Commenter Archive

Comments by Philip H

On “Why Can’t Joe Biden Force His Agenda Through Congress?

Trump was a registered Democrat until 2011. He raised funds for Bill Clinton. It may be his ultimate Grift that he got Republicans to elect a Democrat to the White House.

And lest be clear that Al Gore conceded in 2000. Kerry conceded in 2004. and Hillary conceded in 2016. Trump has yet to concede.

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Heck, just write everything Manchin has said he’ll support in a bill and run it through. Who the fish would oppose it within the party?

Democratic leadership allowed him to do just that. He balked and ran away because the White House had the temerity to publicly say they were tired of endless negotiations and they didn't think he was sincere. He wasn't sincere. In addition to trashing his own bill because he's apparently thin skinned, he spent months "negotiating" a watered down voting rights bill, allegedly with Republican support, which Republicans then failed to support.

Your mileage may vary, but neither of those outcomes suggest a man willing to actually carry his party's water.

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We also have one party dead set against raising revenue to pay the banks. NO private business could or would operate that way very long.

On “Yes Virginia, There Was A Coup

I note that after this was submitted to the editors for review and publication, Politico added fuel to the fire:

The draft executive order shows that the weeks between Election Day and the Capitol attack could have been even more chaotic than they were. It credulously cites conspiracy theories about election fraud in Georgia and Michigan, as well as debunked notions about Dominion voting machines.

The order empowers the defense secretary to “seize, collect, retain and analyze all machines, equipment, electronically stored information, and material records required for retention under” a U.S. law that relates to preservation of election records. It also cites a lawsuit filed in 2017 against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

White House staff - whether political or career - don't just gin up Executive Orders, and certainly don't do so with this level of specificity unless they have been told to. Certain parts of it - like references to a previously unknown National Security Memorandum, suggest it came for the computer of someone high up with substantial security clearance.

Normal Presidents don't have such orders created for them. It's not a part of the practice of what is prepared following the loss of an election. And it further points to an Administration - of a certain party - willing to break laws, norms, and whatever else needed to be broken to stay in power.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/21/read-the-never-issued-trump-order-that-would-have-seized-voting-machines-527572

On “Reminder that the bulk of police abuse is non-violent

There is a long list of things that need to be done to reform the police. None of them are a magic bullet. Many of them will have no impact on the other things that also need to be done.

Seems to me that means we need to start over with a new approach, not keep looking for band-aids for the current one.

On “Supreme Court Mandates Rulings: Read Them For Yourself

That horse is out of the gate, down the pasture, and over the next hill -

Ninety-two percent of government employees have been vaccinated against COVID-19, with the Department of Agriculture reporting the lowest coverage rate and the Agency for International Development topping the list, according to compliance data released by the Biden administration Wednesday.

The small number unvaccinated are unfortunate, but collectively we are WAY ahead of general US statistics.

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-11-24/biden-administration-92-of-federal-workers-vaccinated-against-covid-19

On “Reminder that the bulk of police abuse is non-violent

A friend of mine in Seattle has been part of this:

https://twitter.com/TechBlocSEA/status/1480625714151919616?s=20

She says its PTSD inducing stuff to pull it all together. I believe her.

And yet I don't see this changing anything in the discussion.

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Nope because cops are still doing it with their cameras on. Or doing after turning their cameras off.

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I'd be interested in a discussion on how QI applies to this, because frankly I see one of the big holes in QI reform as not really addressing this sort of thing.

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Nah, its just the other side of the issue. Which MUST be presented in a fair and balanced manner. Or so Fox News tells us.

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It is not arguable that Pfizer is unprosecutable for vaccine-related injuries (due to Brandon’s imprudent administration). Judges are kind of upset about this, as you might imagine.

Nope.

Under the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ (HHS’s) PREP Act Declaration for COVID-19 (and
its amendments), COVID-19 vaccines are covered countermeasures within the PREP Act’s scope. As a
result, CICP—and not VICP—will apply to injuries resulting from COVID-19 vaccinations while the public health emergency persists and the Declaration remains in force. Compensation through CICP is generally somewhat more limited than through VICP.

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10584

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Joe Rogan happily platforms people who lie regularly about COVID. That angers me. It should anger you.

On “Filibuster Rule Change For Voting Rights Legislation Fails 52-48 in Senate

The price tag of Manchin's version of BBB was $1.8 Trillion over 10 years. The price tag of Biden's proposal was $3.5T. The current Defense Appropriation for a single year is $770B. Which translates into $7.7 Trillion over ten years. Interestingly, the ten year figure BBB is less then the $2 T we spent in Afghanistan.

Let's also note that the appropriation to the Pentagon is both MORE then what Biden requested, and something the "masses of people" are not actually screaming for. Masses are screaming for solutions to their economic, educational and environmental problems - which BBB does.

Oh, and its not "other people's money." Its all our money. And if you want me to support spending at that level on Defense, I want you to support spending at that level on American citizens. Deal?

On “Politically Hot Shotting Alternate Social Media Going As Well As You Might Expect

Joe Rogan is bigger than anything (not a rightie, but an alternative voice who isn’t afraid of the left),

Care to expand on this? Because while I agree he loves taking on the left, he comes across as very much a rightie.

On “Filibuster Rule Change For Voting Rights Legislation Fails 52-48 in Senate

most regular folk connect spending and inflation.

True enough - not unlike the President being responsible for gas price increases in an industry he doesn't control. Regular folks go there because both left, center and right leaning media tell them to go there, and no one of prominence tells them otherwise.

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Given the MSM's unwillingness to ask probing questions that might ruin their ability to attend high society cocktail parties in DC, I have no doubt that there is some portion of this in play. Until additional information comes out, all I have to go on (as do you and Jaybird) is what is reported.

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I'll try this one more time - Democrats allowed Manchin to rewrite the BBB in his liking, save for keeping the childcare tax credit. He got nearly everything he asked for. No Republican signed on to support his version. And then after getting all the power, all the press and all the deference he walked away from his own proposal. He walked away. Democrats didn't balk. They didn't tell him no. He walked away.

You can't negotiate that away, nor can you negotiate with Republicans who don't want to.

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The individual elements of BBB poll between 60 and 70% support, with Republicans in that mix. Manchin was allowed by Democrats to whittle the $3 Trillion bill down to his favorite $1.8T except for the Childcare tax credit. He walked away, and had no Republican co-sponsors for his effort.

Republicans keep saying they don't want to negotiate and then don't negotiate. They have told us clearly who they are and what they will do. Over and Over. We believe them You don't seem to. Why is that?

On “Filibuster Rule Change For Voting Rights Legislation Fails 52-48 in Senate

Democrats have been pointing to the polls. Republicans have made no counter offers. They have just said no. Repeatedly. Since Obama was elected. Manchin tried to negotiate in a watered down voting bill but when it came time to vote on it, the republicans he had negotiated with balked and filibustered.

How do you horse trade with that?

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So since heaping shame isn't working, and we can't get bills passed because only Democrats have agency, what would you suggest? Just acquiesce in the slide to white male conservative authoritarianism?

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