Puerto Rico will simply have to bootstrap harder if it wants to continue to be a neglected colonial possession.
American Politics thread: No Nazis Allowed
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Steve Bannon had ties to Harvey Weinstein
I actually don't care so much about taking money from horrible people, and while I hope his victims get justice I don't care too much about the story itself. I just like this article cause I'm pretty sure Steve here has berated Democrats for their ties to Harvey Weinstein.
McCain scolds Trump for missing Russian sanctions deadlineAlso, Trump is still late in implementing those sanctions Congress wanted. He's over a week late so far, and I'm wondering if there's going to be consequences. Both from Congress and Russia.
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@Robert:
Robert Reich
7 hrs ·
This morning I phoned my old friend, a Republican former member of Congress.
Me: So what’s up? Is Corker alone, or are others also ready to call it quits with Trump?
He: All I know is they’re simmering over there.
Me: Flake and McCain have come pretty close.
He: Yeah. Others are thinking about doing what Bob did. Sounding the alarm. They think Trump’s nuts. Unfit. Dangerous.
Me: Well, they already knew that, didn’t they?
He: But now it’s personal. It started with the Sessions stuff. Jeff was as loyal as they come. Trump’s crapping on him was like kicking your puppy. And then, you know, him beating up on Mitch for the Obamacare fiasco. And going after Flake and the others.
Me: So they're pissed off?
He: Not just that. I mean, they have thick hides. The personal stuff got them to notice all the other things. The wild stuff, like those threats to North Korea. Tillerson would leave tomorrow if he wasn’t so worried Trump would go nuclear, literally.
Me: You think Trump is really thinking nuclear war?
He: Who knows what’s in his head? But I can tell you this. He’s not listening to anyone. Not a soul. He’s got the nuclear codes and, well, it scares the hell out of me. It’s starting to scare all of them. That’s really why Bob spoke up.
Me: So what could they do? I mean, even if the whole Republican leadership was willing to say publicly he’s unfit to serve, what then?
He: Bingo! The emperor has no clothes. It’s a signal to everyone they can bail. Have to bail to save their skins. I mean, Trump could be the end of the whole goddam Republican party.
Me: If he starts a nuclear war, that could be the end of everything.
He: Yeah, right. So when they start bailing on him, the stage is set.
Me: For what?
He: Impeachment. 25th amendment.
Me: You think Republicans would go that far?
He: Not yet. Here’s the thing. They really want to get this tax bill through. That’s all they have going for them. They don’t want to face voters in ’18 or ’20 without something to show for it. They’re just praying Trump doesn’t do something really, really stupid before the tax bill.
Me: Like a nuclear war?
He: Look, all I can tell you is many of the people I talk with are getting freaked out. It’s not as if there’s any careful strategizing going on. Not like, well, do we balance the tax bill against nuclear war? No, no. They’re worried as hell. They’re also worried about Trump crazies, all the ignoramuses he’s stirred up. I mean, Roy Moore? How many more of them do you need to destroy the party?
Me: So what’s gonna happen?
He: You got me. I’m just glad I’m not there anymore. Trump’s not just a moron. He’s a despicable human being. And he’s getting crazier. Paranoid. Unhinged. Everyone knows it. I mean, we’re in shit up to our eyeballs with this guy.So that’s it in a nutshell, let the country implode as long as they get their tax cuts for their rich donors and themselves. Always thinking of themselves before what’s good for the country. Also what some of us have been saying their plan is for months now.
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Donald Trump has state visit to UK downgraded 'and will not be guest of the Queen'
I forgot to post this earlier despite posting. Remember that tragic terror attack in London, where Trump tweeted smack against the mayor? Well, it seems like London didn't. In the face of protests and boycotts, Trump future U.K visit is going to be downgraded.
Like the Angry Mango is even fit to present himself before the Queen. Or any of the royals, really.
@Cyan:
Puerto Rico will simply have to bootstrap harder if it wants to continue to be a neglected colonial possession.
People just don't want to make PR a state because "51 states" doesn't sound as classic as "50 states." Better to just have territories. So they think.
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So that’s it in a nutshell, let the country implode as long as they get their tax cuts for their rich donors and themselves. Always thinking of themselves before what’s good for the country. Also what some of us have been saying their plan is for months now.
Do you have the original link to this?
Scary shit.
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Do you have the original link to this?
Scary shit.
One of his facebook posts from earlier in the day.
https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/
Basically every single post he makes is worth reading. Insightful and scary at the same time.
