Tuesday Open Thread

20 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread”

1. So, I guess we file this one under "WTF?"

   Major overhaul to help rural Colorado could be a game changer for the legislative session

   Senate Bill 267 would dedicate $300 million to road projects in counties with populations of 50,000 or less, direct $400 million to rural and small school districts and send millions more to rural hospitals with large populations of Medicaid patients.

   But the legislation represents a massive overhaul in how the state spends money — shifting money from a statewide transportation account to rural education, reclassifying the controversial hospital provider fee, mandating 2 percent across-the-board budget cuts next year, lowering the TABOR spending cap and using state buildings as collateral for a $1.35 billion transportation and construction bond.

   The smorgasbord measure, sponsored by top Republicans and Democrats, may compete with another measure endorsed by the House and Senate leaders to ask voters for an increase in the sales tax to generate $3.5 billion for road projects, and it could shatter the carefully crafted state budget bill introduced only hours earlier

   So, let's give rural folks a billion, let's give their legislators a TABOR ratchet, which bones the rest of us, and then let's mortgage buildings rather than passing a tax, because we'll totally be able to pay that bond back without more revenue.

   Senate Democratic leader Lucia Guzman, a Denver lawmaker and co-sponsor, acknowledges the proposal is a tough ask.

   “This bill is coming through because we have agreed to work with Republicans,” she said. “And a lot of that means we will compromise."

   You know what else is a tough ask, Lucia?  Voting for Democrats who push this nonsense.

    

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2. A 2016 Review: Turnout Wasn’t the Driver of Clinton’s Defeat

   In the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, many analysts suggested that Hillary Clinton lost to Donald J. Trump because of poor Democratic turnout.

   Months later, it is clear that the turnout was only modestly better for Mr. Trump than expected.

   To the extent Democratic turnout was weak, it was mainly among black voters. Even there, the scale of Democratic weakness has been exaggerated.

   Instead, it’s clear that large numbers of white, working-class voters shifted from the Democrats to Mr. Trump. Over all, almost one in four of President Obama’s 2012 white working-class supporters defected from the Democrats in 2016, either supporting Mr. Trump or voting for a third-party candidate.

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   1. almost one in four of President Obama’s 2012 white working-class supporters defected from the Democrats in 2016, either supporting Mr. Trump or voting for a third-party candidate. 

      I cannot be convinced that our candidate was not the problem. I will always believe Bernie would have won.

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      1. You undoubtedly believe in alien abductions also.  The difference is that hillary disproved the theory of bernie's invincibility by thrashing him in primary after primary.  So, alien abduction is a more plausible theory than bernista invincibility.   Of course, if bernistas hadn't sat on their hands or voted for jill swine, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

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         1. thrashing him in primary after primary. 

            You continue to rely on that ridiculous canard, V.  I don't believe in alien abductions, and I don't believe that Donald could have invaded the Democrats against Bernie like he did with Hillary. The public enmity you suppose exists toward "socialists" is nothing compared to the seething hatred of Hillary Clinton by too many Americans for her to prevail. No such bias against Bernie.

            I really don't care to hash it out with you again , V., since we will never know. But will you do me the favor of holding back on the implantation of your words and thoughts into mine? Thanks ever, darling…

             

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            1. It is a fact that hillary beat bernie like a toy drum in most of the primaries.  He only held an edge in caucuses.  Of course, she got more votes than trump too.  So, your belief in Bernie is like a Christian faith in the resurrection , fervently held but not buttressed by fact.

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      2. I don't think we'll ever know if Bernie would have won. He was certainly polling better than Hillary against Trump for months in the run up to the election.

         Real Clear Politics

         NBC poll

         and, although you can discount it as being from a biased source, there is this Gravis poll.

         Now that we know how much Putin interfered in the election, we have to consider the constant negative Russian anti-HRC propaganda as a factor in this polling, as well. A Russian strategy was to widen the divide in the Democratic party, and to sabotage any reconciliation between the Sanders and Clinton camps.

         Putin never had the intense personal animus against Sanders that he had against Hillary Clinton, as she had the gall to question whether Putin was freely and fairly elected.

         Regarding the primary vote, I made an exhaustive list of irregularities and voter suppression in the primaries. Most of these were perpetrated by Republican Secretaries of State; but the HRC camp didn't protest against them, because it benefited her vs. Sanders. Then,  because her campaign and Dems didn't protest against these voter suppression tactics, they came back and bit her in the butt in the general election.   Arizona is just one example of this.

