The Republican Agenda 2021 and Forward

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I think #1 is a bigger issue than the Dems want it to be. Why does CA need to tax income at 13% (Top) and NY at 9% (Top) while FL and TX are at 0%? Granted FL has high property taxes, but a person can choose to some degree how much they want to pay by where they choose to live and the size house they choose to have regardless of income. But what does one get from the government in CA that they don't get in FL for their tax dollars, social issues aside.

In researching my taxes as a CA resident I found out something that I wasn’t aware of and doesn’t really impact me directly as a renter (probably why I wasn’t aware of it). There’s a decades old proposition where the state can’t raise property taxes past a certain amount (I think 2% per year) as long as you reside in the residence. So people who have lived in their house for decades have had very little increase in their property taxes. So they have to make up for the loss somehow with things like income tax.

I imagine that during sane times this might also keep people from selling their house and keeping the available inventory low. By sane times, I mean your house moderately increases in value…not near double in under a decade. That massive increase selling price might offset the tax increase on your next house, not so much with a moderate increase in value. Now also toss in high interest rates and people aren’t selling.

 

[GermanSuplex]

Something to think about - Trump’s base may seem so strong and unshakeable not because it is, but because they’ve turned so many people away. Lots of people who are smart and maybe in-tune drown out this noise. They will show up and vote and that’s that. What we have is the country’s version of the Freedom Caucus, and just like moderate republicans go along with the minority, the same is true of the 1/3 or so of republicans who aren’t MAGA but still vote Trump.

The exit polling is interesting and I believe Trump’s Iowa win is deceptive. Lower turnout, and while his win was a record margin, he’s also a former president who’s supposedly a king maker. Half of the scant percentage of republicans who showed up to vote voted for someone else. Many indicated they’d vote Biden over Trump, and much more than that said they wouldn’t vote for a convict.

It truly is not all doom and gloom. Trump is going to run out of ammunition, his real cases haven’t even started. He’s losing his mind over fluff and making horrible headlines. He may be plotting to win by intimidation and force, and his showdown with the judge in court today could be a preview. I think it will backfire. The man is not well.

I really enjoyed this article, anyone looking for a little confidence boost ought to read it.

Columnist John Sheirer: Why Trump will lose again

Four years ago, my column in this newspaper predicted that Donald Trump would lose the 2020 presidential election. Readers who opposed Trump told me, “I wish I had your optimism,” or “That’s what you said in 2016,” or “His crazies have gotten worse...

www.gazettenet.com

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Something to think about - Trump’s base may seem so strong and unshakeable not because it is, but because they’ve turned so many people away. Lots of people who are smart and maybe in-tune drown out this noise. They will show up and vote and that’s that. What we have is the country’s version of the Freedom Caucus, and just like moderate republicans go along with the minority, the same is true of the 1/3 or so of republicans who aren’t MAGA but still vote Trump.

The exit polling is interesting and I believe Trump’s Iowa win is deceptive. Lower turnout, and while his win was a record margin, he’s also a former president who’s supposedly a king maker. Half of the scant percentage of republicans who showed up to vote voted for someone else. Many indicated they’d vote Biden over Trump, and much more than that said they wouldn’t vote for a convict.

It truly is not all doom and gloom. Trump is going to run out of ammunition, his real cases haven’t even started. He’s losing his mind over fluff and making horrible headlines. He may be plotting to win by intimidation and force, and his showdown with the judge in court today could be a preview. I think it will backfire. The man is not well.

I really enjoyed this article, anyone looking for a little confidence boost ought to read it.

Columnist John Sheirer: Why Trump will lose again

Four years ago, my column in this newspaper predicted that Donald Trump would lose the 2020 presidential election. Readers who opposed Trump told me, “I wish I had your optimism,” or “That’s what you said in 2016,” or “His crazies have gotten worse...

www.gazettenet.com

Trump supporters are fanatics who will brave all kinds of conditions to stick it to liberals with their blind allegiance. You can’t say the same about DeSantis or Haley stans, if there even are any. I’m sure if the weather was more mild the results would have been different. Trump probably still would have won but not by as much. Also Iowa is the most conservative and evangelical state in the country and is by no means an accurate snapshot of the rest of the country.

Something Sexton shared about his Iowa experience that I didn’t post above is Trump was late to his rally and they didn’t open the doors and let people in. He personally stood outside in the freezing temperature for 30-40 minutes waiting to get in. That’s how little of a shit Trump cares about his supporters and I have no doubt he hoped somebody would die while waiting so he could brag about the dedication of his supporters.

