Random Politics

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 11:31 am

If you want to look out the Reddit posting history of the person who wrote that, it's worth your time. This person has some extremely poignant things to say:

https://www.reddit.com/user/TheBirminghamBear

The other person I recommend who has been the most thorough and encyclopedic on Trump and everyone involved in this miasma, if this person:

https://www.reddit.com/user/PoppinKREAM

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sat Jul 27, 2019 3:10 pm

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Jul 28, 2019 9:38 am

Another excellent Reddit comment:

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Mon Jul 29, 2019 11:38 am

Those of you with a better grasp of investments can make sense of this:

Congress Has a Dangerous Idea for Your 401(k)

I was caught by this note:

Over the past 30 years, according to OpenSecrets.org, people and entities associated with three organizations -- Mass Mutual Life Insurance, FMR (the parent company of Fidelity Investments) and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors -- have collectively been the largest donors to Congressman Richard Neal, who introduced the legislation in the House.

That's the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee from the 1st District of Massachusetts. The same dude who has a primary challenger in the 30 year old mayor from Holyoke because he's dragging on Trump's state returns.

This all seems a bit strange to me.

Post by **brian** » Mon Jul 29, 2019 2:20 pm

As a general rule of thumb I just assume anything proposed by the financial industry is intended to fuck you out of your money.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Mon Jul 29, 2019 2:34 pm

brian wrote: ↑Mon Jul 29, 2019 2:20 pm As a general rule of thumb I just assume anything proposed by the financial industry is intended to fuck you out of your money.

^^^ Yep.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Mon Jul 29, 2019 2:49 pm

Before I read the article, I thought it was possible it was more "access to" versus "fuck you out of", but now I'd lean latter.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Tue Jul 30, 2019 11:26 am

That's what I figured. It's like when they altered the military retirement structure so that you would only get 40% of your base pay at 20 years instead of 50%. (The old system is the High 3. The new is the Blended Retirement System.)

The other 10% is made up of you contributing 5% of your base pay into a TSP (it's like a 401k) with up to a 5% matching contribution from the government. You're capped at $19k a year on that and it's nearly impossible to max that out as a young E-1 to E-5. And as an E-6, I still can't put in that much without affecting my other bills.

In theory you could have more money in retirement, but you won't find that out until you're 59 1/2 years old. You can retire as young as 37. Is the amount that you're losing in guaranteed income in that hypothetical 22 1/2 years going to make up the difference?

And not for nothing, despite a robust commissioned study with all the bells and whistles in a CBT about how the new retirement is better, they never had the example of the person who has the original one AND is contributing at least 10% to a TSP. Or even 5%. They distract you with "matching" so hard because they don't currently do matching now for active duty.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Tue Jul 30, 2019 11:28 am

But speaking of the military, this headline is quite awkward to read.

Sen. Martha McSally, assault survivor, backs general accused of misconduct

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Tue Jul 30, 2019 4:51 pm

Whatever happened to the Party of Reagan? (Sarcasm)

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:06 pm

Bet the KKK were Democrats in the 1950s!!!

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 12:21 pm

To the shock of exactly no one, Ronald Reagan was a racist.

ETA

Dammit, I read Joe K's post the other day too but I completely forgot.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 12:30 pm

Reagan would have absolutely loved Trump and it’s long past time that people stop pretending otherwise. Reagan was also a reactionary, racist entertainer-turned-politician. He just didn’t have a Twitter feed and actually had the sense to use professional speechwriters.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 1:02 pm

I don't disagree at all, but as a small sop in defense of Reagan, his public statements on how to deal with illegal immigrants were diametrically opposed to the rhetoric of Trump.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 1:07 pm

Yup. Him and a bunch of other frightened white people were scared to their core when the Black Panthers pulled up into the Capitol with guns that one day.

And he kept his racism to himself ever since. Killer Mike summed it up well.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 1:09 pm

Joe K wrote: ↑Wed Jul 31, 2019 12:30 pm Reagan would have absolutely loved Trump and it’s long past time that people stop pretending otherwise. Reagan was also a reactionary, racist entertainer-turned-politician. He just didn’t have a Twitter feed and actually had the sense to use professional speechwriters.

Not defending the guy, but I'd view Reagan as being more of an opportunist rather than a reactionary.

Which would of course mean that if he was 70 years old now, he could very much be just like Trump. Only more eloquent because as an actor he knew the value of good writers. Trump was in reality TV where shock value gets ratings.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 2:35 pm

What the actual fuck???!!

I feel like this Epstein story has crime of the century written all over it if the full scope of the conspiracy ever comes out.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 3:29 pm

Joe K wrote: ↑Wed Jul 31, 2019 2:35 pm What the actual fuck???!!

I feel like this Epstein story has crime of the century written all over it if the full scope of the conspiracy ever comes out.

Money...