Also Dan Rather.
https://www.facebook.com/theDanRather/ -
So that’s it in a nutshell, let the country implode as long as they get their tax cuts for their rich donors and themselves. Always thinking of themselves before what’s good for the country. Also what some of us have been saying their plan is for months now.
The thing that bugs me though they worry about the prospect of not having tax reform done what happens when their tax plan (if it passes) turns out the same way it did in Kansas.
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The thing that bugs me though they worry about the prospect of not having tax reform done what happens when their tax plan (if it passes) turns out the same way it did in Kansas.
That's the thing. History has shown that this tax plan fails EVERY time. Every single time they cut taxes for the rich the economy flounders, then the democrats raise taxes back up and things are prosperous for 8 years, then they do tax cuts again.
It didn't work with Reagan or Bush. Fixing the problem did work with Clinton and Obama. It's literally been proven multiple times now but… people keep voting against their interests.
(I won't put the blame for the housing market crash and the resultant recession on Bush though... that was banks being greedy and turning what had been guaranteed AAA safe bets into incredibly unsafe scams and that eventually biting us all.)
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To my knowledge, isn't the tax plan in Kansas ridiculously disliked by their population? With the Governor who passed it just barely winning re-election?
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Yeah, but the politicians don't care if the people suffer a terrible tax plan as long as they and their donors make money.
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When you make W's response to Katrina look saintly by comparison there's something desperately wrong
I mean what does he gain by doing this….aside from the ire of Puerto Ricans and potentially losing the hispanic vote if he somehow makes it to 2020?
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Between Puerto Rico, the Iran deal, ignoring that one Stonewall monument, and his fights with the GOP, it really feels like Trump is being more abrasive than before hand. Is is just me, or does this feel like it's getting worse. Is John Kelly even doing anything? I wonder if he's quitting.
In what I hope is lighter news, Trump's lawyers think it's a good idea to have Mueller interview him. I hope this happens!
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Of course Trump's lawyers are up for him testifying. He's done nothing but look and act guilty, and he's just going to lie under oath anyway, but its the one thing they can do to make it look like cooperation instead of obstruction.
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Of course Trump's lawyers are up for him testifying. He's done nothing but look and act guilty, and he's just going to lie under oath anyway, but its the one thing they can do to make it look like cooperation instead of obstruction.
Until he obviously perjures himself anyway.
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Apparently 45 is going to speak at a hate group. Because of course he would.
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When you make W's response to Katrina look saintly by comparison there's something desperately wrong
I mean what does he gain by doing this….aside from the ire of Puerto Ricans and potentially losing the hispanic vote if he somehow makes it to 2020?
Pissing off Puerto Ricans doesn't really scare Republicans, like they were never going to win New York or Connecticut anyway.
But I've read that many Puerto Ricans are moving to Florida over this mess. So uh, that one would hurt.
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@Monkey:
Pissing off Puerto Ricans doesn't really scare Republicans, like they were never going to win New York or Connecticut anyway.
But I've read that many Puerto Ricans are moving to Florida over this mess. So uh, that one would hurt.
Yeah Rick Wilson called them out on this and apparently created a new meme out of the process.
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Frankly after all this I wonder if we won't have to give Puerto Rico statehood simply as an act of reparation…
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Between Puerto Rico, the Iran deal, ignoring that one Stonewall monument, and his fights with the GOP, it really feels like Trump is being more abrasive than before hand. Is is just me, or does this feel like it's getting worse. Is John Kelly even doing anything? I wonder if he's quitting.
In what I hope is lighter news, Trump's lawyers think it's a good idea to have Mueller interview him. I hope this happens!
I think he's just given up hopes on maintaining the same number of people that were willing to give him a chance compared to Hillary. He's pretty much playing to the hard right in swing states. That's why this system is awful, some states are just going to be a given red or blue for the most part, and if he campaigns hard enough to the alt right in these swing states, he hopes to have the same success. Even if is approval ratings are abysmal to those voters the polls are fake, the news is fake, everything is fine.
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I'm sure you all will be pleased to know that Donald Trump ensures we will all be able to say Merry Christmas again.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/13/politics/trump-values-voters-summit/index.html Real time: He freely invokes the term "Judeo-Christian" while saying that people only say "Happy Holidays" to be politically correct. Or could it be that Jewish people have celebrations in December, too? Nah. Surely he wouldn't include "Judeo" there if that were the case, no way. It's all just anti-"Judeo-Christian" propaganda!
