My takeaway from tonight’s elections: the Obama coalition is here to stay. DeBlasio and McAuliffe are examples.

re: #1 CarolJ

My takeaway from tonight’s elections: the Obama coalition is here to stay. DeBlasio and McAuliffe are examples.

Yeah I think with a decent Dem candidate that the Democrats would have gotten over 50% here even with Sarvis.

CUCCINELLI CAMPAIGN SAYS NATIONAL GOP ABANDONED THEM: ‘WE WERE ON OUR OWN’

Breitbart.

re: #3 Amory Blaine

CUCCINELLI CAMPAIGN SAYS NATIONAL GOP ABANDONED THEM: ‘WE WERE ON OUR OWN’

Breitbart.

And so it begins…again.

re: #4 klys

And so it begins…again.

“We were stabbed in the back!!”

re: #3 Amory Blaine

CUCCINELLI CAMPAIGN SAYS NATIONAL GOP ABANDONED THEM: ‘WE WERE ON OUR OWN’

Breitbart.

That one may actually be true but i think if our airwaves had been bombarded with more Cucci. Even more people would have gone to McAuliffe. Or maybe the message to take home here Ken is that you’re a fucking wacko who was lucky to get elected AG in this state.

Speaks to the oft said- Conservatism can not fail, it can only be failed. Their problem is their backass backwards ideology is popular enough to get these guys nominated but it’s not enough to actually win. It’s a good thing our election wasn’t in a presidential year. Cuccinelli would be wanting a blow job by the end of the night to console him from the ass kicking he would receive if he actually had to share a ballot with President Obama or even Senator Kaine.

i’m still worried about them chickens passing in broomfield

today it’s just chickens passing but the next thing you know buzzards and turkeys will be doing 90 miles an hour on the 101

re: #6 HappyWarrior

That one may actually be true but i think if our airwaves had been bombarded with more Cucci. Even more people would have gone to McAuliffe. Or maybe the message to take home here Ken is that you’re a fucking wacko who was lucky to get elected AG in this state.

I think the real takeaway is that The Cooch is a casualty of the GOP civil war. I’m guessing that the business guys, national chamber of commerce and wall street money men explicitly told the GOPe to let Cuccinelli twist in the wind. There’s still a ton of resentment in boardrooms across the country over both the shutdown and how close we came to default. Now the money is being directed with far more discretion, and next year, if we’re lucky, the anger will grow on both sides, to the point where the GOPe and Tea Party start ignoring primary results and challenge each other in general election contests.

Continuing our coverage of how our American media is covering the elections, we go down to Alabama:

Establishment Republican beats tea party foe in Alabama primary

A victory for sanity, you might say? Well…

The primary runoff for a congressional seat in Alabama, seen as a bellwether in the Republican Party’s civil war, closed Tuesday with establishment-backed Bradley Byrne overtaking conservative upstart Dean Young, officials said.

Byrne, a former state senator and onetime candidate for governor, was backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, while Young had the support of tea party-aligned groups. Both Republicans are opposed to taxes and President Obama’s healthcare law, and intent on reducing the scope of government. But Young portrayed himself resistant to bipartisanship, while Byrne campaigned on the need to fix Washington’s dysfunction.

[…]

That’s right, the big difference was over “bipartisanship”.

Let’s take a look at the winner Byrne’s own campaign website:

Government Regulations

Government Regulations continue to bypass Constitutional limits on federal authority and strangle state and local economies. I will work tirelessly to end the corruption and cronyism that frustrates efforts at real reform and cost-cutting – just like I did at the state level with the two-year college system. I will fight for a simpler and fairer tax code that would virtually eliminate the need for the corrupt IRS. Here at home, we need to get the federal government out of the business of telling us what fish we can catch and how many. […]

National Defense and Veterans

Every day, another young man or woman goes into harm’s way to protect our freedoms. But we must do more – much more – to ensure our national defense and to serve and honor our veterans. We must challenge the administration’s questionable answers to important questions. It does matter how and why four Americans died in Benghazi despite prior warnings and the victims’ pleas for help. We do need to know exactly how much the U.S. Justice Department has expanded, in an unprecedented fashion and to an […]

Traditional Alabama Values

My faith in Christ is my foundation. Our nation faces a moral crisis, but it doesn’t have to be that way. As God called the people of Israel back time and time again we in America have the responsibility to heed His call and do His will. Our Congress can set a better example. With a focus on our traditional Alabama values, we can work together for a better America.

