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Well... it's Trump... again. #47, here we go.

Remember when Derec freaked out about the candidate for mayor of New York City was seen with a terrorist adjacent Muslim priest? How much he freaked out about it?

Now we have Trump hosting an actual Islamist terrorist head-chopper in the Oval Office and not a peep.

If the IANATs didn’t have hypocrisy, they’d have no pocrisy at all.
 
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Remember when Derec freaked out about the candidate for mayor of New York City was seen with a terrorist adjacent Muslim priest? How much he freaked out about it?

Now we have Trump hosting an actual Islamist terrorist head-chopper in the Oval Office and not a peep.

President Insert Your Name Here said:
We want to see Syria become a country that’s very successful, and I think this leader can do it. People say he’s had a rough past? We’ve all had rough pasts. But he has had a rough past, and I think frankly if he didn’t have a rough past, you wouldn’t have a chance.
:oops:
link

Rough past... we've all had rough pasts. This guy murdered children, Trump had sex with them. Well, I suppose I haven't had that rough of a past. (yes, I'm aware that was a cheap shot, get the fuck over it). I understand that it is complicated with Syria and there is a desire to fill the power vacuum as quickly as possible. But Trump has a way with words that makes me want to drop a piano on my head so I never have to hear that fucking moron speak again.
 

article said:
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte on Saturday said the Trump administration is “working on” a plan to introduce 50-year mortgage terms for home buyers.

“Thanks to President Trump, we are indeed working on The 50 year Mortgage – a complete game changer,” Pulte wrote in a statement on the social platform X.
I've heard of 50-year mortgages... it is called "renting".
Don’t longer mortgages typically result in higher fractions of interest paid out over the years?

If so, doesn’t this sound more like a boon for the banks than a benefit for the people?
No, because they get it back slower. It's going to balance out.

All I can say is that we started out with about a $210 mortgage in 1997 after putting 40% down with a 30 year and we quickly converted to a 15 year at about 4% and paid it off early. I was glad to have that no longer hanging over my head. Pay off sooner the better I say. Less interest to pay
I fully agree that paying it off sooner is better--realistically for most people, paying down your mortgage is zero risk, tax free return of whatever your interest rate is and it's unlikely you have better options. That doesn't in any way rebut my claim that a 50 year mortgage isn't a windfall for a bank.
 
All I can say is that we started out with about a $210 mortgage in 1997 after putting 40% down with a 30 year and we quickly converted to a 15 year at about 4% and paid it off early. I was glad to have that no longer hanging over my head. Pay off sooner the better I say. Less interest to pay
When we sold the Company 6-7 yrs ago I paid off the cars, sold the rental house, cancelled line of credit I had been paying an annual fee for, and went to cash.
It's a good feeling to be 100% debt free, but hopefully I don't have to borrow any time soon, because I just found out it destroyed my credit rating. That has to be the most perverse system there is, penalizing people for not being up to their necks in debt.
Huh? That doesn't tank your credit. Our credit ratings are about 800, not a penny of interest anywhere on our credit reports. That's entirely from credit cards that are always paid in full. Nothing with an annual fee.
 
So the Dems folded in the shutdown (or at least the "moderate" ones in the negotiating pool), and gain nothing. No promise that the GOP would force Trump to execute spending. Nothing but a fucking worthless vote in the Senate on extending ACA subsidies. Why even go through this? This effectively gives Trump the authority to do whatever he wants. The adults (including on SCOTUS) just shrug their shoulders as the toddler wields the flamethrower.
Now do you understand why I condemn "moderates"?
Oh well. Look at the bright side. Millions of people who needed to go grocery shopping yesterday may get to go tomorrow.
Yeah, let's not think about the people who will need healthcare a week from now.
I do think of them. I believe they have until the end of the year before ACA plans are hit with a 18-26% increase. I also recognize crisis politics.
Already got hit with a 25% increase for 2026.

And note that they can kill the ACA with a death spiral without ever actually killing it. All it takes is permitting underwritten health plans to exist.
 
Actually doing something starts with the need to "do something". The "something" is left vague because what each person CAN do is highly dependent on their context.

Lifting up your hands and saying "we've tried nothing and are all out of options" is NOT effective.