Something that gets mentioned, but not enough, is Trump regularly bores the shit out of people at his rallies. Once he’s done with his greatest hits and his call-and-response hate schtick he shifts gears into rambling tangents and a pity party. At that point people start zoning out and leaving. Because the Hitler comparisons never seem to stop, he also famously bored the shit out of people with his rambling when holding court long into the night hours.

 

[GermanSuplex]

Who remembers Dick Morris?

 

[Herdfan]

Who remembers Dick Morris?

I remember he got the 2012 election way wrong and was fired because of it.

 

[GermanSuplex]

When republicans are talking about Biden, the border or war, I have a hard time seeing how things can be that bad. I won't flood the boards with useless info, but you guys can google "Ridiculous Oklahoma Bills" to see some of the crap conservatives thinks are pressing these days. Here's two..

Proposed law would require Oklahoma students to take gun course in schools

An Oklahoma lawmaker proposed a bill that would require students to take a gun course at school.

www.koco.com

Students Dressed as Furries Could be Collected by Animal Control if New Oklahoma Bill Passes

If one Oklahoma representative gets his way, children who act like dogs and cats during school hours could be punished by... animal control.

www.rollingstone.com

 

[Yoused]

Meanwhile, in darkest, redest Ohio,

Ohio pastor charged for housing the homeless

A city says the church’s 24/7 homeless outreach violates zoning restrictions

wng.org

The town of Bryan is a short hop from the Indiana border, in the northern half of the state, a long way from much of anywhere. He has been charged with criminal violation of zoning laws.

 

[GermanSuplex]

Meanwhile, in darkest, redest Ohio,

Ohio pastor charged for housing the homeless

A city says the church’s 24/7 homeless outreach violates zoning restrictions

wng.org

The town of Bryan is a short hop from the Indiana border, in the northern half of the state, a long way from much of anywhere. He has been charged with criminal violation of zoning laws.

Someone found out there was money to help the poor and weren’t getting any of it. Why use that money to feed the poor when we can just fine them and have the money for ourselves?

You can’t get a mayor or some sort of committee to grant them a pass? Probably the same people who then point to the homeless problem as a purely democrat issue.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Senate GOP fears drop in Trump enthusiasm, energy

GOP senators say there is less enthusiasm for former President Trump among Republican-leaning voters compared to 2016, a drop in voter energy that was apparent when only 15 percent of Iowa’s …

thehill.com

The GOP should be watching mainstream news where it is and will be an epic "landslide" favoring Trump. But that’s coming from the fake news which I guess must be confusing in this circumstance. I have faith that they can word salad it to it not being fake news in this situation. This would require relatively low mental gymnastics in comparison to what they are well accustomed to. They should lean heavy on their single platform of continuing to make sure they don’t do anything that would improve people’s lives while blaming it all on Democrats.

 

[GermanSuplex]

Trump is gaining a bigger share of a shrinking party. That's all. He's not well and its going to get worse as the year drags on. Republicans will be on defense ALL YEAR LONG with this guy, and then what are we people going to do at the polls come November? Put this moron we had record turnout to get rid of BACK in office? Nope, not happening. New Hampshire should be very interesting, regardless of who wins - check the turnout and exit polls, that's where the news is.

 

[Eric]

Trump is gaining a bigger share of a shrinking party. That's all. He's not well and its going to get worse as the year drags on. Republicans will be on defense ALL YEAR LONG with this guy, and then what are we people going to do at the polls come November? Put this moron we had record turnout to get rid of BACK in office? Nope, not happening. New Hampshire should be very interesting, regardless of who wins - check the turnout and exit polls, that's where the news is.

I would ask what options they have, I mean Trump pretty much owns them at this point. Maybe a question for @Herdfan I don't want to slam them here because I think there are plenty of decent down-ballot candidates that want nothing to do with the full MAGA wing who may suffer as a result. Do they see a path forward without Trump, and if so what would it look like?

 

[Citysnaps]

I wonder about today's republicans whose parents and/or grandparents fought fascism in World War II.

And how they reconcile honoring and respecting their service/sacrifice and what they fought for, with voting for trump today.

Seems one could do one or the other. But *never* both.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I would ask what options they have, I mean Trump pretty much owns them at this point. Maybe a question for @Herdfan I don't want to slam them here because I think there are plenty of decent down-ballot candidates that want nothing to do with the full MAGA wing who may suffer as a result. Do they see a path forward without Trump, and if so what would it look like?

