead complained how the recently deceased civil rights icon made a “big mistake” by not coming to his inauguration. When asked to reflect on Lewis’s contributions to the civil rights movement, Trump instead claimed “nobody has done more for Black Americans than I have,” and that Lewis “chose not to come to my inauguration.” Trump also declined to say whether he found Lewis’s life story “impressive,” and – again – said “He didn’t come to my inauguration. He didn’t come to my State of the Union speeches. And that’s OK.” (Axios / New York Times / CNN)
4/ The Census Bureau will end all counting efforts for the 2020 census a month sooner than previously announced. Door-knocking efforts, collecting responses online, over the phone and by mail will end on Sept. 30 instead of Oct. 31 — the previously announced end date for all counting efforts. The bureau has also asked Congress to push back the legal deadline of Dec. 31 by four months, but so far only Democrats have introduced legislation that would extend the deadlines. Congressional Democrats and census advocates are also concerned that the White House has pressured the bureau to stop counting soon in order to benefit Republicans when House seats are reapportioned and voting districts are redrawn. Roughly 4 out of 10 households nationwide yet to be counted. (NPR)
5/ Trump claimed he has the authority to issue an executive order addressing mail-in voting in the November election despite the Constitution expressly giving states the right to run their elections. Trump, however, said he hadn’t ruled out doing so, but didn’t elaborate on what an executive order on mail-in voting would entail. (Politico)
6/ Trump encouraged Floridians to vote by mail and claimed that Florida’s election system is “safe and secure” after repeatedly trying to discredit mail-in voting. 53% of voters in Florida, however, have expressed health concerns about voting in person and prefer voting by mail in November. And, at least 77% of voters will be able to vote through the mail in the fall. (CNN / Politico / The Hill / Washington Post)
7/ The House Oversight Committee called Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to testify on Sept. 17 about changes made to the U.S. Postal Service under the Trump administration. After DeJoy, a former fundraiser for Trump and the Republican National Committee, was appointed by Trump in May, USPS mail has been backlogged and delayed. (Axios)
poll/ 59% of Americans support a mandatory, nationwide stay-at-home order for two weeks to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 62% support a single, national strategy for when businesses can reopen, 60% support a similar strategy for schools, and 55% support temporary travel bans between states. (NPR / Axios)
poll/ 82% of voters support a national face mask mandate, while 18% oppose a mandate. (The Hill)
poll/ 13% of Americans are satisfied with the state of the nation – down seven percentage points in the past month and 32 points since reaching a 15-year high in February. American satisfaction has not been this low since November 2011.(Gallup)
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! Notables.
! 1. Trump defended his “I just wish her well” comment about Ghislaine Maxwell, saying he doesn’t want her to die in jail like her former boyfriend and alleged accomplice, Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell was arrested on allegations of child sex trafficking. Trump also suggested that Epstein’s death might not have been a suicide, which contradicts both the New York City medical examiner’s office and his own attorney general. (CNN)- The House Intelligence Committee will investigate the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis, which has compiled “intelligence reports” on journalists and protesters in Portland and other cities. “The revelations require a full accounting and, if substantiated, must never be allowed to occur again,” Rep. Adam Schiff wrote to senior department officials, including the acting secretary, Chad Wolf. (Axios / Washington Post)
- The White House was sued over the lack of a sign language interpreter at the administration’s COVID-19 briefings. The National Association of the Deaf and five deaf Americans filed a lawsuit, asking a federal judge to order the White House to add live televised ASL interpretation at all public coronavirus briefings. (CNN / The Hill)
- The deputy White House liaison to the U.S. Agency for International Development was fired after a series of comments critical of gay marriage and LGBTQ rights. Late Monday morning, Merritt Corrigan unlocked her previously private Twitter account and in a series of tweets said “gay marriage isn’t marriage,” “Men aren’t women,” and that the U.S. gives aid only to countries that “celebrate sexual deviancy.” When asked for a comment, Corrigan said she would address the matter at a news conference she plans to hold with two far-right conspiracy theorists on Thursday. (NBC News / Bloomberg / Politico)
Day 1294: "He still doesn't get it."
! * Dept. of “We Have It Totally Under Control.”