Yet again one of the reasons you g people don't vote is because old people give them no reason to. If you forced people to earn your vote as young people do they would fear the consequences of this kind of assfuckery.

But because there are no consequences for negative behavior, for rolling over, for doing nothing, our representatives do nothing.

Republicans got dragged further right because the Republican party feared losing elections to the loss of voters.

Democrats can do that too. They just have to be willing to reject establishment candidates entirely in the primaries. YOU have to play ball with the young folks, because it is their world, not yours, at this point.
The what to do is left vague because there are no answers. It's just wishful thinking. If we are not out of options name an option we have. Be specific about what to do and how it will change things. Can't, can you--because it's just leftist faith that there must be an answer, not reason.
 
The what to do is left vague because there are no answers. It's just wishful thinking. If we are not out of options name an option we have.
At this point, the options come in the form of as much public participation as is feasible and covert resistance where we possible; coordination efforts where possible; preparedness for opportunities for effective resistance.

It means running for local office when applicable, and higher office when possible,.and actually having values that you stand on rather than just chasing whatever demographic the wind blows towards you this week.

It means being prepared to see resistance by others and to keep a tight tongue about it.

It means having firearms available if and when armed resistance is possible.

It means understanding technology of today well enough to understand how to make new and effective weapons with what is available at hand, both of the ideological and violent kind, as is applicable to the situation.

It means the younger among us studying military logistics and tactics.

It means getting ready for a protracted civil war, where the mere suggestion of even self defense will shortly be met with violent suppression.

We have a study of all the ways people weakened and slowed down the advance of the Axis powers in WW2, and we need to be ready to play our parts.

Playing as if having no immediate and satisfying options means having no options at all is "capitulation".

All of the options we have now ARE anxious work of the sort that I'm putting a target on my back just to mention, and maybe even on others' backs to hear... But that's where we are, and what is going on right now.

To all the generations in a few hundred or thousand years time reading this, or even a few decades, if it hasn't been preserved or remembered somewhere else: don't ever even let things get this far. When parties put forward milquetoast candidates, primary them out and campaign for their challengers.
 
All I can say is that we started out with about a $210 mortgage in 1997 after putting 40% down with a 30 year and we quickly converted to a 15 year at about 4% and paid it off early. I was glad to have that no longer hanging over my head. Pay off sooner the better I say. Less interest to pay
When we sold the Company 6-7 yrs ago I paid off the cars, sold the rental house, cancelled line of credit I had been paying an annual fee for, and went to cash.
It's a good feeling to be 100% debt free, but hopefully I don't have to borrow any time soon, because I just found out it destroyed my credit rating. That has to be the most perverse system there is, penalizing people for not being up to their necks in debt.
Huh? That doesn't tank your credit. Our credit ratings are about 800, not a penny of interest anywhere on our credit reports. That's entirely from credit cards that are always paid in full. Nothing with an annual fee.
Yeah. The only hit I've ever seen on my credit report is something to the effect of a lack of available information but it has little effect.
 
Actually doing something starts with the need to "do something". The "something" is left vague because what each person CAN do is highly dependent on their context.

Lifting up your hands and saying "we've tried nothing and are all out of options" is NOT effective.

Yet again one of the reasons you g people don't vote is because old people give them no reason to. If you forced people to earn your vote as young people do they would fear the consequences of this kind of assfuckery.

But because there are no consequences for negative behavior, for rolling over, for doing nothing, our representatives do nothing.

Republicans got dragged further right because the Republican party feared losing elections to the loss of voters.

Democrats can do that too. They just have to be willing to reject establishment candidates entirely in the primaries. YOU have to play ball with the young folks, because it is their world, not yours, at this point.
The what to do is left vague because there are no answers. It's just wishful thinking. If we are not out of options name an option we have. Be specific about what to do and how it will change things. Can't, can you--because it's just leftist faith that there must be an answer, not reason.
Indeed. I'm not a big fan of "Do something!"
 
Trump Admin looking to cut tariffs on food products to provide relief to American consumer. Coffee seems to be first, maybe fruit next.

Apparently tariffs aren't making us rich enough to not notice the increase in prices for foods we can't grow in the US in the winter (or at all).
 