2nd Amendment

Washington is bogged down in a fruitless debate over a gun bill which fails to address the true reason for mass tragedies. Rather than erode our 2nd Amendment right to bear arms, we must look deeper and work to hold accountable the perpetrators of such slaughter. Consequences are the answer – not unconstitutional gun control.

Byrne runs down just the usual litany of right wing talking points. To try and differentiate him from his supposedly worse Tea Partying opponent is a forced false choice.

This is one of the problems with the current media fad of creating stories of supposedly “mainstream” Republicans versus the Tea Partiers: the Overton Window has already shifted so far to the right that the so-called “mainstream” Republicans today are far more reactionary and atavistic than the Republicans of my youth.

It used to be the GOP was a supporter of basic conservation type of environmentalism, e.g., fish quotas, the very fishing quotas that Byrne decries.

Charles, I love it when you post these delightfully bizarre vimeo videos! This video made my day!

re: #7 HappyWarrior

It’s a good thing our election wasn’t in a presidential year. Cuccinelli would be wanting a blow job by the end of the night to console him from the ass kicking he would receive if he actually had to share a ballot with President Obama or even Senator Kaine.

It’s good that McCaulliffe won now and won’t be seeking reelection in 2016, hurting up and down ticket Democratic Party chances in an election that actually matters.

re: #3 Amory Blaine

CUCCINELLI CAMPAIGN SAYS NATIONAL GOP ABANDONED THEM: ‘WE WERE ON OUR OWN’

Breitbart.

Youtube Video

Don’t know what’s taking so long on the last few districts to be counted. Last update was almost an hour ago.

re: #12 goddamnedfrank

It’s good that McCaulliffe won now and won’t be seeking reelection in 2016, hurting up and down ticket Democratic Party chances in an election that actually matters.

It would be 2017. Anyhow his big win tonight for Lt. Governor I imagine makes Northam the frontrunner to be McAuliffe’s successor. I know little about him honestly. More familiar with the Dem who ran for AG and may yet pull out a win here tonight or when they do a recount.

From Byrne’s wikipedia entry:

During the campaign, he was accused of supporting evolution, to which he replied, “As a Christian and as a public servant, I have never wavered in my belief that this world and everything in it is a masterpiece created by the hands of God … As a member of the Alabama Board of Education, the record clearly shows that I fought to ensure the teaching of creationism in our school text books. Those who attack me have distorted, twisted and misrepresented my comments and are spewing utter lies to the people of this state.”[14]

This is the guy the LA Times writer wants to paint as a mainstream alternative to Tea Partier he beat.

re: #16 freetoken

From Byrne’s wikipedia entry:

This is the guy the LA Times writer wants to paint as a mainstream alternative to Tea Partier he beat.

Yeah, he’s still very kooky. It’s honestly akin here to what we would have had Cucci and Bolling gone up against each other in a primary. Bolling with some exceptions such as not believing or affiliating himself with people who condemn anyone not Christian was as every bit as right wing in record as Cuccinelli is. Byrne I have no doubt will vote 97% of the same way that his opponent would have but he’s not as outright insane such as the birther nonsense. And hell that was still a tight race. If I were the CoC, I wouldn’t be patting myself on the back quite since you got a slightly less insane ideologue to beat an slightly more insane one.

I’ve watched this video four times now! Really puts a smile on my face!

I’m looking at the exit polls and I’m seeing what my earlier hypothesis suggested that a lot of people voted for Sarvis to protest McAuliffe too.

I think their next strategy is to infiltrate the democratic party as apostates and centrists.

re: #20 Amory Blaine

I think their next strategy is to infiltrate the democratic party as apostates and centrists.

Yeah good luck with that one.

re: #10 freetoken

i hear alabama is considering emerging into the 20th century soon

The GOP ran fake dems here in WI for the recall election primaries. Unapologetically I will add.

51st State: 10 of 11 counties contemplating secession from Colorado reporting: http://t.co/RxKDvnkQyB #COPolitics #COElection

— The Denver Post (@denverpost) November 6, 2013

re: #23 Amory Blaine

The GOP ran fake dems here in WI for the recall election primaries. Unapologetically I will add.

That’s really fucked up. And these people have the nerve to cry about Obama and the Dems.

re: #22 dog philosopher

i hear alabama is considering emerging into the 20th century soon

Are we talking BC or AD here?//

Good God, guys, it’s the 21st century. How long does it take to finish up 7 precincts? Are you hand counting the ballots?

re: #14 Targetpractice

Don’t know what’s taking so long on the last few districts to be counted. Last update was almost an hour ago.

somebody is getting updates

Herring not conceding AG race

Democrat Mark Herring, who trails a very close attorney general’s race in Virginia, said late Tuesday that he’s not conceding the race and suggested he might request a recount.