By the way, I worked at Walmart for several years, and "Merry Christmas" was plastered all over every single aisle every year, including the last Christmas I worked in 2015 several years into Obama's evil anti-Christian Politically Correct enforcing presidency. I even took pictures.
I KNOW he's pandering to his base of evangelicals who are fed these lies, but it's just so gosh darn obvious.
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Susan Collins will not run for Governor and will stay in the senate.
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Insurers pushed back against Trump's decision to cut the ACA's cost-sharing reduction subsidies. “This action will make it harder for patients to access the care they need. Costs will go up and choices will be restricted,” the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and America’s Health Insurance Plans said in a joint statement. “These benefits help real people every day, and if they are ended, there will be real consequences."
Am I misunderstanding this, or are the people who could potentially profit most by becoming able to sell more for less telling Trump "Dude, chill…"?
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Insurers pushed back against Trump's decision to cut the ACA's cost-sharing reduction subsidies. “This action will make it harder for patients to access the care they need. Costs will go up and choices will be restricted,” the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and America’s Health Insurance Plans said in a joint statement. “These benefits help real people every day, and if they are ended, there will be real consequences."
Am I misunderstanding this, or are the people who could potentially profit most by becoming able to sell more for less telling Trump "Dude, chill…"?
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Between this and the Iran deal, it seems like Trump is acting on his own wills rather than in the interest of the people or our allies. Between this and the news of Trump "unraveling" I'm worried what he'll do next. I mean, moreso than usual. More than what I'm used to from him right now. I just feel like he's acting out of spite.
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In some states, rates are already locked in for next year so insurers can't raise prices to compensate for the loss of the CSR payments and those rates were calculated with the assumption that the subsidies would continue.
So it's more likely that the insurers will just drop those areas altogether after eating losses for the rest of this year. This will definitely cost those companies billions.
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Iran's president response to Trump
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Trump opposes bipartisan Obamacare rescue plan
The administration, however, opened the door to negotiations on the now-canceled payments. After speaking to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Saturday, Trump said that a temporary deal could be struck on shoring up the insurance markets. Mulvaney suggested the insurance payments could be a bargaining chip in a broader negotiation with Congress to either repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health care law — or fund Trump’s long-stalled border wall with Mexico.
This is where we're at now. Trump is literally using the healthcare, which he promised to his constituents, as a hostage for his wall. It's like he's negotiating by gunpoint, except there's also a chance he'll shoot himself in the foot as well.
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I wonder when US politicians started saying 'Judeo-Christian' as opposed to just Christian
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Trump opposes bipartisan Obamacare rescue plan
This is where we're at now. Trump is literally using the healthcare, which he promised to his constituents, as a hostage for his wall. It's like he's negotiating by gunpoint, except there's also a chance he'll shoot himself in the foot as well.
You know, since Mulvaney claims he instigated what the executive order does from the moment he got his position. He really should get all the credit for it. Conceivably, if lots of people acknowledge that openly, Trump will fire him.
I would like to add, in the wake of Fearless Leader signing the executive order that cuts off subsidy funds. 19 Democratic state Attorney Generals have already filed a lawsuit to keep subsidy payments for Obamacare going. Expect to hear about more lawsuits in the not too distant future.
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I'm sure you all will be pleased to know that Donald Trump ensures we will all be able to say Merry Christmas again.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/13/politics/trump-values-voters-summit/index.html Real time: He freely invokes the term "Judeo-Christian" while saying that people only say "Happy Holidays" to be politically correct. Or could it be that Jewish people have celebrations in December, too? Nah. Surely he wouldn't include "Judeo" there if that were the case, no way. It's all just anti-"Judeo-Christian" propaganda!
By the way, I worked at Walmart for several years, and "Merry Christmas" was plastered all over every single aisle every year, including the last Christmas I worked in 2015 several years into Obama's evil anti-Christian Politically Correct enforcing presidency. I even took pictures.
I KNOW he's pandering to his base of evangelicals who are fed these lies, but it's just so gosh darn obvious.
"Judeo-Christian" is a dogwhistle that says "ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS??? NO NO NO, CHRISTIANITY HAS NOTHING IN COMMON WITH MUSLIMS, SEE I'LL EVEN ADMIT THOSE CROOKED JEWS ARE CONNECTED, EVEN THEM, BUT NEVER THE RAGHEADS."
Feel free to superimpose that in whenever you hear the term.
Especially in examples like this where like you said, the subject has nothing to do with Judaism at all. -
@Monkey:
"Judeo-Christian" is a dogwhistle that says "ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS??? NO NO NO, CHRISTIANITY HAS NOTHING IN COMMON WITH MUSLIMS, SEE I'LL EVEN ADMIT THOSE CROOKED JEWS ARE CONNECTED, EVEN THEM, BUT NEVER THE RAGHEADS."