- Global: Total confirmed cases: ~18,636,000; deaths: ~703,000
- U.S.: Total confirmed cases: ~4,805,000; deaths: ~158,000
- Source: Johns Hopkins University
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! 1/ Trump insisted that the coronavirus pandemic “will go away like things go away,” claiming inaccurately that only a “relatively small portion” of the country is seeing increases in coronavirus cases, and promising that a vaccine will be available “long before the end of the year.” The U.S., however, continues to see tens of thousands of new daily cases and recorded 1,380 deaths on Tuesday. On average, 1,000 people are dying each day from COVID-19. And, as Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday, “the numbers don’t lie,” the U.S. has the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world. Trump’s comments that “this thing’s going away” came during a call-in interview with Fox News, in which he also claimed – inaccurately – that “some doctors” say children are “totally,” “virtually,” and “almost immune” to the virus. “My view is the schools should open. This thing is going away.” Following a coronavirus task force meeting in the Oval Office this week, a person familiar with the meeting said Trump was struggling to grasp the severity of the pandemic. “He still doesn’t get it,” the person said. “He does not get it.” Joe Biden, meanwhile, weighed in, saying: “Donald Trump continues to live in a world of delusion.” (Washington Post / CNN / CNBC / Bloomberg / NBC News / Wall Street Journal / Reuters / Vox)
! * Hours after Trump boasted that U.S. testing is the “best ever,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said coronavirus testing is too slow. “We need to do better,” Fauci said. “No excuses. It needs to be done.” (Bloomberg / CNN)- Emerging research indicates a connection between COVID-19 and significant neurological effects in young brains. In a recent study published by JAMA, a cohort of 27 young patients who had suffered from multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children developed new-onset neurological symptoms in the absence of other respiratory symptoms. (NBC News)
- Public school students in Chicago will begin the academic year remotely, leaving New York City as the only major school system in the country that will try to offer in-person classes when schools start this fall. (New York Times)
- The Trump administration sticks to its view that schools reopen as the U.S. nears 5 million coronavirus cases. “The U.N. chief warned that the world faces a ‘generational catastrophe’ because of school closures, with more than a billion students at home. In a video message, he urged countries to suppress the virus sufficiently to allow schools to reopen, calling the coronavirus pandemic ‘the largest disruption of education ever.’ A policy brief […] emphasized that suppressing transmission of the virus is “the single most significant step” leaders can take toward reopening schools.” (Washington Post)
- The FDA expanded its list of hand sanitizers that consumers should avoid to 115. The agency flagged hand sanitizers with “concerningly low levels of ethyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol,” microbial contamination, or inadequate levels of benzalkonium chloride. The CDC recommends the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers with at least 60% ethanol. (New York Times)
! 2/ Negotiations on a new coronavirus relief bill remain deadlocked with both sides claiming they’ve made concessions. Mitch McConnell accused Democrats of stalling and conceding too little in negotiations, while Democrats say that Republicans haven’t recognized the severity of the coronavirus crisis in their relief proposal. Republicans have argued that the $600 weekly enhanced unemployment benefit is a disincentive for people to return to work, because some people made more money on unemployment than they did at their jobs. The White House proposed reducing the figure to $400 weekly through early December, which Trump indicated support for, saying he wants to “get funds to people so they can live.” In an interview on Fox News, however, Trump said he didn’t want the benefits to “disincentivize” people from going back to work. Democrats, meanwhile, have refused to budge on the $600 figure. Democrats are also seeking $1 trillion in state and local aid while Republicans have countered with $200 billion. Democrats have also called for $3.6 billion for the United States Postal Service to ensure a secure and safe election, including broader mail balloting, but Republicans have opposed the funds. (Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / New York Times)
3/ The State Department’s acting inspector general resigned less than three months after replacing the inspector general Trump fired in May. Stephen Akard’s departure was announced by his deputy, Diana Shaw, who told colleagues that she will become the temporary acting inspector general effective on Friday. Akard became inspector general after Trump abruptly fired Steve Linick in May on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recommendation. Linick had been pursuing investigations into Pompeo and his potential misuse of department resources to push arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates before Trump fired him. (Washington Post / New York Times / Axios / Politico / ABC News / CNN)
4/ The Trump campaign sued the state of Nevada over its plan to send absentee ballots to all active voters this November, falsely claiming that expanding mail-in voting would make voter fraud “inevitable.” At the same time, however, Trump encouraged voters in Florida to vote by mail after months of criticizing the practice. (The Nevada Independent / ABC News / CNN)
! * Trump said he is considering delivering his Republican National Convention speech from the White House after abandoning plans to hold the full convention in Charlotte, and later Jacksonville, Fla., over concerns that large crowds could spread the novel coronavirus. (Politico / CNN / Washington Post)
! poll/ 58% of Americans say the U.S. “should allow all voters to vote by mail in elections this year” to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. 31% said the U.S. “should not allow all voters to vote by mail in elections this year because it jeopardizes election security.” (Politico)
poll/ 66% of voters oppose delaying the presidential election due to the coronavirus pandemic and 54% think Trump floated the idea of postponing it to help himself get re-elected. (Reuters)
poll/ 14% of voters said they would take a coronavirus vaccine if Trump recommended it. 43%, meanwhile, said they’d take a vaccine based on the advice of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the CDC (43%), or their family (46%). (Politico)
! * * *
! ️ Notables.
