The Race For 2024

[lpetrich]

Operatives with GOP ties are helping Cornel West get on the ballot in a key state - June 7, 2024, 12:45 PM PDT - "Documents obtained by NBC News show operatives connected to a Colorado-based GOP firm helped the far-left presidential candidate in North Carolina."

Cornel West’s independent presidential campaign is broke. His former campaign manager says he knows nothing about ballot access. And he spent more on graphic design than petition-gathering in his most recent campaign finance report.

But tens of thousands of signatures have been gathered on behalf of the famed left-wing academic in key states thanks to self-organized grassroots volunteers — and some help from outside operatives tied to a Republican consulting firm.

Seems that Republicans are supporting him so that he will be a spoiler. They have already supported Greens for that reason. For instance, Montana Republicans bankrolled Green Party ballot access | AP News - 4:29 PM PDT, March 24, 2020

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Cornel West has been driving me nuts because of Lt Colonel West. Though, I remember him being referenced by Fox News and the like as Colonel West.

I keep wondering, why that far-right simpleton was a threat to taking liberal votes from Biden.

 

[blastula]

 

[TSwizzle]

Even the New York Times wants Brandon to drop out;

But the biggest win Biden will need will be domestic. It all leaves the president with one option that can be a win for America and, ultimately, his place in history. He can still choose not to run, to cede the field to a Democrat who can win — paging Josh Shapiro or Gretchen Whitmer — and do the hard and brave things it will take to secure security and peace for the free world. There’s still time, if only just. It would be a courageous, honorable and transformative legacy.

This is from an opinion piece by Bret Stephens titled "The Most Courageous Thing That Joe Biden Can Do"

This is behind a paywall.

 

[ZiprHead]

Even the New York Times wants Brandon to drop out;

But the biggest win Biden will need will be domestic. It all leaves the president with one option that can be a win for America and, ultimately, his place in history. He can still choose not to run, to cede the field to a Democrat who can win — paging Josh Shapiro or Gretchen Whitmer — and do the hard and brave things it will take to secure security and peace for the free world. There’s still time, if only just. It would be a courageous, honorable and transformative legacy.

This is from an opinion piece by Bret Stephens titled "The Most Courageous Thing That Joe Biden Can Do"

This is behind a paywall.

Surprize, surprize. A conservative wants Joe Biden to drop out.

 

[ZiprHead]

Election commissioner presents evidence that 'Trump caught paying people to attend rally'

People were apparently paid to attend Donald Trump's rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday, according to Tennessee Democratic election commissioner Chris D. Jackson, although it's not clear who did the paying. Jackson, who criticized Hungary's autocratic leader, Viktor Orbán, for endorsing the...

www.rawstory.com

People were apparently paid to attend Donald Trump's rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday, according to Tennessee Democratic election commissioner Chris D. Jackson, although it's not clear who did the paying.


Jackson, who criticized Hungary's autocratic leader, Viktor Orbán, for endorsing the ex-president, took to social media over the weekend to draw attention to a Craigslist post appearing to offer payment for attendance at the MAGA event.

"BREAKING: Trump Caught Paying People to Attend Rally," the official reported. "A Craigslist ad has been found offering payment for people to attend Trump's rally in Las Vegas today."

He then continues:

"Remember the video from a few days ago where Trump was waving at a non-existent crowd? It appears EVERYTHING IS A FACADE. The media wants you to think Trump has enthusiasm, but the facts say otherwise."

He added, "If you are interested in making some money to donate to the Biden campaign, here you go," and linked to the posting.

Remember his original campaign started with paid attendees to watch him come down that escalator.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Even the New York Times wants Brandon to drop out;

But the biggest win Biden will need will be domestic. It all leaves the president with one option that can be a win for America and, ultimately, his place in history. He can still choose not to run, to cede the field to a Democrat who can win — paging Josh Shapiro or Gretchen Whitmer — and do the hard and brave things it will take to secure security and peace for the free world. There’s still time, if only just. It would be a courageous, honorable and transformative legacy.