Feel free to superimpose that in whenever you hear the term.
Especially in examples like this where like you said, the subject has nothing to do with Judaism at all.Oh, I had never even thought of it that way, but it certainly makes sense.
I just have always found it ridiculous that Christian leaders always throw around the term "Judeo-Christian" all while demonstrating that they couldn't care less about Jewish people and their traditions.
I could also see the buzzword "Judeo-Christian" as not referring to Judaism as it exists today, but as more referring to Judaism as in the Pentateuch, being the undeniable root of Christianity. In that interpretation, of course there's no room for respecting modern-day Judaism denying Jesus as the prophesied savior, there is only respect for the Pentateuch and its values being at the root of Christianity. However, I have not done any research into the origin of the term so I won't speak out of line.
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Should be noted that Jews by and large have distanced themselves from the Judeo-Christian dogwhistling (except for Netanyahoo and his ilk).
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Muslim: Oh yeah Jesus? Cool dude. His birthday? Sweet, merry his-birthday sure.
Jew: No for the last fucking time, we do not recognize or acknowledge Jesus as anything at all. We do not talk about him, worship him, deal with him. Nada.Evangelical: JOODAYO-CHRISHTIN VALYOUS.
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If I was accused of murdering someone and suffer oppression for it during my entire existence I wouldn't want to talk about that guy either :/
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Funny how “the war on Christmas” and the usage of “happy holidays” with all likelihood came as a result of Jewish people.
But here the evangelicals are speaking for them yet again. As if the whole thing just came about as a result of brown people’s seething hatred of Jesus.
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Honestly people don't really mind Christmas if they don't celebrate it.
Just because a person doesn't celebrate a holiday doesn't mean they declare war on it lol. Yesterday I drove by a Diwali celebration, and if it wasn't raining and I wasn't exhausted from work, I probably would've checked it out… even though I don't celebrate Diwali.
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What makes the "Happy Holidays" argument even dumber is: The greeting is meant to include New Years as well. So even if they just celebrate Christmas, "Happy Holidays" is wishing them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
So please, have a Merry Christmas, and a piece of shit New Year. Hope the cork of the champagne bottle you open pierces your goddamn skull.
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So please, have a Merry Christmas, and a piece of shit New Year. Hope the cork of the champagne bottle you open pierces your goddamn skull.
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I like how we have our own new year
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Trump is giving an on-fire California the Puerto Rico treatment.
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/Editorial-California-burns-Where-s-the-12278654.phpCalifornia didn't vote for him, so he won't do anything for them. This is clearly the reason. He's that tiny and petty.
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Trump is giving an on-fire California the Puerto Rico treatment.
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/Editorial-California-burns-Where-s-the-12278654.phpCalifornia didn't vote for him, so he won't do anything for them. This is clearly the reason. He's that tiny and petty.
We don't want his "leadership." The fires are still ongoing and any sort of visit would be an unnecessary distraction.
Tweets don't cost anything but considering that California isn't in debt and in fact pays for a lot of other states, there's not much for the blowhard to say.
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Trump is giving an on-fire California the Puerto Rico treatment.
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/Editorial-California-burns-Where-s-the-12278654.phpCalifornia didn't vote for him, so he won't do anything for them. This is clearly the reason. He's that tiny and petty.
lol if he tries this in the Northeast.
Trump Tower will burn down. -
Dem lawmaker: One Republican is considering articles of impeachment against Trump
It's a small thing, but it's part of a growing trend that I like to see. To quote the wise Ann Coulter, which is something I totally do all the time, "at this point, who doesn't want Trump impeached?" :ninja:
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Makes sense require journalists to have a license to report news because unlicensed journalists are just as much of a threat to innocent lives as people who carry unlicensed and licensed guns.
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I'm curious for any other New Yorkers in here their opinion on the Constitutional Convention, and whether you're voting yes or no for it.
For those don't know, "Con-Con" happens every 20 years. It's the chance for NY State to re-write its Constitution completely. This is a very complex issue because there are arguments to be had for "yes" and "no" for Democrats, Republicans, and everyone in the middle. For whichever side you lean, this offers a chance to get a ton of legislation in without having to go through the typical amendment process. The flipside is, just imagine if the other side of whichever group you oppose pours the most money into this, gets whatever policies they want in that would have no chance of passing in the previously upheld State constitution.