“The race for attorney general is razor-close, and the commonwealth has a process to make sure all the votes are counted, and we are going to make sure we go through that process,” Herring told reporters. “Right now it’s basically 50-50, and the numbers have been moving in our direction all night…”

…

Herring didn’t say specifically whether he would ask for a recount, which he can ask for if the margin is less than 1 percent.

The latest results show both Herring and Republican Mark Obenshain at 50.0 percent with 99 percent of precincts reporting. Obenshain led by less than 800 votes

washingtonpost.com

re: #27 Targetpractice

Good God, guys, it’s the 21st century. How long does it take to finish up 7 precincts? Are you hand counting the ballots?

Did he close the gap any? Wonder how big these precincts are too but damn yeah. I Want to go to sleep. In any case, I think Obensham is the front runner for running for governor in 2017 no matter if he wins or loses tonight. I don’t see him being foolish enough to run against the very popular Warner next year. I think that one will be a TP folly. Perhaps F.W JAckson will get the delusional idea that he can defeat our most popular governor in ages.

re: #28 blueraven

somebody is getting updates

washingtonpost.com

Just 800 votes? Like I said earlier, we’re likely going to see a recount regardless of who’s on top when the final result is tallied. Whoever goes to Richmond next year is doing so knowing he got less than 1% of 2M votes cast this year.

re: #28 blueraven

somebody is getting updates

washingtonpost.com

Well considering that McDonnell beat Deeds by 300 votes in 2005, he should fight it. Really hoping Herring can pull this out. Obensham may have distanced himself some from Cucci and Jackson but he make no mistake is part of the same agenda.

UPDATE: 51st state question answered “yes” in 6 of 11 counties contemplating secession: http://t.co/RxKDvnkQyB #copolitics

— The Denver Post (@denverpost) November 6, 2013

re: #30 Targetpractice

Just 800 votes? Like I said earlier, we’re likely going to see a recount regardless of who’s on top when the final result is tallied. Whoever goes to Richmond next year is doing so knowing he got less than 1% of 2M votes cast this year.

Yeah, I dont think this will be settled tonight.

Anyway…there is a chance!

G’Nite all

re: #32 teleskiguy

Secessionism is another form of immature whining. We need to working making the system function for everyone and not subdividing into 320 million soverieign citizen-states…

Scott Walker brought all of his might to bear in Virginia!

From the other day:

On Virginia trail, Scott Walker hits Terry McAuliffe on unions

One of the about 100 supporters gathered in a field in this D.C. exurb waved a “Stand with Walker” sign from last year’s recall fight.
At an earlier stop in Spotsylvania, which drew about 150, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus led the crowd in singing Walker a happy 46th birthday.
Cuccinelli trails in the polls and is the heavy underdog. The attacks on unions are part of a broader effort to motivate the conservative base for the expected very low-turnout election.

150 people.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says his budget-repair bill would leave collective bargaining “fully intact”

Pants on Fire

just saw christie’s victory speech

apparently he’s gonna run for president as a plush toy

Pull the string and watch him scream.

re: #34 Sol Berdinowitz

Secessionism is another form of immature whining. We need to working making the system function for everyone and not subdividing into 320 million soverieign citizen-states…

Secessionism: What people start crying about when they can’t win elections

re: #39 Kragar

Secessionism: What people start crying about when they can’t win elections

Secessionism: What people who have no genuine interest in compromise and actually running a government (other than what it takes to line their own pockets) make rumblings about when they don’t get their way, because it’s their ball and they’ll take it home if they want, whenever they want, damnit!

re: #40 AlexRogan

How to speak conservative
“THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN” : “I hate the United States of America.”

Priceless: in Weld County, CO, the 51st state initiative concedes defeat (via Denver Post) pic.twitter.com/ekLYuz9qea

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) November 6, 2013

re: #32 teleskiguy

Which means the question is essentially voided.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 says the minimum population for a state is 60,000.

Those six counties combined are about 25,000 to 30,000.

American Samoa and the Northern Marianas Islands are closer to the magic number for statehood.

re: #42 teleskiguy

Looks like The Last Supper.

re: #44 Amory Blaine

Looks like The Last Supper.

OMG it totally does!

Image: vtag2013.PNGVirgina AG race

Herring is leading now.

I’m thinking the voter suppression tactics crippled Democratic Turnout in Virginia.