All I can say is that we started out with about a $210 mortgage in 1997 after putting 40% down with a 30 year and we quickly converted to a 15 year at about 4% and paid it off early. I was glad to have that no longer hanging over my head. Pay off sooner the better I say. Less interest to pay
When we sold the Company 6-7 yrs ago I paid off the cars, sold the rental house, cancelled line of credit I had been paying an annual fee for, and went to cash.
It's a good feeling to be 100% debt free, but hopefully I don't have to borrow any time soon, because I just found out it destroyed my credit rating. That has to be the most perverse system there is, penalizing people for not being up to their necks in debt.
Huh? That doesn't tank your credit. Our credit ratings are about 800, not a penny of interest anywhere on our credit reports. That's entirely from credit cards that are always paid in full. Nothing with an annual fee.
Yeah. The only hit I've ever seen on my credit report is something to the effect of a lack of available information but it has little effect.
Maybe “tank” was a poor choice of words, but my credit rating was between 800 and 830 depending on the rating agency, and I saw one at 720 last time I looked! I’ll check it again some day, hopefully before it matters. … the head lifeguard at our pool is a widow who barely scrapes by. Her credit rating is north of 850 because she is meticulous about paying bills that are “due” (doesn’t pay late) but she’s always under oppressive debt and sacrificing this to take care of that… doesn’t seem right.
 
All I can say is that we started out with about a $210 mortgage in 1997 after putting 40% down with a 30 year and we quickly converted to a 15 year at about 4% and paid it off early. I was glad to have that no longer hanging over my head. Pay off sooner the better I say. Less interest to pay
When we sold the Company 6-7 yrs ago I paid off the cars, sold the rental house, cancelled line of credit I had been paying an annual fee for, and went to cash.
It's a good feeling to be 100% debt free, but hopefully I don't have to borrow any time soon, because I just found out it destroyed my credit rating. That has to be the most perverse system there is, penalizing people for not being up to their necks in debt.
Huh? That doesn't tank your credit. Our credit ratings are about 800, not a penny of interest anywhere on our credit reports. That's entirely from credit cards that are always paid in full. Nothing with an annual fee.
Yeah. The only hit I've ever seen on my credit report is something to the effect of a lack of available information but it has little effect.
Maybe “tank” was a poor choice of words, but my credit rating was between 800 and 830 depending on the rating agency, and I saw one at 720 last time I looked! I’ll check it again some day, hopefully before it matters. … the head lifeguard at our pool is a widow who barely scrapes by. Her credit rating is north of 850 because she is meticulous about paying bills that are “due” (doesn’t pay late) but she’s always under oppressive debt and sacrificing this to take care of that… doesn’t seem right.

My credit union gives me free FICO score checks, with past history. I just checked my FICO score (831) as of 9/25. It was 782 as of 12/24. A big jump in only 9 months but there has been no meaningful changes in my financial or credit activity. Go figger. By the way, your widow friend couldn't have a score north of 850, as that is the maximum score possible.
 
Actually doing something starts with the need to "do something". The "something" is left vague because what each person CAN do is highly dependent on their context.

Lifting up your hands and saying "we've tried nothing and are all out of options" is NOT effective.

Yet again one of the reasons you g people don't vote is because old people give them no reason to. If you forced people to earn your vote as young people do they would fear the consequences of this kind of assfuckery.

But because there are no consequences for negative behavior, for rolling over, for doing nothing, our representatives do nothing.

Republicans got dragged further right because the Republican party feared losing elections to the loss of voters.

Democrats can do that too. They just have to be willing to reject establishment candidates entirely in the primaries. YOU have to play ball with the young folks, because it is their world, not yours, at this point.
The what to do is left vague because there are no answers. It's just wishful thinking. If we are not out of options name an option we have. Be specific about what to do and how it will change things. Can't, can you--because it's just leftist faith that there must be an answer, not reason.
WTF? Being out of options means no choices, which is ridiculous. There are always policy options. Doing nothing is a choice. And every choice has costs associated with it as well as benefits.

Who knew recognizing fundamental reality is “leftist faith”?
 