This is from an opinion piece by Bret Stephens titled "The Most Courageous Thing That Joe Biden Can Do"

This is behind a paywall.

Surprize, surprize. A conservative wants Joe Biden to drop out.

??? Conservative? I think I remember back when TSwizzle was a conservative.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Dementia at work.

Sharks are attracted to electric currents. (Pre-humanity that normally meant something alive that might be worth eating.)

 

[ZiprHead]

Even the New York Times wants Brandon to drop out;

But the biggest win Biden will need will be domestic. It all leaves the president with one option that can be a win for America and, ultimately, his place in history. He can still choose not to run, to cede the field to a Democrat who can win — paging Josh Shapiro or Gretchen Whitmer — and do the hard and brave things it will take to secure security and peace for the free world. There’s still time, if only just. It would be a courageous, honorable and transformative legacy.

This is from an opinion piece by Bret Stephens titled "The Most Courageous Thing That Joe Biden Can Do"

This is behind a paywall.

Surprize, surprize. A conservative wants Joe Biden to drop out.

??? Conservative? I think I remember back when TSwizzle was a conservative.

Talking about Brett Stephens.

 

[ZiprHead]

Trump is proposing eliminating income taxes and replacing them with tariffs

.

 

[southernhybrid]

While this isn't the link I read early this morning, I did find one about tRump meeting with the extremist Christians who want to ban all forms of abortion.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-2024-election-abortion-christians-13318983232798e44e9638a33811f844

Donald Trump on Monday urged a staunchly anti-abortion Christian group to stand up for “innocent life,” ambiguously revisiting an issue that Democrats want to make a focus of this year’s presidential election.

The former president and presumptive Republican nominee’s pre-recorded message praised the work of those attending the event hosted by The Danbury Institute, which is meeting in Indianapolis in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. The newly-formed institute is an association of churches, Christians and organizations that wants to eradicate abortion in its entirety.

A panel of in-person speakers doubled-down on that anti-abortion stance on Monday, and a top Southern Baptist leader called for a hardline position against in vitro fertilization. Albert Mohler, the president of the SBC’s flagship seminary, said IVF is a “commodification of the embryo” that assaults human dignity. He criticized pastors as well as politicians showing openness to it including in Alabama, which shielded IVF providers from prosecution and civil lawsuits after a state Supreme Court ruling said frozen embryos are children.

My guess is Trump has paid for numerous abortions.

Actually, he probably promised to pay for them, but then didn't give the women the money he promised them.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Trump is proposing eliminating income taxes and replacing them with tariffs

Im no economist but how exactly does that work? Is it effectively a VAT?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Trump is proposing eliminating income taxes and replacing them with tariffs

.

That is awesome. The average consumer will save lots of money because they won't pay income taxes which half of America (the least wealthy) barely pay at all.

Wait a second...

 

[Derec]

Surprize, surprize. A conservative wants Joe Biden to drop out.

Bret Stephens makes a lot of good points.
Here's the op ed:
The Most Courageous Thing That Joe Biden Can Do

This year, Joe Biden cast the purpose of his presidency as a struggle against authoritarianism, at home and abroad. What’s his theory of victory?
He doesn’t appear to have one. His style of governance is to manage threats, not defeat them. He has sought to provide Ukraine with sufficient weaponry not to lose to Vladimir Putin. But even before congressional Republicans forced a spending hiatus, he was reluctant to give Ukraine the types or numbers of weapons it needed to evict Russian forces from its territory. He believes Israel has a right to protect itself. But his previous insistence that Hamas has to be defeated has given way to a U.S.-backed cease-fire resolution that effectively ensures Hamas’s survival.

That is very true. Both on the issue of Ukraine and Israel. With Israel, his talking points are still that Hamas must be defeated, but his "ceasefire" plan makes no mention of requiring Hamas to surrender or give up power.
There is more about both of these issues, and several more, in the article.

