October 29, 2019

Excellent Article About Yang.

I will not be voting for him in the primary but I still have a lot of respect for him. I think this is well a well written story.

Andrew Yang was groomed for a high-paying job at an elite law firm. He lasted five months.

Walking away from wealth and prestige dismayed his immigrant parents. But it made him into the entrepreneur running for president.

Washington Post

October 29, 2019

Baldasaro rebuked for questioning whether Kamala Harris is African American

The co-chairman of President Donald Trump's reelection campaign in New Hampshire is facing criticism after he questioned whether 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is African American.

State Rep. Al Baldasaro, one of Trump's closest allies in New Hampshire, made the comments on Twitter in response to Harris criticizing the president for comparing the impeachment inquiry to a lynching.

WMUR

October 29, 2019

ABA Policy Point - A Wealth Tax Is Constitutional

As most readers who follow the 2020 campaign proposals are aware, Elizabeth Warren has proposed an annual wealth tax of 2% for wealth greater than $50 million and 3% for wealth greater than $1 billion. Various pundits have said that the tax is “probably unconstitutional”1 and that the Supreme Court could “stop the wealth tax dead in its tracks.”2

Warren’s wealth tax is constitutional under the standards laid down by the Founders, as this article will demonstrate. Apportionment of a wealth or land tax by population would now require the injustice of substantially higher tax rates in poorer states: when that happens, under the Founders’ standards, the tax is not a direct tax for which apportionment is required. Apportionment was not written to protect wealth from assault, as proponents of its unconstitutionality now claim, but rather to reach wealth by what was thought to be the best then available measure of wealth.

The Constitution, Article I, section 9, clause 4, requires that a “direct tax” must be apportioned among the states by population.3 For the Founders, a necessary element to be a direct tax is that apportionment among the states by population must be reasonable and just. Thus import taxes (the impost), excise taxes, duties, carriage taxes and now real estate and wealth taxes have been expelled from the definition of direct tax, sometimes by the operation of ordinary language and sometimes by Supreme Court decision.

Real estate and wealth taxes were once considered direct taxes because they were the taxes that the states would use to satisfy a requisition and because real estate and wealth were presumed to be equal among the states. Today, however, apportionment of a wealth tax among the states by population is neither just nor reasonable. Wealth per capita in poor Mississippi is under half of the per capita wealth in relatively rich District of Columbia.4 Apportionment by population would mean that tax rates in Mississippi would have to be more than twice the rates in DC. The result would tax residents of poor states much more harshly than residents of wealthy states. That result has no justification in history or policy: it would simply arise by necessity from the fact that Mississippi has a smaller tax base over which to spread its quota. Thus, when it was recognized that wealth and real estate are not equally distributed per capita so that apportionment forced substantially higher tax rates in poorer states, the taxes on wealth and real estate could not be treated as direct taxes. Apportionment would not be just or reasonable.

American Bar Association

October 23, 2019

OK. Who killed freerepublic?

https://www.isitdownrightnow.com/freerepublic.com.html

Edit: From their facebook page.

"Bad news. We were not able to bring the system up remotely. John is now on his way to the computer center to get hands on. We may be down for several hours. Sorry."

October 22, 2019

What kind of influence will Trump have on his base if...

He is kicked off of Twitter the minute he leaves office? I know this sounds foolish but it really isn’t. He currently sways a large group using that one platform.

October 22, 2019

Sanders support is MORE BALANCED across ethnic demographics than Biden's or Warren's.

Biden:... 20% White, 39% Black, 21% Hispanic, 17% Other Ethnicity

Sanders: 14% White, 11% Black, 19% Hispanic, 17% Other Ethnicity

Warren:. 31% White, 15% Black, 17% Hispanic, 21% Other Ethnicity

https://projects.economist.com/democratic-primaries-2020/

Please discuss.

October 20, 2019

The Trump administration is so incompetent...

That most rank and file Republicans are holding a stronger line about Trumps crimes than the administration itself. Rank and files might look like idiots standing up for Trump but they aren’t fucking him like his own administration and himself.

The President has no control of what’s going in his own administration. Trump has no impulse control. These people come in each day to see which Fox News topic has him pissed on that day.

October 19, 2019

What Clinton put out there makes no sense politically.

Is she right? Probably. Gabbard leaves red flags all over the field. Seems that most of us have been wondering what she is up to and I think few understand these things like Clinton.

But politically, Gabbard just got a huge boost for third party run.

One thing I like about it is that I suspect we will be hearing more and more from Clinton. Few of us have ever seen a Clinton who is not politically calculated. If I’m correct that she has given up all fucks, I’m looking forward to it. I truly believe she grasps the big picture better than just about anyone out there.

Punching down is going to elevate Gabbard. Remember, significant elevation of Gabbard only really means ten thousand votes here, a couple thousand there, and states can be lost.

Clinton is one of the most powerful politicians I’ve ever seen. She moved our parties platform further left, than its been in over half a century, she brought millions of our most vulnerable healthcare, been deep in it for a long time. Powerful First Lady, Senator, SOS, amazing mother and has had billions spent against her by those who fear her. Few could have done what she has, IMO.

I look forward to hearing more from her. Seems that what she is going to be saying might not be politically expedient in the short term. Unvarnished Hillary. I like the idea. But politically, might not like to hear each truth she drops. 😁

See you later Stein, Gabbard is not going to play VP on your little ticket.

October 18, 2019

Reading Chick-fil-A outlet to close in LGBT rights row

A US fast-food chain will cease trading at its first UK outlet amid a row over donations to anti-LGBT groups.

Gay rights campaigners called for a boycott of Chick-fil-A, which opened its first branch at The Oracle shopping centre in Reading on 10 October.

A spokeswoman for the centre said "the right thing to do" was to not extend the restaurant's lease beyond the "six-month pilot period".

Chick-fil-A said its donations were purely focused on youth and education.

BBC

October 18, 2019

Governor John Hickenlooper holds a 53 to 40 lead over Gardner in Colorado Senate race.

8% undecided. Emerson.

Emerson Polling