All I can say is that we started out with about a $210 mortgage in 1997 after putting 40% down with a 30 year and we quickly converted to a 15 year at about 4% and paid it off early. I was glad to have that no longer hanging over my head. Pay off sooner the better I say. Less interest to pay
When we sold the Company 6-7 yrs ago I paid off the cars, sold the rental house, cancelled line of credit I had been paying an annual fee for, and went to cash.
It's a good feeling to be 100% debt free, but hopefully I don't have to borrow any time soon, because I just found out it destroyed my credit rating. That has to be the most perverse system there is, penalizing people for not being up to their necks in debt.
Huh? That doesn't tank your credit. Our credit ratings are about 800, not a penny of interest anywhere on our credit reports. That's entirely from credit cards that are always paid in full. Nothing with an annual fee.
Yeah. The only hit I've ever seen on my credit report is something to the effect of a lack of available information but it has little effect.
Maybe “tank” was a poor choice of words, but my credit rating was between 800 and 830 depending on the rating agency, and I saw one at 720 last time I looked! I’ll check it again some day, hopefully before it matters. … the head lifeguard at our pool is a widow who barely scrapes by. Her credit rating is north of 850 because she is meticulous about paying bills that are “due” (doesn’t pay late) but she’s always under oppressive debt and sacrificing this to take care of that… doesn’t seem right.

My credit union gives me free FICO score checks, with past history. I just checked my FICO score (831) as of 9/25. It was 782 as of 12/24. A big jump in only 9 months but there has been no meaningful changes in my financial or credit activity. Go figger. By the way, your widow friend couldn't have a score north of 850, as that is the maximum score possible.
She said … if it’s impossible then she was exaggerating, or maybe she said something like “pegged at”.
But I do know that my own rating fell 100+ points in a few months without me ever missing a payment to anyone. All I did was cancel a LOC because I never used it and it had an annual fee, and paid off the car, which was my only loan. Also, afaict there are three(?) main credit agencies, and one of them is always 10-25 points lower than the other two. How does THAT work?
 
Actually doing something starts with the need to "do something". The "something" is left vague because what each person CAN do is highly dependent on their context.

Lifting up your hands and saying "we've tried nothing and are all out of options" is NOT effective.

Yet again one of the reasons you g people don't vote is because old people give them no reason to. If you forced people to earn your vote as young people do they would fear the consequences of this kind of assfuckery.

But because there are no consequences for negative behavior, for rolling over, for doing nothing, our representatives do nothing.

Republicans got dragged further right because the Republican party feared losing elections to the loss of voters.

Democrats can do that too. They just have to be willing to reject establishment candidates entirely in the primaries. YOU have to play ball with the young folks, because it is their world, not yours, at this point.
The what to do is left vague because there are no answers. It's just wishful thinking. If we are not out of options name an option we have. Be specific about what to do and how it will change things. Can't, can you--because it's just leftist faith that there must be an answer, not reason.
The whole idea of "rejecting establish candidates" is delusional. A couple of especially fanciful examples are when young people thought Kamala Harris was going to win Iowa and that Bernie was going to beat Biden.

Now's not the time for Dems to put down the .38 they've been using to shoot themselves in its collective foot and pick up a .10 gauge shotgun to finish the job.

If they don't want to show up to vote or even take 10 minutes to fill out a ballot and mail it in, then that's on them; and by far they're the ones who are going to suffer the worst consequences. The young ones who vote for Trump are going to suffer too, but that doesn't make things better for anyone else.
 
But I do know that my own rating fell 100+ points in a few months without me ever missing a payment to anyone. All I did was cancel a LOC because I never used it and it had an annual fee, and paid off the car, which was my only loan.
Your actions had the effect of increasing the percentage of your available credit actually in use, which is a negative factor for your score.
 
