General COVID-19 Talk #4 MOD Warning

[Bandit]

Senate Democrats block GOP's $500 billion coronavirus aid bill as Pelosi-Mnuchin talks continue

Sure, a $500B plan is a non-starter for Dems but so is $2+ trillion for the Republicans so, again, it just seems like everyone is acting in bad faith but one side gets to play the "We tried to help but they wouldn't let us" card.

And in all that you still have:

“It did not include another round of direct payments to people.”

Pitiful.

And while we’re on the subject of incompetence and inefficient public service, there has been a city tree trimming truck parked in front of my house for 40 minutes and all the guy has done is put up the sign that says “tree work ahead”. It really is every layer all the way down.

 

[DrHansReinhardt]

Senate Democrats block GOP's $500 billion coronavirus aid bill as Pelosi-Mnuchin talks continue

Sure, a $500B plan is a non-starter for Dems but so is $2+ trillion for the Republicans so, again, it just seems like everyone is acting in bad faith but one side gets to play the "We tried to help but they wouldn't let us" card.

The senate ignored the House bill and attempted to vote on a corporate friendly bill that had no chance of bipartisan support. That's what they call a stunt. Back to civics 101, all spending bills originate from the House per the constitution. The senate is supposed to vote on the house bill and make changes if they see fit. The senate did no such thing.

 

[tny760]

And while we’re on the subject of incompetence and inefficient public service, there has been a city tree trimming truck parked in front of my house for 40 minutes and all the guy has done is put up the sign that says “tree work ahead”. It really is every layer all the way down.

you should've seen the road i live on.. after 20+ years of them not even patching potholes they did the whole shebang for some reason.. it's edging on unincorporated land so that might have had something to do with it.. anyway. mint job, smoothest road i've ever driven on. not one week later, i think i had literally driven on it once cause we were peak lockdown.. they dig up a 50 foot segment piecemeal and start working on the sewers (which don't even make it to my house) and patch it with the worst patch job i've ever seen. i've driven smoother roads in the desert.

guess somebody important complained (probably the church in the middle of the neighborhood) cause then they dug the whole 50 foot segment up and repaved it properly but it was just like man.. after all these years of me paying the irrigation district and city and whoever else to maintain these sewers that i don't even have access to, yall had to go and f*** up the nice new road instead of fixing it first.. and all this rework is coming right outta my taxes.

 

[Bandit]

you should've seen the road i live on.. after 20+ years of them not even patching potholes they did the whole shebang for some reason.. it's edging on unincorporated land so that might have had something to do with it.. anyway. mint job, smoothest road i've ever driven on. not one week later, i think i had literally driven on it once cause we were peak lockdown.. they dig up a 50 foot segment piecemeal and start working on the sewers (which don't even make it to my house) and patch it with the worst patch job i've ever seen. i've driven smoother roads in the desert.

guess somebody important complained (probably the church in the middle of the neighborhood) cause then they dug the whole 50 foot segment up and repaved it properly but it was just like man.. after all these years of me paying the irrigation district and city and whoever else to maintain these sewers that i don't even have access to, yall had to go and f*** up the nice new road instead of fixing it first.. and all this rework is coming right outta my taxes.

Yup, bozotown all the way around. There's a huge patch of land right next to Westfield Topanga that was the old Rocketdyne facility. It has to go through all sort of remediations before any redevelopment can be done with it because they used all sorts of shit to de-grease rocket engines and other crap, and it's in the soil and the groundwater. This has been going on for years if not decades. What did they do? remediate the soil first, even though gas is still seeping up from the un-remediated groundwater beneath.

 

[KINGS17]

How many of you patriots, pushing back on what I say, support the authoritarian attempting to take over the country? And this guy scoffs at the word fascist SMH

First you need to look up the definition of authoritarian. An authoritarian dictator would actually bring in the military to overturn the election. Filing lawsuits is not authoritarianism.

 

[KINGS17]

You don't really know what Luke did with the tauntaun.

 

[DrHansReinhardt]

First you need to look up the definition of authoritarian. An authoritarian dictator would actually bring in the military to overturn the election. Filing lawsuits is not authoritarianism.

