Moved Fuck yeah, Dark Brandon

[Toni]

Personalities can change once in office. Like Biden who campaigned as a moderate, but then allowed himself to be coopted by the Bernie-AOC wing of the party.

What a shocker, after being picked by Obama to serve as his VP, eh? It's like fucking treason, right?

Right.

To be a moderate, one must be inflexible, unyielding, and committed to defending a fixed point on the political spectrum at all costs, forever.

No changing policies to address changing conditions, no consensus building with less moderate colleagues, no compromises, no exceptions.

- Secure the border. Allow easier deportation of illegals. Reform the hopelessly outdated asylum system - it was never envisioned to effect de facto open borders like it is doing now.

If enough people vote blue, that can be done.
Otherwise forget it. "The Border" is one of the last few teats Republicans cling to, to derive their life-giving nourishment.

Yes, indeed.

I tend to think of myself as a progressive moderate or a moderate progressive. I look at our US Constitution +Bill of Rights as a blueprint for a fairly ideal society. Obvious flaws including the exclusion of non-white, non-males from full participation, among some other things. Amended by the Bill of Rights, as an ongoing process as we understand more about ourselves and each other and the world around us.

As a very young person, I worked for a time (in an extremely minor way) for the government of an emerging nation that was struggling mightily to go from the Middle Ages to modernity and I saw both the vision and the extremely sharp knife edge they walked to lead people forward, while respecting their own culture and people and traditions and rejecting some of the ways that we westerners had gone wrong. For context, this was during the fall of the Shah of Iran, although, no, it was not Iran that I worked for. But yes, that affected the people I worked for/with.

I think that much of the fundamentalism that we see today, around the world is really an expression of fear and tension around so much change in such a short period of time. And so that is where my moderate leanings come from: Slow, steady progress, not change for change's sake is the best path forward. Sure, I'd love to be able to wave a wand and make the world my version of perfect. But I know how limited my vision is, how short and how weak my grasp. Instead, I think it is best to find ways to dream together, to build together, to forge together the world we want our children and grandchildren X seven to inherit. We must keep in mind that in moving forward, we leave not just bad things behind but also some very good things, as well, and so we need to move forward mindfully, carefully, preserving what good we can, and learning as much as possible so that we have the wisdom to know the difference between good and bad. It's not as easy to tell as we sometimes think.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I have a question - well, two parts - for all of you who like to post about how awful Biden is and how awful all the Dems are, all the time, without ever offering anything other than just trying to destroy the system through distrust, negativity and complaints.

It's called the "Politics Forum". We are discussing politics.

WHO DO YOU WANT INSTEAD?

A tough question. I am an independent who is socially libertarian, fiscally moderate, in favor of strong defense and strong borders. I am opposed to both major camps.

I'm opposed to both major camps, also. But I fear the Republicans far more than I fear the Democrats.

Biden has done some things I agree with. But he has been too susceptible to manipulation by LWNJs in his own ranks. B³ was a stupid idea, period and I am glad Sinema and Manchin managed to deep six it.

I don't think it was ever intended to pass. Rather, it was a starting position for negotiation.

Or take illegals. Even as Biden was weak on the issue in the SOTU speech - he dismissed concerns over violent crime by illegals and even said Laken Riley's name wrong - he was attacked by the Left for the use of the word "illegal" and has apologized for it. That shows weakness toward the unhinged fringes of his own party - the fringes that want to see ICE abolished and borders made even more open than they already are.

You realize that the Republicans explicitly refuse to do anything? They wouldn't allow him to "fix" things (not that there is any real fix possible) even if he had a perfect solution. This is not a reason to vote Republican.

- Secure the border. Allow easier deportation of illegals. Reform the hopelessly outdated asylum system - it was never envisioned to effect de facto open borders like it is doing now.

Most illegals came across the border legally (overstay.) Perfect security wouldn't even halve the problem. And it's not like they can't go around or over whatever we do.

- Be truly liberal. Right now, so-called liberals are "liberal" only on abortion and LGBTQABCXYZ issues. Individual freedom should not be limited to special interests. A woman should have autonomy over her body not only when she decides to have an abortion but also if she decides to provide professional sexual services. Legalizing marijuana and non-punitive approach to hard drugs would also be truly liberal.

They'll get villified by the right.

- Strong defense of our allies including non-NATO allies like Israel and Ukraine. When defending themselves, those allies should not be pressured to stop so they can be attacked again (that mostly applies to Israel).
- Recognize the dangers posed to the West by political Islam, including domestically.
- Taxes - should be fair. The child-free face an undue tax burden regardless of income. That should not be made even more unfair by increasing child tax credits. Also, if you live in a high tax state, those taxes should not be subsidized by federal taxes - SALT deductions are a bad idea, especially since only those who itemize their taxes . In general also, tax code could be made 90% simpler with no negative effects on collection. In fact, collection would most likely increase due to fewer loopholes.

SALT is about a dollar being taxed exactly once--fair, in my book. Congress has been whittling away at this for decades since the pay-as-you-go garbage started. It's attacked because it's more of an advantage to the blue states.

Also, it's not WHO, but WHAT. Ideas, rather than personalities. Personalities can change once in office. Like Biden who campaigned as a moderate, but then allowed himself to be coopted by the Bernie-AOC wing of the party.