All I can say is that we started out with about a $210 mortgage in 1997 after putting 40% down with a 30 year and we quickly converted to a 15 year at about 4% and paid it off early. I was glad to have that no longer hanging over my head. Pay off sooner the better I say. Less interest to pay
When we sold the Company 6-7 yrs ago I paid off the cars, sold the rental house, cancelled line of credit I had been paying an annual fee for, and went to cash.
It's a good feeling to be 100% debt free, but hopefully I don't have to borrow any time soon, because I just found out it destroyed my credit rating. That has to be the most perverse system there is, penalizing people for not being up to their necks in debt.
Huh? That doesn't tank your credit. Our credit ratings are about 800, not a penny of interest anywhere on our credit reports. That's entirely from credit cards that are always paid in full. Nothing with an annual fee.
Yeah. The only hit I've ever seen on my credit report is something to the effect of a lack of available information but it has little effect.
Maybe “tank” was a poor choice of words, but my credit rating was between 800 and 830 depending on the rating agency, and I saw one at 720 last time I looked! I’ll check it again some day, hopefully before it matters. … the head lifeguard at our pool is a widow who barely scrapes by. Her credit rating is north of 850 because she is meticulous about paying bills that are “due” (doesn’t pay late) but she’s always under oppressive debt and sacrificing this to take care of that… doesn’t seem right.

My credit union gives me free FICO score checks, with past history. I just checked my FICO score (831) as of 9/25. It was 782 as of 12/24. A big jump in only 9 months but there has been no meaningful changes in my financial or credit activity. Go figger. By the way, your widow friend couldn't have a score north of 850, as that is the maximum score possible.
She said … if it’s impossible then she was exaggerating, or maybe she said something like “pegged at”.
But I do know that my own rating fell 100+ points in a few months without me ever missing a payment to anyone. All I did was cancel a LOC because I never used it and it had an annual fee, and paid off the car, which was my only loan. Also, afaict there are three(?) main credit agencies, and one of them is always 10-25 points lower than the other two. How does THAT work?
They like you to have some credit, but not too much (danged if I can figure out the sweet spot), so dropping your LOC was putting you in the "not enough credit" category, even though you hadn't used it. I guess the fact that you were worthy enough to get it in the first place made it a positive thing. And the fact the you didn't use it meant you were financially secure enough not to need to rely on it in the first place. Yes, a little weird, I know. There are three major credit agencies, but they don't have anything to do with your FICO score. Your credit score is a proprietary number developed by Fair Issac Company (hence FICO). The three agencies just keep track of all your credit cards, loans, etc. (though maybe they do have their own scoring system, but FICO is the gold standard).
 
Actually doing something starts with the need to "do something". The "something" is left vague because what each person CAN do is highly dependent on their context.

Lifting up your hands and saying "we've tried nothing and are all out of options" is NOT effective.

Yet again one of the reasons you g people don't vote is because old people give them no reason to. If you forced people to earn your vote as young people do they would fear the consequences of this kind of assfuckery.

But because there are no consequences for negative behavior, for rolling over, for doing nothing, our representatives do nothing.

Republicans got dragged further right because the Republican party feared losing elections to the loss of voters.

Democrats can do that too. They just have to be willing to reject establishment candidates entirely in the primaries. YOU have to play ball with the young folks, because it is their world, not yours, at this point.
The what to do is left vague because there are no answers. It's just wishful thinking. If we are not out of options name an option we have. Be specific about what to do and how it will change things. Can't, can you--because it's just leftist faith that there must be an answer, not reason.
The whole idea of "rejecting establish candidates" is delusional. A couple of especially fanciful examples are when young people thought Kamala Harris was going to win Iowa and that Bernie was going to beat Biden.

Now's not the time for Dems to put down the .38 they've been using to shoot themselves in its collective foot and pick up a .10 gauge shotgun to finish the job.

If they don't want to show up to vote or even take 10 minutes to fill out a ballot and mail it in, then that's on them; and by far they're the ones who are going to suffer the worst consequences. The young ones who vote for Trump are going to suffer too, but that doesn't make things better for anyone else.
Sanders was Clinton, not Biden. Also it was Iowa polling gold standard Ann Selzer who polled Harris winning Iowa. Selzer was off by a lot. Still uncertain how that happened. Maybe it was all that voting fraud Trump has been railing on about.

Certainly agree that hanging the establishment candidates is a recipe for implosion. This is the shit that kept the GOP from getting hold of a Senate majority or supermajority since 2002. The non-establishment right-wing idiot got the nomination, and then went on to lose to the moderate Democrat in the general election. The second we start acting like conservative voters, we are fucked.

