Holy Crap - The Revolution is about to start

[laughing dog]

Number of hours worked for one week’s groceries. Lower today than a year or two years ago.
View attachment 48253

Can you afford more groceries, supplies, and utilities now than you could before covid?

As a matter of fact, I can.

 

[Elixir]

Number of hours worked for one week’s groceries. Lower today than a year or two years ago.
View attachment 48253

Can you afford more groceries, supplies, and utilities now than you could before covid?

As a matter of fact, I can.

Yeah me too.
The very plain graph illustrates that that is the case for most Americans.
My financial condition has actually improved more since Trump lost than it ever did during his administration. Thanks for asking.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

A bipartisan Senate investigation found that the Trump campaign’s interactions with Russian intelligence services during the 2016 presidential election posed a “grave” counterintelligence threat. The Senate Intelligence Committee’s report, which is nearly 1,000 pages long, detailed extensive contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russian operatives, and concluded that Russia launched an aggressive effort to interfere in the election on Trump’s behalf

That you are ignorant of facts like this, should give you pause about making more “both sides” pronouncements.

The finding was that there were there was contact, but no evidence of a coordinated scheme between Trump and Russia. Thus, not collusion.

"There was collusion" is a partisan rallying cry that is intentionally misleading. "Russia is a bad actor trying to fuck up our elections, and seems to have favored Trump over Clinton" is an accurate characterization.

Just because they can't prove they actually cooperated doesn't really change things. Russia acted to aid The Felon even if they didn't sit down and work out a plan with his campaign people. How can you sit back and not have a problem with this?!

 

[Loren Pechtel]

It's my belief that Trump does NOT think Obama literally started ISIS, and that he likely recognizes that Obama didn't handle the ME great but also didn't materially cause ISIS to be formed

I think Trump is a very sick and damaged human being, whose “beliefs” follow the track of whatever it would be best for him to “believe”. Reality plays little if any part of it.

You're assuming he has beliefs at all.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I have a problem with it because it's not something happening in isolation.

We currently have a fairly significant problem with homelessness in many parts of the US

And he's going to help? He has no answer other than locking them up.

We have increased inflationary pressures with 20% to 25% increases in food and utilities over the last five years

We should have had about 10% over that time. Expected inflation is a lot less harmful than deflation and thus the Fed aims to keep out of deflationary territory when there's a downturn. 2% is the margin they need to do this under normal conditions. So we got 10-15% from the supply chain shocks of Covid and the Ukraine war. And note that the utilities are because Putin decided to stick it in the meat grinder.

And, locally, we have the electric company warning that approving the solar initiative on the ballot would cause rates to rise--the measure passed, the rates rose, people are screaming about it. (Fundamentally, the value of renewables to the grid is only the fuel cost, not the end-to-end cost. But the electric market is priced on an end cost and thus a huge subsidy to rooftop solar.)

We have skyrocketing rents and a serious lack of affordable housing

And you think The Felon is going to do anything about it? It looks like it was price fixing by a third party, I haven't heard of a resolution to the situation. You think The Felon would do anything about landlords listening to the recommendation of an advisor???

We have steadily increasing costs for health care

Healthcare is going up in every developed nation. That's not a matter of government policy. The Felon's messing with the ACA did cause my premiums to jump one year, though.

Allowing a large influx of people who will be directly competing with our own citizens for those jobs and those homes amplifies the negative effects on americans - and in my opinion, americans should take precedence.

You realize population decline causes far more harm than some immigrants?

As far as what should happen? Deny them entry while they await their case. The vast majority of them are not going to win their asylum pleas because they are not being persecuted. They're coming from areas with high poverty and high crime, and none of that qualifies them for asylum. But by the time their cases actually get heard, they'll be established, and the argument is going to shift gears to "oh, it's not nice to deport them, they've been here for a decade! We need to give them amnesty!" When in truth, they should never have been granted entry in the first place.

You realize that "high crime" often means gangs that won't take no for an answer? And note that we have such a backlog because the Republicans have been underfunding the immigration system for a long time?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I believe both the Bush and Obama administrations indirectly contributed to the conditions that allowed ISIS to rise. The Bush administration's invasion of Iraq and the destabilization that followed created fertile ground for extremist groups, while the Obama administration's handling of the Syrian conflict and limited intervention contributed to the chaos ISIS exploited.

As for Trump, he's using his typical rhetoric, where he blames Democrats for any negative outcome. I don’t think he genuinely believes Obama literally started ISIS, but he likely believes Obama's handling of the Middle East contributed to the conditions that allowed ISIS to emerge. While that’s only part of the story, since factors from both the Bush and Obama administrations played a role, Trump simplifies it to blame the Democrats. Do you have any evidence that shows he doesn’t think it was solely the Democrats’ fault? Even if you have proof, isn’t it still fair to call the argument that Obama is solely responsible for ISIS complete bullshit?

ISIS arose because Iran funded it.