! 1. House Democrats are investigating Kodak’s $765 million federal loan to make ingredients for generic drugs and are seeking documents from a U.S. agency involved in granting the proposed funding. Shares of Kodak surged 20% on July 27. The loan, however, wasn’t announced until July 28. (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / Politico / NBC News)- Johnson & Johnson will develop and deliver 100 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine for the U.S. in a deal totaling more than $1 billion. The doses will be provided to Americans at no cost if they’re used as part of a COVID-19 vaccination campaign, although health care professionals could charge for the cost of administering the vaccine. The company also received $456 million earlier this year to develop the vaccine. (CNBC)
- Several former lobbying clients of the acting secretary of Homeland Security received millions of dollars’ worth of government contracts when he held senior positions within the department. Chad Wolf was a lobbyist for over a decade at Wexler & Walker before he took leadership roles with DHS under Trump. Since then, several of Wolf’s former clients earned at least $160 million in contracts from DHS. (CNBC)
- Three Defense Department officials contradicted Trump’s claim that the explosion in Beirut was an “attack.” The defense officials said they didn’t know what Trump was talking about. And, Lebanese officials have not called the explosion an attack. An estimated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse in the Port of Beirut exploded. (CNN)
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That's actually a pretty clever methodology:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/opinion/2020-election-prediction-allan-lichtman.html -
That's actually a pretty clever methodology:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/opinion/2020-election-prediction-allan-lichtman.htmlSubscription blocked. What's it say?
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Subscription blocked. What's it say?
Fuck that's the one time NYT didn't blocked me but others. It refers to this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Keys_to_the_White_HouseAnd professor Lichtman giving his analysis point by point.
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@Monkey:
It's one thing to think Biden will have a better chance against Trump than Bernie, but actively hoping for the failure of reps who win huge chunks of their primary for their own seats is some straight up anti-left brain worms.
Oh I would love for them to be successes. I just don't think they have been. So it's not like it's anti-left thinking here. Sure yeah I express dislike for "leftists" the same I express dislike for tea party types because extremists are awful. Not that any of the Squad are that, mind you. I have supported, advocated and voted for Democrats of all stripes save for conservative (never needed to lol) so it's not like I can be pinned to one side of the conservative or centrist or progressive lanes. More of the mixed lane who has their own personal views. Again very fond of Pressley and AOC who I see as doing bigger and better things.
But yeah Talib won originally by plurality and I don't think she has done a great job there. Good for her on her win this time I guess but it's fine to root for the other lady too. Hopefully Talib does better now and would be happy if she surprises me.
And I do agree the party should reflect the spectrum of the left along with having the right balance of collaboration and criticism. A lot of these newbies running and winning in their seats are good for that. And in general it's great that the party is getting more young people and/or PoC running and winning. I do view it all as healthy but I'm still gonna have my own views on certain politicians.
Like that Omar has got to go.
@Phil
Her campaign has been paying her husband's firm tons of money. Not technically illegal, but it’s extremely unethical in my view.
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Like, I appreciate that these newspapers need to make money somehow and pay their staff, I get that… but all of the fake news sites like breitbart and fox are always free.
So, where is someone ultimately going to get their news from?
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Those are free because they're not actually news services but propaganda outlets funded by billionaires.
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When all else fails check NPR.
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Those are free because they're not actually news services but propaganda outlets funded by billionaires.
Yes. ANd that's the problem.
The reason they're free ties into the fact that if someone is linked to an actual news article and can't see it, but then gets linked to propoganda and CAN see that, well… if they don't know any better they're going to go with the one they can actually access for their source of news.
I'm not sure what the solution is though, actual news needs to make money to do its job but...
When all else fails check NPR.
I know that and you know that but what about your average red voter? ANd even if they DO know about NPR, are they going to feel like thats the dumb highbrow elitist's news instead of the real news?
