Morning Ed: Politics {2016.05.31.T}
The stereotypes seem to have changed from the ones in this article, from Republicans as Rich to Republicans as backwards losers. Interesting stuff all the same. Both parties, it turns out, contain multitudes.
Donald Trump thinks that Global Warming is a hoax… except when it comes to his golf courses, evidently.
This seems to make sense for most parties involved, which kind of makes me surprised it’s happening and skeptical whether it will stick.
Bernie Sanders wants to bail out Puerto Rico, and has a plan!
Color me surprised: I really thought the Obamas were headed straight back to Chicago after his term was up. It’s a lease, though, so maybe it is just until Sasha graduates.
Anne Amnesia talks of the AIDS epidemic, the rise of Trump, and The Unnecessariat.
This guy reminds me a bit of how much I miss the Natural Law Party right now. At least transcendental meditation as the solution to all of our ills is a mostly-harmless delusion.
The Unnecessariat have been an issue with economic and technological development for a long time. We used to call them Luddites. Its popular to disparage the Luddites but they were acting reasonable giving their circumstances. Very few people are going to like turning from skilled labor earning good wages to unskilled labor struggling to survive because of technological change even if the change is for the greater good. Yes, I realize that the industrialization of the clothing industry and steam power led to new and better paying jobs in new industries like steel and railroads but that took around two generations to accomplish. Most of the weavers displaced by technological progress were either dead or very old at that point. Automation and globalization might be increasing wealth in aggregate but it is also causing a lot of pain.Report
Most discussions of automation just accept as a given that consumption will rise fast and far enough to keep the demand for labor high, that past performance guarantee future results.
I don’t think that can be assumed anymore.Report
Oh yes, let’s bail out PR!
Please.Report
The alternative is worse. And since the federal government has been fiddling with the economic structure of Puerto Rico for years, we bear plenty of the blame.
The debt of sovereigns — the USA, the State of California, Venezuela — is subject to repudiation risk. The debt of sub-sovereign entities within the US — counties, cities and special districts — is subject to bankruptcy risk. Either way, public agency debtors always have some way to tell their lenders that their debts are subject to reduction. Except Puerto Rico. Its debts are, apparently, enforceable in their entirety.Report
Well, that’s what you get for being a territory.
Based upon a Wikipedia section, the majority of the problems appear to be that PR didn’t manage it’s own debt well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_government-debt_crisisReport
Not being able to declare bankruptcy is a relatively recent quirk in American history for Puerto Rico. It’s only because of a mysterious amendment in 1984. The exclusion of Puerto Rico was never discussed/debated in Congress, so it could be an oversight or something slipped in. However, what it means is that lack of Chapter 9 is not something inherent in being a territory.Report
The dems in PR have had more than enough time to take into account the Fed gov’s fiddling before they went belly up. The truth is they didn’t make the hard choices and know want us to bail them out. They are no different than Flint, MI.Report
Hopefully, it’ll be possible to poison their water supply.Report
Didn’t we already try that, in April 2010?Report
I’ll take your non sequitur as an agreement that this is another example of dems running a gov’t into the ground and wanting a taxpaer bailout.Report
I’ll take your non sequitur as a full apology. Accepted.Report
Who says that backwards losers can’t be rich? (In some sense of rich, anyway. Like owning a ranch that’s only profitable if you never pay your grazing fees.)Report
From TPM:
After a federal judge ordered documents in a lawsuit over Trump University to be unsealed, Donald Trump renewed his attacks on the judge in the case on Monday.
Trump went after U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel on Friday, calling him a “hater” and noting that Curiel is “we believe, Mexican.”
But, you know, Hillary is even worse.Report
Bernie’s Puerto Rico rescue plan sounds a lot like the TARP legislation he voted against as Senator in 2008.Report
K,
I’m curious (tho I think I know the answer): What’s the consistently Principled solution to both situations?Report
What Mo said above – fix the glitch that carves out an exception for Puerto Rico to rules that applied to, for example, Orange County California.Report
How would extending his PR bailout policy to include Orange County square with his failure to support TARP? Isn’t that the inconsistency you were pointing out?Report
You just wanted the Consistent Principled Solution – which to me, is a single set of consistent rules to govern default, not a post hoc made up plan every time something goes awry. Given the Bernie voted against TARP the first time around, the principled stand for him, at the least, is not going out of his way to promote a rescue plan of any sort – which is what he has been doing.
But that doesn’t mean doing nothing is a preferred option – the simple act of fixing the glitch is both principled and practical..Report
K,
Could it be more finegrained than that? (I’m genuinely asking here…) The TARP umbrella covered only private entities (as far as I’m aware).
I guess what I’m asking is what set of principles do YOU think ought to govern both private and public bailouts (such that Bernie’s “inconsistency” is an obvious target of mockery) other than something trivial like: “If you bailout one type of entity you have to bailout the other!” IOW, what principles do you see Bernie (or whoever, really) embracing in one case and rejecting in the other.Report
Iirc Bernie’s objection to Tarp was that it granted too much authority to the bailer outers with insufficient oversight. (Like a lot of people) The linked article alludes to this, and says that additional legislation and executive action has reined it in since then.
Now, per the article, he needs for some of those reins to be loosened if his plan for PR is to be implemented.
Public v private is immaterialReport
Well, I get that “public vs private” is immaterial to you, given your initial comment. But thanks for the clarification that the principle in play is “sufficient oversight”.Report
Isn’t Bassiago, on his own terms, literally an illegal alien?Report
I have no idea what Trump really thinks about global warming. But I do know that he tells people what he thinks they want to hear. When trying to get environmentalists to back your proposal to build a seawall, “You guys are totally right about global warming” seems like a smart thing to say, even if it’s mostly just about storms. Was he pandering to them then, or is he pandering to voters now? I don’t know.Report
We are in generation reboot.Report
I didn’t know Barry Goldwater. But I’m fairly certain Donald Trump is no Barry Goldwater.Report
YesReport