It all leaves the president with one option that can be a win for America and, ultimately, his place in history. He can still choose not to run, to cede the field to a Democrat who can win — paging Josh Shapiro or Gretchen Whitmer — and do the hard and brave things it will take to secure security and peace for the free world.

Nevertheless, I disagree with him here. It is way too late. If he was going to decide not to run, it would have been early enough to allow for a real primary season for Democrats. If he gives up now, the unpopular and hapless Kamala Harris would almost certainly be nominated by the Dems, and she would very likely lose. His best bet now is to "damn the torpedoes" and push through.

 

[TomC]

. If he gives up now, the unpopular and hapless Kamala Harris would almost certainly be nominated by the Dems, and she would very likely lose. His best bet now is to "damn the torpedoes" and push through.

I quite agree with this.
I've barely even heard of his top 2.

And while Harris is nothing resembling my presidential ideal, fact is I'd vote for my 16 year old pot smoking highschool drop out niece before I would vote for any of the Republicans.
Heck, I would vote for Hunter before any of them.
Still, my best case scenario, with any shot of plausibility, would be Biden winning then having a disabling stroke or something right after the inauguration. With luck, Harris would be clever enough to pick a VP who was as good as the one Obama picked. Biden filled in a ton of the gaping holes in Obama's presidential resume superbly.
Tom

 

[laughing dog]

Trump is proposing eliminating income taxes and replacing them with tariffs

Im no economist but how exactly does that work? Is it effectively a VAT?

In 2022, the federal income raised about $2.6 trillion while import tariffs raised about $0.1 trillion. So the proposal is effectively bullshit.

 

[laughing dog]

Surprize, surprize. A conservative wants Joe Biden to drop out.

Bret Stephens makes a lot of good points.
Here's the op ed:
The Most Courageous Thing That Joe Biden Can Do

This year, Joe Biden cast the purpose of his presidency as a struggle against authoritarianism, at home and abroad. What’s his theory of victory?
He doesn’t appear to have one. His style of governance is to manage threats, not defeat them. He has sought to provide Ukraine with sufficient weaponry not to lose to Vladimir Putin. But even before congressional Republicans forced a spending hiatus, he was reluctant to give Ukraine the types or numbers of weapons it needed to evict Russian forces from its territory. He believes Israel has a right to protect itself. But his previous insistence that Hamas has to be defeated has given way to a U.S.-backed cease-fire resolution that effectively ensures Hamas’s survival.

That is very true. Both on the issue of Ukraine and Israel. With Israel, his talking points are still that Hamas must be defeated, but his "ceasefire" plan makes no mention of requiring Hamas to surrender or give up power.

. His speech did indicate Hamas would be out of power. It didn’t mention how. I linked the speech in another thread when you made the same mistake.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Trump is proposing eliminating income taxes and replacing them with tariffs

Im no economist but how exactly does that work? Is it effectively a VAT?

In 2022, the federal income raised about $2.6 trillion while import tariffs raised about $0.1 trillion. So the proposal is effectively bullshit.

That doesn’t explain to me how a system works with tariffs and no income tax? Presumably it means that everything becomes much more expensive because the government is collecting a Huge sales tax essentially. Right? So

 

[Elixir]

"reduce the income tax for Americans to zero"
IOW, legalize what billionaires are already doing, bankrupt the government, declare a few emergencies and keep feedin' the donkey.

 

[laughing dog]

Trump is proposing eliminating income taxes and replacing them with tariffs

Im no economist but how exactly does that work? Is it effectively a VAT?

In 2022, the federal income raised about $2.6 trillion while import tariffs raised about $0.1 trillion. So the proposal is effectively bullshit.

That doesn’t explain to me how a system works with tariffs and no income tax? Presumably it means that everything becomes much more expensive because the government is collecting a Huge sales tax essentially. Right? So

It is a sales tax on imported goods and services. Imports are a small portion of US spending (roughly 16 to 17 % of GDP).Given the size of the tariffs needed to try to increase revenue by a factor 2600%, US demand for imports would fall dramatically. So the revenue target would be impossible to meet.