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January 23, 2024 07:59 AM UTC

Tuesday Open Thread

  • 30 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth.”

–Niels Bohr

Comments

30 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread

  1. Raw Rancid & Real. Josh Marshall at TPM

    I wanted to flag to your attention this piece in the Times about the end of Ron DeSantis’s campaign. It contains a lot of themes you’re certainly familiar with. But I found it striking. Because it cuts through a lot of the pablum of conventional news coverage about how Trump operates and what Trump is about. In short it explains how Trump devoted a solid year to a ritual and often sexualized humiliation of DeSantis which reached its crescendo in demonstrating that DeSantis was – in the face of Trump’s assault – unwilling or unable to defend himself. That last point was key. To the extent Trump was making an ‘argument’ in the form of a performative and cacophonous psycho-sexual assault it was DeSantis who made the final case about himself.

    Be taking it. By not fighting back. By making a fool of himself. By being, in the Trump right’s vivid degenerate phantasmagoria, a total cuck.

  2. Dixville Notch was a sweep (all six votes) for Nimarata (four registered Republicans, two Undeclared). Maybe the tally tonight will be more interesting than forecast? 

    1. God I hope so, but I fear that Nimarata is enjoying the last hours of her candidacy. She is going to have the dubious honor of being 2024's version of Rafael Eduardo Cruz who was the last alternative standing in 2016. (I doubt that she will get up at the convention and try to incite an insurrection – metaphorically speaking, of course – like Ted did in 2016 only to get booed down.)

      Anyone know if the Colorado Secretary of State will still count votes for candidates who suspend their candidacy before Super Tuesday?

      If Griswold's office will still count the votes, I'll cast a protest vote for Nimarata.

      If not, I probably won't bother turning a ballot in unless Maryanne Williamson or Dean Phillips gets some traction and threatens to embarass Biden in which case I'll turn in a blue ballot for Biden.

      1. The law says the counties will count votes for ALL those on the ballots or who have declared themselves as write-in candidates.  Republican ballot is certified as

        Republican Party Candidates (in ballot order)

        Vivek Ramaswamy

        Asa Hutchinson

        Nikki Haley

        Ron DeSantis

        Chris Christie

        Ryan L Binkley

        Donald J. Trump** ["The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments to the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision that Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the Colorado Presidential Primary ballot. His name will appear on the 2024 Presidential Primary ballot as a result."] My understanding — If by some chance the Supreme Court issues a majority opinion saying Trump is NOT eligible by the end of the election on March 5, those votes will be considered undervotes. 

        Republican Write-in Candidates

        Rachel Hannah "Mohawk" Swift

        Walter Iwachiw

    2. A reporter on TV just said it’s “getting exciting” in New Hampshire! Help me.

      News media’s largest flaw: They are a one-note wonder. With years to do so, they have not figured out how to cover a narcissistic, murderous autocrat any differently from a typical politician. They have not figured out that Iowa and New Hampshire are given far more coverage than they deserve. Only 110,000 voters participated in the 2024 Iowa caucuses, falling well below the high expectations for turnout, per CBS. Allowing rightwing voters in two states to determine the Republican candidate for 2024 is no better than allowing Fox Noise to determine the candidate – and it’s mostly the same thing.

      1. "is no better than allowing Fox Noise to determine the candidate – and it’s mostly the same thing."

        It absolutely is the same thing. Did you watch the series Succession?

  3. The Governor caters to right wing fiscal conservatives: “Taxes are too high”. Bell Policy Center disagrees.

    Instead of using his annual State of the State address to make the case to Coloradans that the programs he is so proud of would benefit from increased funding from current revenues, Gov. Jared Polis chose to laud permanent tax reductions and warn lawmakers that our taxes are “too high.” For members of the majority caucuses who have spent years working to increase public investment, it was truly a record-scratch moment. They sat in silence while their conservative colleagues applauded. 

    Bell President Scott Wasserman told Axios Denver: “I’m befuddled. This is completely inconsistent with everything else in the speech. A flat income tax cut will end up benefiting the wealthy … and undercutting the services that low- and middle-income people rely on.”