Biden is a moderate.

 

[Elixir]

I fear the Republicans far more than I fear the Democrats.

Anyone for whom that is not the case, falls into one of a few categories. I suspect most live in carefully cultivated information deserts. Some are merely selfish and believe they will be among the exalted when Trump’s kleptocracy comes into full bloom. Others are just plain stupid.

 

[ZiprHead]

The strong U.S. job market is in a ‘sweet spot,’ economists say

The U.S. job market continues to chug ahead without signs of overheating — a good sign for workers and the U.S. economy, according to economists.

While the market has cooled from its breakneck pace of the “great resignation” era, employers are adding ample jobs to their payrolls, unemployment hovers near historical lows, and worker buying power (so-called “real” wage growth) is steadily rising, economists said.

The labor market has been resilient despite economic headwinds like higher interest rates.

Employers added 303,000 jobs to payrolls in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. That’s the largest monthly gain since January 2023.

Job growth in the first three months of 2024 — 274,000, on average — beats the 2019 pre-pandemic average by more than 100,000.

Wage growth has declined, to an annual 4.1% pace in March from a pandemic-era peak of 5.9% in March 2022, on average. But inflation has fallen more than that, which translates to an increase in household buying power since May 2023.

Real hourly earnings — wages after accounting for inflation — grew by 1.1% in February 2024 versus a year earlier.

The current labor market is in many ways more desirable than the red-hot one a few years ago, which wasn’t sustainable, economists said.

Let's go, Brandon!

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

In my engineering field we have too much work and are struggling to expand the labor to do it.

 

[ZiprHead]

In my engineering field we have too much work and are struggling to expand the labor to do it.

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I should be qualified.

 

[Shadowy Man]

In my engineering field we have too much work and are struggling to expand the labor to do it.

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I should be qualified.

Apparently in this day and age all it takes is watching a few YouTube videos to be an expert in a technical field. Especially if those videos espouse what you already believe to be true.

 

[Elixir]

In my engineering field we have too much work and are struggling to expand the labor to do it.

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I should be qualified.

Apparently in this day and age all it takes is watching a few YouTube videos to be an expert in a technical field. Especially if those videos espouse what you already believe to be true.

Actually FOX News can educate you in any technical field in about ten minutes a day for a week or two, depending on the exact subject.

 

[Shadowy Man]

In my engineering field we have too much work and are struggling to expand the labor to do it.

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I should be qualified.

Apparently in this day and age all it takes is watching a few YouTube videos to be an expert in a technical field. Especially if those videos espouse what you already believe to be true.

Actually FOX News can educate you in any technical field in about ten minutes a day for a week or two, depending on the exact subject.

Who has the patience to watch something for ten whole minutes?? Sheesh!!

 

[Elixir]

In my engineering field we have too much work and are struggling to expand the labor to do it.

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I should be qualified.

Apparently in this day and age all it takes is watching a few YouTube videos to be an expert in a technical field. Especially if those videos espouse what you already believe to be true.

Actually FOX News can educate you in any technical field in about ten minutes a day for a week or two, depending on the exact subject.

Who has the patience to watch something for ten whole minutes?? Sheesh!!

Not I, that’s for sure! But it’s what people are saying. Lots of people. The best people. It’s what they’re saying!

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

In my engineering field we have too much work and are struggling to expand the labor to do it.

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I should be qualified.

Apparently in this day and age all it takes is watching a few YouTube videos to be an expert in a technical field. Especially if those videos espouse what you already believe to be true.

Actually FOX News can educate you in any technical field in about ten minutes a day for a week or two, depending on the exact subject.

Who has the patience to watch something for ten whole minutes?? Sheesh!!

Not all in a row. Should be doable.

 

[Shadowy Man]

In my engineering field we have too much work and are struggling to expand the labor to do it.

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I should be qualified.

Apparently in this day and age all it takes is watching a few YouTube videos to be an expert in a technical field. Especially if those videos espouse what you already believe to be true.

Actually FOX News can educate you in any technical field in about ten minutes a day for a week or two, depending on the exact subject.

Who has the patience to watch something for ten whole minutes?? Sheesh!!

Not all in a row. Should be doable.

Ok. Phew! Had me worried there for a minute.

 

[Shadowy Man]

I will also note i have rarely ever seen a 10 minute video with 10 minutes of actual content.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Apparently in this day and age all it takes is watching a few YouTube videos to be an expert in a technical field. Especially if those videos espouse what you already believe to be true.

I was cruising Tubi's documentaries and started watching this one about the ten biggest lies we're told. One of those alleged lies was "There is no truth." These religious woo salesmen start saying that truth has to be something external and inviolable, hence their magic spaceman creature. That's when I hit the flush handle. I guess there are people out there who swallow this horseshit hook, line and sinker.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I will also note i have rarely ever seen a 10 minute video with 10 minutes of actual content.

I can't recall ever seeing one that did. They always are talking about who they are rather than just whatever the video is. Even if there's no sponsors there's always some stuff. Unless you need to illustrate something give me text!

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I will also note i have rarely ever seen a 10 minute video with 10 minutes of actual content.

Those PBS Spacetime videos are pretty intense.