The thing that sucks for Democrats is they win elections in the last 25 years because the GOP fucked things up so badly. It wasn't a change in sentiment by the general public that wanted a higher minimum wage. No. It was "We're still in fucking Iraq in 2008?!" Moderate people keep voting for the GOP because they want more money and the GOP says they'll get more money... and even when it never actually happens, the moderates keep voting for that unless a pandemic kills 500,000 Americans because Trump wants people to have pool parties or the Global system of capitalism has virtually collapsed.

George W Bush wins re-election when we are losing troops daily in Iraq, 12 months after troops were supposed to be back home, with a relatively weak economy.
Biden loses because groceries got more expensive!

The problem the Democrats have is the American electorate.
 
Actually doing something starts with the need to "do something". The "something" is left vague because what each person CAN do is highly dependent on their context.

Lifting up your hands and saying "we've tried nothing and are all out of options" is NOT effective.

Yet again one of the reasons you g people don't vote is because old people give them no reason to. If you forced people to earn your vote as young people do they would fear the consequences of this kind of assfuckery.

But because there are no consequences for negative behavior, for rolling over, for doing nothing, our representatives do nothing.

Republicans got dragged further right because the Republican party feared losing elections to the loss of voters.

Democrats can do that too. They just have to be willing to reject establishment candidates entirely in the primaries. YOU have to play ball with the young folks, because it is their world, not yours, at this point.
The what to do is left vague because there are no answers. It's just wishful thinking. If we are not out of options name an option we have. Be specific about what to do and how it will change things. Can't, can you--because it's just leftist faith that there must be an answer, not reason.
The whole idea of "rejecting establish candidates" is delusional. A couple of especially fanciful examples are when young people thought Kamala Harris was going to win Iowa and that Bernie was going to beat Biden.

Now's not the time for Dems to put down the .38 they've been using to shoot themselves in its collective foot and pick up a .10 gauge shotgun to finish the job.

If they don't want to show up to vote or even take 10 minutes to fill out a ballot and mail it in, then that's on them; and by far they're the ones who are going to suffer the worst consequences. The young ones who vote for Trump are going to suffer too, but that doesn't make things better for anyone else.
Sanders was Clinton, not Biden. Also it was Iowa polling gold standard Ann Selzer who polled Harris winning Iowa. Selzer was off by a lot. Still uncertain how that happened. Maybe it was all that voting fraud Trump has been railing on about.

Certainly agree that hanging the establishment candidates is a recipe for implosion. This is the shit that kept the GOP from getting hold of a Senate majority or supermajority since 2002. The non-establishment right-wing idiot got the nomination, and then went on to lose to the moderate Democrat in the general election. The second we start acting like conservative voters, we are fucked.

The thing that sucks for Democrats is they win elections in the last 25 years because the GOP fucked things up so badly. It wasn't a change in sentiment by the general public that wanted a higher minimum wage. No. It was "We're still in fucking Iraq in 2008?!" Moderate people keep voting for the GOP because they want more money and the GOP says they'll get more money... and even when it never actually happens, the moderates keep voting for that unless a pandemic kills 500,000 Americans because Trump wants people to have pool parties or the Global system of capitalism has virtually collapsed.

George W Bush wins re-election when we are losing troops daily in Iraq, 12 months after troops were supposed to be back home, with a relatively weak economy.
Biden loses because groceries got more expensive!

The problem the Democrats have is the American electorate.
Yeah, I think you're right about it being Clinton... or maybe it was both. Either way, the delusion is the same.

Pretty much agree with everything else you wrote. The voting public is dense and it really hit home for me when Bush Jr. got reelected. It was shocked. There was no way he could win, right? Iraq had become a disaster and the economy was for shit. Kerrey was a genuine war hero who was wounded in combat while saving two lives. Bush wasn't showing up for his national guard gig, but somehow Rove concocted the narrative that Kerrey was a coward and Bush was the war hero.

That was the ultimate turning point IMO. They discovered that you could tell people the exact opposite of documented reality and they'd believe it. Politics has always been a bullshitter's game, but that was some "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears" stuff.

Then we heard Trump use almost those exact words.

God, we're so fucked.
 
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