         So at this point, it doesn't matter much; except to sort out the lessons learned. Duke and I, and most progressives, believe that the most important lesson is not to triangulate to the moderate middle, not to sell out to corporations, to stay consistent and true and stand on your beliefs.

         . Not all of HRC's untrustworthiness was due to Russian propaganda; sometimes it was actually difficult to determine where she stood on important issues, like health care, trade, college affordability, etc.

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         1. Yes, and the fact that bernie had his head up his ass may have afected his ratings as well.  But polls showing bernie against trump are worthless.   He didn't run against Trump, he ran against Hillary.  And she beat him like a bongo drum!  Somrtimes by as much as 50 points.   So when I hear Duke talk about how unbeatable he was, I wonder what planet Duke lives on.

            As to policy, bernie did pull her to the left and that may have hurt in the general.  But so what?  Trump won, not the popular vote, but the electoral.   To claim that a 75 year old socialist would have rallied those mexican hating rednecks may make somebody feel better, but it can't change history.  Like this year's broncos, it's silly to claim bernie would have won the superbowl when he couldn't even make the playoffs.

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3. ain't dead yet?

   NY Times is reporting that Pence and Bannon are working with Free Dumb carcass members and RINO on a new and improved ACA repeal bill.

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4. Republicans abandon flyover country:

   Devastating wildfires ripped across the grasslands in Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma earlier this month, and ranchers were among those hardest hit. Some families lost 80 percent of their livestock herds, along with hundreds of miles of fences and land. Seven people have died, several trying to save their cattle.

   Many of these ranchers voted for Donald Trump, and some say they wish the president was paying more attention to them in their time of need.

   Garth Gardiner runs Gardiner Angus Ranch in Ashland, Kansas with his brothers and their families. He says the day the fire started, his brother was out working on their ranch. By the time the fires burned out, he had lost 500 cows — a third of his herd.

   Here, Gardiner makes an emotional appeal for help to the White House, and the president he helped elect.

   President* Trump is busy marketing his “brand” with endless photo ops and tweeting and monitoring his PR on cable news networks. That’s what he does. And every week-end he needs to fly at taxpayer expense to his Florida resort or go to his Virginia golf club to get in 36 holes or so and secretly meet with his rich cronies. That’s also what he does.

   Helping out disaster victims isn’t really in the job description of a billionaire who promised to run the country like a business. Where’s the profit in that?

   Democrats should alert people to this stuff, but they probably won’t.

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   1. No Zap, not alert them, remind them when the next election rolls around. Not just the farmers and ranchers who took these losses but their friends and relatives who will have to help them get by'til they're back on their feet. Remind them that the Screaming Yam didn't lift a finger to help. 

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5. Join Coffman's Tele-town hall this Wed. March 29, and talk to Mikey yourself.

   Wednesday, March 29, 2017 – 6:00pm

   Congressman Mike Coffman would like to invite you to participate in his next upcoming Tele-Town Hall.

   To participate, simply complete the sign-up form HERE and you will receive a call the evening of Wednesday, March 29th, 2017. All you have to do is pick up the call and you will be connected to our teletown hall.

   Currently the call is schedule for 6:00pm MT time. 

   Web-Simulcast page for this event can be accessed HERE.  

    

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   1. So they're afraid to show up in person now? Wow, what profiles in courage!

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      1. It's worthwhile signing up for the call if you're in his district. Both my kids are, and I'm asking them to participate.  Coffman is much less verbally agile than Cory Gardner, and likely to say something truthful or embarrassing.

         What questions would you all ask Mike Coffman, given the chance?

          

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6. Appropos of nothing, I'm finding it interesting that several of the LGBT news sites I follow for my blog have really stepped up and are publishing hard news stories about the doings in Trumpworld-such as this http://www.towleroad.com/2017/03/spicer-briefing-6/

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   1. When I looked at the Towleroad site, it was full of praises for the ideas of Bernie Sanders. Are you sure you really meant to do that, cook?

      I saw that one of my favorite queer sites, autostraddle, had articles about the ACA and internet privacy, amongst the other "vapid fluff" pieces.

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      1. They have breaking news about married Oklahoma State Senator Shortey (Republican) planning to bareback that teenage boy he was diddling with.

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         1. Yeah, I saw that, R&R

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      2. Nice catch, MJ. I'll fix it.

         …Later…All better.

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         1. Also…you have a blog? PM me on facebook, I'll follow ya.

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