Donald did try to get the military on board but they refused after that church incident. Gen Milley apologized for the militaries unconstitutional role in clearing the citizens so Donald could take a pic with his bible upside-down.
Bill Barr also cobbled together an unmarked 'secret' police force that was snatching people and throwing them in unmarked vans. Thats Authoritarian behavior. What do you call a loser candidate trampling democracy to maintain power at all costs?

 

[Lt Dan]

Cases down from 3K yesterday and only 6.35% positive tests today

Hosp up from 1287 yesterday ICU up from 288

Rolling 7 day

Tues:1
Mon: 0
Sun: 14
Sat: 18
Fri:22
Thu:7
Wed:0

A slight increase today to 8.85714

 

[BigKing]

The senate ignored the House bill and attempted to vote on a corporate friendly bill that had no chance of bipartisan support. That's what they call a stunt. Back to civics 101, all spending bills originate from the House per the constitution. The senate is supposed to vote on the house bill and make changes if they see fit. The senate did no such thing.

Is it "spending bills" or those bills that raise taxes to produce revenue? These aren't revenue increasing bills but rather spending bills.

Regardless, all of it has been a stunt. I suppose McConnell could just take up a vote on the $2 trillion bill, have it fail and then come back with amendments that lower it to $500B and we are all in the same place. Perhaps he wouldn't look so evil and be fingered as the person keeping stimulus from happening but, again, it wouldn't matter since they were so far apart on money on where it should be spent that it is a moot point.

As an aside, I am also an Independent. I'm in no way cheerleading for Mitch but rather spreading the blame around on everyone instead of picking a side. It takes two to tango.

 

[Token]

 

[KINGS17]

Donald did try to get the military on board but they refused after that church incident. Gen Milley apologized for the militaries unconstitutional role in clearing the citizens so Donald could take a pic with his bible upside-down.
Bill Barr also cobbled together an unmarked 'secret' police force that was snatching people and throwing them in unmarked vans. Thats Authoritarian behavior. What do you call a loser candidate trampling democracy to maintain power at all costs?

 

[DrHansReinhardt]

You see how ignorant people are. This guy thinks I'm making this shit up. They don't even know what's going on, sad. Or they accept it.

Army Gen. Mark Milley says he was wrong to accompany Trump on church walk

"Army Gen. Mark Milley, the nation’s top military officer...declaring he'd been wrong to stride in uniform with Trump past protesters who had been cleared from Lafayette Square to a photo op at a church....Milley said his presence in combat fatigues amid protests over racial injustice 'created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.'"

Donald wanted that perception which is why Milley was there in the first place.

AG Barr defends his black-clad secret police force: It’s OK they ‘wouldn’t want to talk to people about who they were’

"Attorney General Bill Barr is defending his use of an unmarked, unidentified, black-clad heavily-armed paramilitary federal secret police force...They wear no identifying labels: No one can see their name or rank, what agency they work for, what their job is, why they are there. They wear no badges. They just showed up and the Attorney General did not even ask the Mayor of Washington DC or anyone else if it was OK."

Again, what do you call a loser candidate trampling democracy to maintain power at all costs?

 

[jfont]

As an aside, I am also an Independent. I'm in no way cheerleading for Mitch but rather spreading the blame around on everyone instead of picking a side. It takes two to tango.

I get it. both sides suck. But disagree that their shortcomings are weighted the same.
You need not look further on which party is willing to shatter congressional and election norms and American institutions. This is a much more dangerous line than what any of what you pointed out on what the other side is doing.

 

[DrHansReinhardt]

Is it "spending bills" or those bills that raise taxes to produce revenue? These aren't revenue increasing bills but rather spending bills.

Regardless, all of it has been a stunt. I suppose McConnell could just take up a vote on the $2 trillion bill, have it fail and then come back with amendments that lower it to $500B and we are all in the same place. Perhaps he wouldn't look so evil and be fingered as the person keeping stimulus from happening but, again, it wouldn't matter since they were so far apart on money on where it should be spent that it is a moot point.