Next time someone tries to tell you that providing health care is unfair because it raises taxes and is socialist, point out that this badly educated child rapist owned an island, an estate, a ranch and God knows what else. For doing what? Wonder what his tax rate was?

And just because it should be said on a daily basis - Fuck Alan Dershowitz.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 5:49 pm

I thought this was interesting:

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 8:06 pm

Pruitt wrote: ↑Wed Jul 31, 2019 3:29 pm
Joe K wrote: ↑Wed Jul 31, 2019 2:35 pm What the actual fuck???!!

I feel like this Epstein story has crime of the century written all over it if the full scope of the conspiracy ever comes out.
Money...

Next time someone tries to tell you that providing health care is unfair because it raises taxes and is socialist, point out that this badly educated child rapist owned an island, an estate, a ranch and God knows what else. For doing what? Wonder what his tax rate was?

And just because it should be said on a daily basis - Fuck Alan Dershowitz.

Epstein himself is obviously complete scum but the more disturbing thing to me is that the guy apparently made no secret of being a pedophile and a eugenicist, and he was still accepted as a full-fledged member of elite society for decades (and still would be if not for some very brave women). I mean, he had two of the last four US Presidents on speed dial. When someone writes the definitive history of the downfall of American society, this story will deserve its own chapter.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 10:03 pm

Get your Moscow Mitch gear.

https://store.kydemocrats.org

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 9:19 am

Tomi Lahren was actually adminished by conservative leaving women for saying that Kamala Harris got to where she is by sleeping her way to the top.

Which means this is probably pure projection.

Sidenote: Google her pre plastic surgery photos.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 10:16 am

Story: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4553 ... rogressive

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 10:22 am

They're clearly racist, but using nice profile shots also shows what fucking idiots these people are.

L-Jam3 · Post by **L-Jam3** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:14 pm

It's too bad that Hilary didn't refer to them as "the basket of dumb motherfuckers", because it'd be more fun watching them try to reclaim that as their calling card.

Post by **brian** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:16 pm

As it stands I'm not sure why anyone would want to refer to themselves as "deplorable" but I guess there's a lot I'll never understand about the American conservative movement.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:24 pm

They're deplorable in the eyes of Hillary. And Hillary is the devil, therefore two negatives make a positive. Math.

EnochRoot · Post by **EnochRoot** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:55 pm

brian wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:16 pm As it stands I'm not sure why anyone would want to refer to themselves as "deplorable" but I guess there's a lot I'll never understand about the American conservative movement.

It was the second dumbest thing a Democrat has done in the past 50 years (behind nominating Clinton of course).

"Deplorables" was such a stupid thing. It gave them a brand. Tribalism runs deeper than racism. So fucking dumb.

Post by **brian** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:58 pm

Worse than Dukakis riding in a tank or Al Gore claiming to invent the Internet or McGovern nominating Eagleton as VP? Really?

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 1:15 pm

EnochRoot wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:55 pm It was the second dumbest thing a Democrat has done in the past 50 years

Third.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 1:17 pm

brian wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:58 pm Worse than Dukakis riding in a tank or Al Gore claiming to invent the Internet or McGovern nominating Eagleton as VP? Really?

Oh, FFS, don't jump on the Gore/Internet thing.He never said he invented the internet, he said he led initiatives to help create the internet. So sick of hearing that one.

Post by **brian** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 1:27 pm

The Sybian wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 1:17 pm
brian wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:58 pm Worse than Dukakis riding in a tank or Al Gore claiming to invent the Internet or McGovern nominating Eagleton as VP? Really?
Oh, FFS, don't jump on the Gore/Internet thing.He never said he invented the internet, he said he led initiatives to help create the internet. So sick of hearing that one.

Well, he didn't even do that, so I still ding him on that.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 2:04 pm

But he did nominate Joe Lieberman to be his VP. That's extremely bad.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 2:06 pm

APPEAL TO THE RIGHT-CENTER!!!

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 2:41 pm

They had to be kind of stupid to think that bringing in a Jewish guy is going to be appealing to the center-right.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 4:44 pm

Upthread I alluded to the change in the military retirement system. It's now called the Blended Retirement System because it "blends" the traditional High 3 with your investment into the TSP (401k).

I happened to see this article: Money from a retirement program for the US military is set to be diverted to pay for Trump's border wall

Notably, it said about $224 million would be taken from the Blended Retirement System, which combines elements of the military's retirement system with a system offering benefits similar to civilian 401(k) programs.

What the fuck.

ETA:

VoteVets is all over it.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 7:25 pm

And Hannity and the rest will blame it on the Dems for refusing to fund the wall. Nothing matters.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 7:28 pm

Republicans can’t harm the troops because republicans love the troops. Factual.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 8:15 pm

mister d wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 7:28 pm Republicans can’t harm the troops because republicans love the troops. Factual.

Big facts.

Also, this is a big deal.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Fri Aug 02, 2019 6:28 pm

There's a new downloadable font inspired by gerrymandered congressional districts