    1. "A flat income tax cut will end up benefiting the wealthy"

      But Wasserman says that like it's bad thing.

      What a crazy concept. Give the tax cut to the folks who pay the tax.

      1. We all pay taxes…state, Federal, Medicare, sales…etc. The issue is whether "The poor pay more" proportionately. For example, about $3000 was deducted from my pay this year for Federal tax. That works out to about 7% of my yearly taxable income.

        In a "flat tax" situation, someone making $100,000 a year would also be paying $3000 in Federal tax – but that would be only 3% of their income.

        A progressive tax structure is more fair….but this isn't what Polis wants. A flat income tax cut would not actually help the wealthy much, but it would in fact hurt social services  everyone depends on.

        We need emergency responders trained and staffed up to deal with homeless and mentally ill folks in a non-lethal way. We need places for people to live that they can afford. We need job training programs that help people develop marketable skills. We need public places to charge our electric vehicles, if we're going to meet our climate goals. But these are programs that will lose dollars if tax cuts become permanent.

        Yes, we need to get rid of TABOR. Polis' policies don't do that, and it looks as though that isn't a priority for him.

        1. The idea of a “flat tax” is that everyone pays the same percentage of income, not the same absolute amount.  “The passage of Proposition 121 recently changed the Colorado income tax rate. The new Colorado income tax rate is 4.40%, beginning in the 2022 tax year.”  We already have a flat personal income tax rate.

          The fly in that ointment — those who can manipulate “income,” get tax credits, or have larger deductions can all insure they are not paying 4.4%.

          As to “taxes are too high” — Wallet Hub calculates tax burdens by state.  Colorado ranks #24, with a Total Tax Burden of 8.24%. Top burden is in New York, at 12.47%. Lowest burden is in Alaska, at 5.06%.

    2. Yes, Libertarian centimillionaire Polis has always wanted lower, flat- or no-tax rates, even though we are ranked 19th lowest tax burdened state (Alaska is the least burdened, as they get annual rebates from Oil & Gas royalties).

      And Colorado ranks 8th highest per capita income, so it's not like we're all standing in the soup line.

      1. Polis has never hidden the fact that he is not a doctrinaire liberal nor has he ever pretended to be a socialist, democratic or otherwise. He's always been a social issue liberal and economic libertarian. This is what helped him win by a 20% margin over the imbecile who decided that furries posed the greatest challenge to people in Colorado.

        Question:  Has Polis given any hint as to whom he may try to annoint as his successor? 

        And to my friends on the left, here's a suggestion. Why don't you start to collect signatures to get a repeal of TABOR on the ballot so that Elisbeth Epps, Emily Sirota, Tim Hernandez and rest of the JV Squad can start introducing legislation to redistribute the wealth from the makers to the takers. 

         

        1. Just a respectful reminder, there's lots of room on the spectrum of ideas between Laffer and 'Lisabeth. There's also lots of nuance in the maker-taker thing, to me at least. Speaking only for myself, I'm nowhere close to believing in true economic equality, but I favor some reasonable wealth redistribution to make it possible for more people to have food, housing, education, and health care. Everyone's free to disagree of course.

          1. Thanks … you explain an alternate position well.

            I'm in the camp that says the ultimate "takers" ought to have a chance to do that taking — kids ought to have enough healthy food to eat, clean water to drink, a consistent place to sleep, health care, and high quality education.  If we have to pay parents to help them do those things, I'm okay with that.

            Then, we can argue about the "takers" of other sorts:  my list would include extractive mining and drilling, ranchers on public lands, farmers extracting water from aquifers and rivers.  Other people's lists would include those unemployed or chronically ill.  I'm betting I'd wind up on some lists because I get a "senior" rate on property taxes and I take advantage of charitable donations to augment various cultural institutions, like the Denver Zoo.

            1. I could propose some blurred lines between who's a taker and who's a maker. I was influenced a bit by Piketty's "Capital in the 21st Century," in which he wrote about the "rentier" class. I would differentiate between the mom-and-pop landlord and the mega-corp, but will argue that for the most part the mega-corp doesn't actually make anything except money for themselves and their shareholders. Many of them are "takers" to me, basically taking a big chunk of income from people who can't afford a place of their own.