As an aside, I am also an Independent. I'm in no way cheerleading for Mitch but rather spreading the blame around on everyone instead of picking a side. It takes two to tango.

Correct, it is bills for raising revenue in the text of the constitution. I'd argue that spending bills need to be paid for so it all comes down to raising the money. I agree that DC has been a disaster for decades. Its a shame that one man can hold up everything. There have definitely been some bills in the past decade that would have passed with bipartisan support except for the fact it would have given O a 'win' which is political suicide in RW circles.

 

[jfont]

Inside Obama's Presidency

"On the night of Barack Obama’s inauguration, a group of top GOP luminaries quietly gathered in a Washington steakhouse to lick their wounds and ultimately create the outline of a plan for how to deal with the incoming administration.
“The room was filled. It was a who’s who of ranking members who had at one point been committee chairmen, or in the majority, who now wondered out loud whether they were in the permanent minority,” Frank Luntz, who organized the event, told FRONTLINE.
Among them were Senate power brokers Jim DeMint, Jon Kyl and Tom Coburn, and conservative congressmen Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy and Paul Ryan.
After three hours of strategizing, they decided they needed to fight Obama on everything. The new president had no idea what the Republicans were planning."

I hope people don't think PBS is fake news. Cause you know, it aint...

 

[KINGS17]

Inside Obama's Presidency

"On the night of Barack Obama’s inauguration, a group of top GOP luminaries quietly gathered in a Washington steakhouse to lick their wounds and ultimately create the outline of a plan for how to deal with the incoming administration.
“The room was filled. It was a who’s who of ranking members who had at one point been committee chairmen, or in the majority, who now wondered out loud whether they were in the permanent minority,” Frank Luntz, who organized the event, told FRONTLINE.
Among them were Senate power brokers Jim DeMint, Jon Kyl and Tom Coburn, and conservative congressmen Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy and Paul Ryan.
After three hours of strategizing, they decided they needed to fight Obama on everything. The new president had no idea what the Republicans were planning."

I hope people don't think PBS is fake news. Cause you know, it aint...

...and there is a similar meeting of party power brokers from each party every time they lose a presidential election.

 

[Token]

...and there is a similar meeting of party power brokers from each party every time they lose a presidential election.

Not a chance man!

Democrats could wipe their own azzes if they fell into a truck full of Charmin...

... they probably do yoga and give each other shoulder rubs ...

 

[KINGS17]

Not a chance man!

Democrats could wipe their own azzes if they fell into a truck full of Charmin...

... they probably do yoga and give each other shoulder rubs ...

Yeah, Dems aren't organized at all. You can tell by how they vote in lock step in the House.

 

[Token]

Yeah, Dems aren't organized at all. You can tell by how they vote in lock step in the House.

That’s all Nancy. She scary ... like undead scary.

 

[Papa Mocha 15]

That’s all Nancy. She scary ... like undead scary.

Gotta give Nancy credit though, she played Trump pretty well. Got him to take credit for the shutdown and got in his head. She's a bit off and makes shitty selfish decisions like the rest but..she did play him. Sometimes it's just matchups. Can't explain it. The Old Guard on the Republican candidates couldn't rattle him and she did. Not a fan of hers at all but it was an interesting chemistry. Like Doughty and Tkachuk. They don't match up at all in styles but for some reason, they have an odd chemistry.

 

[Papa Mocha 15]

You see how ignorant people are. This guy thinks I'm making this shit up. They don't even know what's going on, sad. Or they accept it.

Army Gen. Mark Milley says he was wrong to accompany Trump on church walk

"Army Gen. Mark Milley, the nation’s top military officer...declaring he'd been wrong to stride in uniform with Trump past protesters who had been cleared from Lafayette Square to a photo op at a church....Milley said his presence in combat fatigues amid protests over racial injustice 'created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.'"

Donald wanted that perception which is why Milley was there in the first place.