I think I will be eating my prediction on Herring. I didn’t think He’d close the gap, let alone gain an apparent tentative lead of around 600 votes. Mind you, the Virginia Gov website still has Obenshain up by 7000, but if Huffpo has the right data, then a clean sweep of the races is an amazing result for Democrats in Virginia.

It’s likely that this will end up in the courts.

will await Cooch’s attempt to put the thumb on the scale of justice when it comes to counting votes, duplicitous, lying asshat that he is.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Pussy Riot Member, ‘Transferred To Siberia’

Jailed Pussy Riot band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova is on her way to a new penal colony in Siberia, her husband said Tuesday, following fears after two weeks without information about her whereabouts.

Tolokonnikova, 23, who alleged major prison abuses in her previous colony in central Russia, is on her way to a new prison colony deep in the Krasnoyarsk region, her husband Pyotr Verzilov wrote on Twitter, saying the information comes from a reliable source.

The penal colony number 50 in the town of Nizhny Ingash lies about 300 kilometres (185 miles) from the regional centre Krasnoyarsk, four time zones away from Moscow and sitting on Russia’s Trans-Siberian railway.

Man I hope she makes it through the winter.

re: #43 ProTARDISLiberal

Which means the question is essentially voided.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 says the minimum population for a state is 60,000.

Those six counties combined are about 25,000 to 30,000.

American Samoa and the Northern Marianas Islands are closer to the magic number for statehood.

We had a Northwest Ordinance of 1787?

George Washington wasn’t even President yet (inaugurated in 1789), and the 1st Congress hadn’t been sworn in.

re: #51 sagehen

We had a Northwest Ordinance of 1787?

George Washington wasn’t even President yet (inaugurated in 1789), and the 1st Congress hadn’t been sworn in.

Northwest Ordinance

It was created and passed initially when the US was under the Articles of Confederation, then Congress reaffirmed it and Washington signed it into law after the Constitution was in effect.

Unfortunately, it looks like the bigot won in Lewiston, ME.

He is saying he will work for everyone, but a bigot never changes his stripes. He can rot.

Secession is all they got because what are they gonna say? We’re tired of this socialist hellhole! We’re moving to Canada!

My favorite strange music video will forever be Tight Pants.

Blast rocks China Communist Party building: report

An explosion in front of a Chinese Communist Party building in the northern city of Taiyuan on Wednesday has injured one person, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing local police. A homemade bomb was the suspected cause of the blast, the report said, adding that steel beads were found scattered at the scene. The incident comes just over one week after an alleged terror attack on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, in which a passenger vehicle plowed into a crowd, killing five people and injuring dozens.

Two other big votes in CO.

Voters reject big tax hike, school finance measure Amendment 66

Read more: Voters reject big tax hike, school finance measure Amendment 66 - The Denver Post denverpost.com
Read The Denver Post’s Terms of Use of its content: denverpost.com
Follow us: @Denverpost on Twitter | Denverpost on Facebook

Not a very forward looking vote, IMHO, even if they’re saying a lot of those taxes will go to school construction.

And 25%+ in taxes on marijuana in CO? Compare that to the $2.28 per gal tax on alcohol. Cheeez, I remember $10 lids back in the day, and no, it wasn’t all Mexican dirt weed and hash was readily available, too. An illegal oz of pot already costs $200. Of course, I know people who have been paying $50 for a 1/4 for years now, but it’s primo, if illegal. Lots of people will probably continue to buy it on the black market. Haha, we always knew the profiteers would take it over and make plenty of money from its legalization, too, which is why many people preferred decriminalization so you could at least grow your own if you preferred. But the money guys always win out. However, I think there shouldn’t be any criminal penalties for any form of possession of marijuana, period.

After all, it’s just a weed, but a weed we cultivate. No different than growing anything else in the ground.

buzzfeed.com

Could this be the future of transportation?

Thorium-Fueled Automobile Engine Needs Refueling Once a Century

industrytap.com

I imagine it would be applicable to mass transportation, also.

re: #43 ProTARDISLiberal

Which means the question is essentially voided.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 says the minimum population for a state is 60,000.

Those six counties combined are about 25,000 to 30,000.

American Samoa and the Northern Marianas Islands are closer to the magic number for statehood.

Comment from 1861: South Carolina is too small to be a country and too big to be an insane asylum.

re: #57 Justanotherhuman

After all, it’s just a weed, but a weed we cultivate. No different than growing anything else in the ground.

which is why I totally vote libertarian and ignore all the other stuff that Ron Paul guys says about blacks and guns and surveillance…

re: #58 Justanotherhuman

Could this be the future of transportation?