In defense of MAGA and MAGA curious voters, with the possible exception of DeSantis, the alternative being offered to them is a return to the status quo that they feel screwed them in the first place. The most common reason for not wanting to vote for the alternatives given by these voters is “they’re too much of a politician”. My favorite reason for a New Hampshire primary voter not wanting to vote for DeSantis was “He has a face you want to punch.”

But unfortunately the Republicans need the MAGA voters to push them over the finish line.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Listened to a supercut of reporters asking Republican politicians to respond to Trump’s specific sexist and racist attacks on Nikki Haley. One even asked If that’s the Republican brand now. Every single one from MAGA to moderate refused to answer the question and instead went with generic whataboutism. By generic I mean when confronted with direct quotes by Trump they couldn’t come up with any comparable quotes from Democrats. “Both sides do it. That’s just politics.”. One was repeatedly asked to stop deflecting and answer the question but they kept deflecting and eventually went into “Biden is ruining this country!”. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a bigger group of intellectually lazy cowards.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I thought this shit died off I guess not.​

Ryan Walters Smears Oklahoma Educators While Proposing New Rules​

The controversial Oklahoma state superintendent of schools suggested, without evidence, that the state teachers union and educators were creating a culture that allowed for rampant sexual misconduct against students.
“What we have seen is radical leftists and the teachers unions turning our schools into Epstein Island,” Ryan Walters said at an emergency Oklahoma State Department of Education meeting last week, referring to where Jeffrey Epstein, the late billionaire and sexual predator, would abuse children.

Top GOP School Official Rants About Sexual Predators And Smears Educators

This isn’t the first time the controversial Oklahoma state superintendent of schools has made extreme comments.

www.huffpost.com

 

[Citysnaps]

I thought this shit died off I guess not.​

Ryan Walters Smears Oklahoma Educators While Proposing New Rules​

The controversial Oklahoma state superintendent of schools suggested, without evidence, that the state teachers union and educators were creating a culture that allowed for rampant sexual misconduct against students.
“What we have seen is radical leftists and the teachers unions turning our schools into Epstein Island,” Ryan Walters said at an emergency Oklahoma State Department of Education meeting last week, referring to where Jeffrey Epstein, the late billionaire and sexual predator, would abuse children.

Top GOP School Official Rants About Sexual Predators And Smears Educators

This isn’t the first time the controversial Oklahoma state superintendent of schools has made extreme comments.

www.huffpost.com

A good example of trump still germinating seeds of hate lying beneath the ground.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Am I wrong in that the primary could be called for Trump after New Hampshire or South Carolina and that's the end of it? Doesn't seem very democratic to me. Imagine if for the general election they only counted the votes for 2 or 3 states and then called it just based on that. I'd be pretty pissed off if I lived in one of the other 48 states.

I assume this is a situation of candidates running out of donor money or just dropping out for whatever reason. I think candidates and votes should be forced to go through all 50 states and the minimum money it takes to achieve that should be baked in.

 

[rdrr]

Am I wrong in that the primary could be called for Trump after New Hampshire or South Carolina and that's the end of it? Doesn't seem very democratic to me. Imagine if for the general election they only counted the votes for 2 or 3 states and then called it just based on that. I'd be pretty pissed off if I lived in one of the other 48 states.

I assume this is a situation of candidates running out of donor money or just dropping out for whatever reason. I think candidates and votes should be forced to go through all 50 states and the minimum money it takes to achieve that should be baked in.

The amount of money that it takes to run and win now it just ridiculous. I wish there were governing rules around it, but that is just a drop in the bucket of the problems with the system.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I thought this shit died off I guess not.​

Ryan Walters Smears Oklahoma Educators While Proposing New Rules​

The controversial Oklahoma state superintendent of schools suggested, without evidence, that the state teachers union and educators were creating a culture that allowed for rampant sexual misconduct against students.
“What we have seen is radical leftists and the teachers unions turning our schools into Epstein Island,” Ryan Walters said at an emergency Oklahoma State Department of Education meeting last week, referring to where Jeffrey Epstein, the late billionaire and sexual predator, would abuse children.

Top GOP School Official Rants About Sexual Predators And Smears Educators

This isn’t the first time the controversial Oklahoma state superintendent of schools has made extreme comments.

www.huffpost.com

So another Republican announcing to the world that they should be investigated for pedophilia.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

The amount of money that it takes to run and win now it just ridiculous. I wish there were governing rules around it, but that is just a drop in the bucket of the problems with the system.

It's another example of how we've moved away from actual representation. In a lot of places you need to be rich and connected just to run. It's no big mystery why a majority of legislation favors the rich. But to make things fair they sometimes have to suffer the indignity of mean things being said about them.