There is a lot of misinformation being spouted about the convention in both the "yes" and "no" argument. The biggest pushback I've seen is from people claiming that their pensions can be at risk, or rights to unionize could be made harder. In my opinion, that's absolute horse shit. There is a risk in re-writing something from the ground up, but there are things New Yorkers have come to love overall, left or right, and one of those things is labor unions. I would be hard pressed to see big anti-union money actually overcome delegates of hundreds of thousands of blue-collar workers that jump through any hoop a union rep says to as it is.
If i can make a small tangent here, I really hate many labor unions. Too many of these are run by greedy corporate assholes that have created personal profit centers from stirring conflict with ridiculous demands knowing they'll settle with an agreement barely resembling what they rallied union workers behind, as long as they can make a good deal from it. While corporate corruption is subject to any type of business really, it seems much more prevalent in labor unions as compared to Teachers Unions, or Nurses Unions(not really shocked to believe that people fighting for workers rights of teachers and nurses are less corrupt than profit designed organizations). So, whether true or not, almost all labor unions have publicly come against this because even if there is a .0001% chance of the legislation of Unions being effected, they want to avoid it.
I'm honestly very in the middle on this. I'm not an anarchist that wants to burn down the current constitution for shits and giggles because radical change is good, even if it can possibly not be good. I understand that the flipside to any argument I make for it can be it going horribly wrong. My voting district voted overwhelmingly for Obama. And THEN overwhelmingly for Trump. So I know for a fact that there is a chance that delegates with awful horrible proposals can get much closer to getting something passed than they ever would.
One thing sort of leaning me toward the idea of voting "yes" is the possibility for actual campaign finance reform, among other things involving ant-corruption. NYC, it's boroughs, and neighboring counties have had an astounding amount of politicians head of to jail(usually not as long as they should). Between corporate interests, straight up bribery, gerrymandering voting borders, theft of public funds, there has just been a breeding ground of corruption. So this is an opportunity for voters to elect honest delegates to represent their communities and bypass a lot of the political bureaucracy that slows everything down. In addition this leads to the opportunity for many popular movements that have high favorability, but few legislative representation to gain traction($15 minimum wage, ban fracking etc).
Again, flipside, with delegates representing many areas of NY's wide political spectrum, you're going to have a modern constitutional drafting with people representing the Northeastern redneck confederacy that is upstate NY, in addition to the conservatives on Long Island(assuming per yearly migration that not all have yet moved south to Florida and North Carolina). So all of these people that flipped Obama voting districts into Trump voting districts will now have a chance to get representation in drafting a constitution that will effect NYC. Thinking about these people voting with their own financial interests in mind can be scary, as many of them will likely want less taxes and regulation period, over any concern of the deregulation of Wall Street.
So I'm somewhere in the middle to be honest. There are many possible benefits to having honest representation have this "once in a twenty year- chance to create major reform. However, this can backfire in the same ways everything could possibly improve. Personally, I'm seeing in my county almost exclusive "Vote No" promotion. I haven't seen a single "Vote Yes" bumper sticker, lawn sign, or anything. Yet I've seen hundreds of the "No" equivalent, and hundreds of Union workers venting about how their taxes will supposedly go up and they'll lose their pensions over this.
So my Tri State are friends, what are your thoughts. And to those in other States, what are your opinions on this potential venue for legislative reform?
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Enshrining abortion and union rights into the constitution ahead of the Gorsuch and Alito Power Hour would be magnificent, but I have absolutely no faith in New York Republicans and Cuomo to do anything resembling the right thing.
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My mother, uncle, and aunt are all retired teachers and therefore have an investment in the whole pensions/unions thing, so…nah. Unnecessary can of worms that costs the state a ton, has a slim chance of doing anything good, and a more than slim chance of doing something bad. Just the sort of opportunity those redneck NYers drool over; anything to screw over the city. And Cuomo can't be trusted either, as demonstrated every time he does anything. Could be a good idea once Trump's populist fever dies down and the IDC is gone and the Obama-voting counties have their heads screwed on straight again, but we'll probably be dead by then.
Fun fact: the League of Women Voters (of all things) wants the Con because of the microscopic chance of codifying Roe v. Wade into NY law. Weird!
Also I don't think the "yes" side even has bumper stickers :P
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So my Tri State are friends, what are your thoughts. And to those in other States, what are your opinions on this potential venue for legislative reform?
I don't know that the other Tr-States can really understand the complexity of statewide New York stuff, because we don't have any real equivalent to upstate, least of all in CT.