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I'm not sure what the solution is though, actual news needs to make money to do its job but…
The US needs at least one public news channel unbeholden to the government itself aside from being funded by taxes of course, to educate the people on the most important domestic and global issues. Without a profit motive they can focus only on relevant issues and bringing the facts. There should probably also be a term limit for its directors and the committee that picks them, so you don't get the problem the BBC is running into with elitism and political bias.
I think this would in the long term solve a massive number of issues with the US. Of course, this won't happen this century because big gubmint bad.
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Those are free because they're not actually news services but propaganda outlets funded by billionaires.
The Washington Post is owned by the richest man in human history.
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The US needs at least one public news channel unbeholden to the government itself aside from being funded by taxes of course, to educate the people on the most important domestic and global issues. Without a profit motive they can focus only on relevant issues and bringing the facts. There should probably also be a term limit for its direction and the committee that picks them, so you don't get the problem the BBC is running into with elitism and political bias.
I think this would in the long term solve a massive number of issues with the US. Of course, this won't happen this century because big gumbint bad.
As much as I love the idea of something like that existing, it sounds like pure fantasy at this juncture. The USA controllers want to create as much divisiveness as possible, and if a news channel's not doing that, it doesn't serve their interests much. They seriously are putting political spins on coronavirus at every opportunity.
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The Washington Post is owned by the richest man in human history.
That being the case doesn't explain why they like the New York Times also has the gimmick of "we're going to let you read a couple of articles but afterwards you have to have a paid subscription".
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The New York Times paywall mostly exists to provide the illusion that NYT content is high quality.
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@Dorobō:
Like that Omar has got to go.
If your reasoning is she is harsh on Israel, then coddling Israel is one of the main things about the modern Democratic party that needs to go.
It's one of the most ridiculous out of step things about the party.–- Update From New Post Merge ---
The USA controllers
Pretend I rolled my eyes so hard this thread rolled down into the creativity section with it.
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@Monkey:
If your reasoning is she is harsh on Israel, then coddling Israel is one of the main things about the modern Democratic party that needs to go.
It's one of the most ridiculous out of step things about the party.I'm more pissed about her not voting yes on the Armenian genocide resolution.
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@Monkey:
If your reasoning is she is harsh on Israel, then coddling Israel is one of the main things about the modern Democratic party that needs to go.
It's one of the most ridiculous out of step things about the party.It's not that she's been harsh on Israel (more of that please!). She's active used and retweeted anti-semitic tropes and dogwhistles and that is a little more problematic.
Plus, I think their beef is also about Omar funnelling millions of campaign dollars directly to her husband(who used to be her side-piece)'s lobbying firm.
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New York Attorney General Moves To Dissolve The NRA After Fraud Investigation*–*New York's attorney general announced civil action to dissolve the National Rifle Association after an investigation found millions of dollars in alleged fraud by CEO Wayne LaPierre and others.
March For Our Lives trolls NRA after NY lawsuit: 'Sending thoughts and prayers'
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Pence just threw Thomas Roberts under the bus. Though I'm not all that broken up considering Robert's Supreme Court makes decisions like this
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Pence just threw Thomas Roberts under the bus. Though I'm not all that broken up considering Robert's Supreme Court makes decisions like this
What did Pence do?
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What did Pence do?
Called Roberts a disappointment basically…...nevermind the fact that the under Roberts the court has made a number of decisions favorable to Conservatives.
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I genuinely forget pence exists sometimes. He's…insidious.
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New York Attorney General Moves To Dissolve The NRA After Fraud Investigation*–*New York's attorney general announced civil action to dissolve the National Rifle Association after an investigation found millions of dollars in alleged fraud by CEO Wayne LaPierre and others.
March For Our Lives trolls NRA after NY lawsuit: 'Sending thoughts and prayers'
Huh, I can't believe the NRA might possibly end in my lifetime. This seems like the best news of the day.
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@Cyan:
I'm more pissed about her not voting yes on the Armenian genocide resolution.
It's not that she's been harsh on Israel (more of that please!). She's active used and retweeted anti-semitic tropes and dogwhistles and that is a little more problematic.
Plus, I think their beef is also about Omar funnelling millions of campaign dollars directly to her husband(who used to be her side-piece)'s lobbying firm.
Yeah all of this is my whole beef with her. Talib I'm sour on personally but I don't have a strong dislike for her, Omar however? Yeah not fond of the anti-semitic or anti-Armenian stances. Israel should not be treated with kid gloves, that is a big issue with the party. But let's also be careful and not invite anti-semitic views in here as well.
The corruption and the hypocrisy is what really rubs me the wrong way about her.