AG Barr defends his black-clad secret police force: It’s OK they ‘wouldn’t want to talk to people about who they were’

"Attorney General Bill Barr is defending his use of an unmarked, unidentified, black-clad heavily-armed paramilitary federal secret police force...They wear no identifying labels: No one can see their name or rank, what agency they work for, what their job is, why they are there. They wear no badges. They just showed up and the Attorney General did not even ask the Mayor of Washington DC or anyone else if it was OK."

Again, what do you call a loser candidate trampling democracy to maintain power at all costs?

I never saw the military abandon a Republican President before and it is precisely this. That is not what they signed up for.


Good Podcasts to listen to are Rational Security (covering effects of our foreign policy and law) and Intelligence Matters (former CIA head covers a lot the Intel community, struggle for pair in heavy detail).

What I'm concerned about is the next election because the "stop the steal" campaign has been in full force to motivate his base to pay off his debts through fighting this and also to fuel the next election. This is the same rhetorical line that Germany used at the end of WW1 to step in WW2. Granted the following is an opinion piece but one worth reading.
Opinion | 1918 Germany Has a Warning for America

Yet watching President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” campaign since Election Day, I can’t help but see a parallel to one of the most dreadful episodes from Germany’s history.
One hundred years ago, amid the implosions of Imperial Germany, powerful conservatives who led the country into war refused to accept that they had lost. Their denial gave birth to arguably the most potent and disastrous political lie of the 20th century — the Dolchstosslegende, or stab-in-the-back myth.
Its core claim was that Imperial Germany never lost World War I. Defeat, its proponents said, was declared but not warranted. It was a conspiracy, a con, a capitulation — a grave betrayal that forever stained the nation. That the claim was palpably false didn’t matter. Among a sizable number of Germans, it stirred resentment, humiliation and anger.

 

[Bandit]

I never saw the military abandon a Republican President before and it is precisely this. That is not what they signed up for.


Good Podcasts to listen to are Rational Security (covering effects of our foreign policy and law) and Intelligence Matters (former CIA head covers a lot the Intel community, struggle for pair in heavy detail).

What I'm concerned about is the next election because the "stop the steal" campaign has been in full force to motivate his base to pay off his debts through fighting this and also to fuel the next election. This is the same rhetorical line that Germany used at the end of WW1 to step in WW2. Granted the following is an opinion piece but one worth reading.
Opinion | 1918 Germany Has a Warning for America

Yet watching President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” campaign since Election Day, I can’t help but see a parallel to one of the most dreadful episodes from Germany’s history.
One hundred years ago, amid the implosions of Imperial Germany, powerful conservatives who led the country into war refused to accept that they had lost. Their denial gave birth to arguably the most potent and disastrous political lie of the 20th century — the Dolchstosslegende, or stab-in-the-back myth.
Its core claim was that Imperial Germany never lost World War I. Defeat, its proponents said, was declared but not warranted. It was a conspiracy, a con, a capitulation — a grave betrayal that forever stained the nation. That the claim was palpably false didn’t matter. Among a sizable number of Germans, it stirred resentment, humiliation and anger.

It’s scary to think it’s even possible we could head in that direction but after the last 4 years I’ve learned anything is possible. I just take comfort in the fact that they don’t know the difference between The Four Seasons Hotel and Four Seasons Total Landscaping so being able to invade Poland is likely totally out of the question.

 

[BigKing]

Master Blaster. Also my nickname for Dustin Brown during the 00's.

 

[BigKing]

I get it. both sides suck. But disagree that their shortcomings are weighted the same.
You need not look further on which party is willing to shatter congressional and election norms and American institutions. This is a much more dangerous line than what any of what you pointed out on what the other side is doing.

Oh, Trumpism is a bridge too far for sure. I get it.

The Republicans look like the worst all the time but it's easy when the Left "champions" the poor and minorities while generally still not getting anything done for them while collecting their votes.

The Left plays to a larger crowd and definitely in the big cities and the media. Narratives are shaped but what should be a results based job is nothing but in DC, except for President but even then it takes a miracle to keep someone to one term. Without Coronavirus, Trump wins this year.

Imagine Dean Lombardi getting canned but these wet rags in Congress have lifetime appointments basically. It's ridiculous.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

8 animals? Learned something new

I have nipples Focker, can you milk me?