              In the voice of David Lee Roth saying "Have you seen Junior's grades?" I would ask if Polsters have seen rental rates for studio efficiency apartments, lately. It's worse if you actually want a bedroom. So yes, I favor progressive taxation on housing value accumulation or income, which could in part help some people better afford the simple roof over their heads they need to survive in some type of comfort.

    3. Back in the days of Prop HH, I mentioned with some surprise on Pols that Polis was teaming up for a televised HH debate with Art Laffer of the Reagan-era Laffer Curve. I'm surprised no more. TABOR makes Colorado's situation different than the federal government in 1980, but we should not forget that Reaganomics helped balloon the national debt and the "economic magic" of tax cuts did not overshadow the impact on federal revenue. Actual Colorado numbers might not be clear yet, but Wasserman is right to be concerned about impacts of tax cuts on services.

      Two more things about TABOR and income taxes – temporary tax cuts are one way to deal with TABOR surpluses, but permanent tax cuts can't be reversed without a vote of the people.

      One more thing about income taxes – we voted to use a percentage of income taxes for badly needed affordable housing with Prop 123, therefore cutting income tax revenue could impact money available for this program.

  4. I've said it before but it bears repeating. Trump's Manhattan criminal case is the only one which will go to trial before the November election.

    How Trial Delays Could Pay Off for Trump – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

    SCOTUS is going to push trial in the 1/6 case over into 2025. There is currently a stay on all proceedings. Jack Smith has been trying to keep the case on track by sending discovery to Trump's lawyers who refuse to look at any of it until after the issue on appeal is resolved. When that happens in June – or later – they will say that they need time to prepare for trial and ask that it be set in the winter of 2025.

    The Fulton County case is now a Tony award-winning shit show involving the spending habits and libidos of Fanni Willis and her paramour. That is not going to get the case dismissed but it will get the case delayed while she tries to hold on to the case. If and when she is ultimately removed, a special prosecutor will be selected by the Georgia DA's Council. Given the fact that most jurisdictions in Georgia have Republican prosecutors, there is a good chance that the DA's Council will name a Republican special prosecutor to replace Willis.

    And, of course, Judge Aileen Cannon remembers where she came from and who got her to where she is today. That case is on the slow track to going nowhere.

    So, Alvin Bragg is the only hope we have of getting a case to trial before November. And while we have a competent prosecutor and a really good jury venire, the legal issue is a bit of a stretch and I can envision the jury coming back with a guilty verdict on a lesser included misdemeanor charge. Even if Bragg is able to sell the felony, Trump's probation eligible and would probably get probation, a fine and best of all, useful public service.

    Question: Would the idiot fuck up on probation like his late friend, Leona Helmsley, did in her tax case and ultimately have to serve time? 

      1. Trump's current NYC business fraud case AND the E. Jean Carroll defamation (#1 in filing, #2 in trial) are both civil cases.  Like the Trump Foundation case, the Trump University case, and so, so many more — they were CIVIL trials that highlighted Trump's perfidy.

        There are court decisions saying the Trump organization and some of its employees had criminal liability — which is why the CFO got to plead guilty and go to prison (briefly).

        For Trump personally, there are 4 criminal cases in process.  There are a whole bunch of ways Trump's attorneys could delay the cases. I have no opinion on timing or outcome.

    1. Genghis – somebody posting as "God" in the comments section of the good pastor Regalato's blog is having fun today…

       

      God

      2 hours ago

      Buy my new Miracle Coin & get one free Miracle – *while supplies last (of the Miracles)

      Erico Estisse Yes, I work in mysterious ways. This Regalado schmuck though, not so mysterious at all. Mystery solved, annnnnd… guilty.

    2. My favorite part of the article is this part from Regalado…

      "But out of that $1.3m, half of it went to the IRS and $200,000 went to a home remodel that the Lord told us to do,"

      "…a home remodel that the Lord told us to do" ROFLMAO!

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