Thorium-Fueled Automobile Engine Needs Refueling Once a Century

industrytap.com

I imagine it would be applicable to mass transportation, also.

I found articles about this idea from 2011. Here’s a more complete, and less optimistic report. slatesenergy.com

The engineering problem facing the developers is finding or building a suitable turbine to use the steam to drive the car. Convincing people that thorium (which Coleman used in its lantern mantles) is safe is another matter.

re: #10 freetoken

Continuing our coverage of how our American media is covering the elections, we go down to Alabama:

Establishment Republican beats tea party foe in Alabama primary

A victory for sanity, you might say? Well…

That’s right, the big difference was over “bipartisanship”.

Let’s take a look at the winner Byrne’s own campaign website:

Byrne runs down just the usual litany of right wing talking points. To try and differentiate him from his supposedly worse Tea Partying opponent is a forced false choice.

This is one of the problems with the current media fad of creating stories of supposedly “mainstream” Republicans versus the Tea Partiers: the Overton Window has already shifted so far to the right that the so-called “mainstream” Republicans today are far more reactionary and atavistic than the Republicans of my youth.

It used to be the GOP was a supporter of basic conservation type of environmentalism, e.g., fish quotas, the very fishing quotas that Byrne decries.

No, really—Young is worse. We’re used to sorting shit from manure in Alabama.

re: #60 Sol Berdinowitz

which is why I totally vote libertarian and ignore all the other stuff that Ron Paul guys says about blacks and guns and surveillance…

You’re kidding, right? : ) If we can grow our own food, why not our own pot?

I’ve never voted libertarian—too nutty.

re: #63 Justanotherhuman

You’re kidding, right? : ) If we can grow our own food, why not our own pot?

I’ve never voted libertarian—too nutty.

sorry, forgot the sarc tag, just commenting on all those “free weed” dudebros who have no idea what the rest of libertarian ideology is about.

and yes, I agree that what consenting adults do for fun in private and in their free time is nobody’s concern, especially not the government’s.

Is Christie the GOPs Great White Hope?

A tale of two parties: Christie offers GOP roadmap to resurgence in 2016

nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com

If women were thinking straight, they would have shunned Christie like the plague, just as they did Cuccinelli, just as gays should have. He’s no progressive, and maybe not as reactionary as a ‘bagger, but he’s no progressive, either. Check him out on the issues and also note his rather jingoistic approach to the military.

ontheissues.org

re: #65 Justanotherhuman

Is Christie the GOPs Great White Hope?

A tale of two parties: Christie offers GOP roadmap to resurgence in 2016

nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com

If women were thinking straight, they would have shunned Christie like the plague, just as they did Cuccinelli, just as gays should have. He’s no progressive, and maybe not as reactionary as a ‘bagger, but he’s no progressive, either. Check him out on the issues and also note his rather jingoistic approach to the military.

ontheissues.org

He is what Young is to Alabama - conservative but not quite reactionary. But not to worry, his own party will pick him apart and feast on his flesh before he gets very far.

re: #66 Sol Berdinowitz

He is what Young is to Alabama - conservative but not quite reactionary. But not to worry, his own party will pick him apart and feast on his flesh before he gets very far.

It would be interesting to break down the vote into demographics and see where his support came from. I don’t know much about Buono, this wasn’t my fight, but women seemed to abandon her.

Just the picture of him berating that teacher should have turned a lot of people off—but it didn’t. He’s a bully and that’s been documented a number of times.

Women have a long way to go in this country, minorities even further.

David Miranda lawyers to argue that Heathrow detention was unlawful

Partner of former Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald had his rights violated by detention, lawyers will say at high court

theguardian.com

“Miranda’s lawyers claim that the Metropolitan police misused schedule 7 and that his detention was a violation of his human rights. They have sought information about why Miranda was stopped and why his laptop, phone and electronic equipment were seized.”

Umm, maybe because your boyfriend has bragged incessantly about having files and documents stolen from the NSA by Snowden?

“A final draft of the police’s internal port circulation sheet (PCS), which formally set out the reasons for Miranda’s detention, said that “intelligence indicates that Miranda is likely to be involved” in espionage activity that had the potential to “act against the interests of UK national security”. Disclosure of the material he was carrying, it said, fell within the definition of terrorism.

“The PCS document, drawn up in consultation with the intelligence services, also said: “We assess that Miranda is knowingly carrying material, the release of which would endanger people’s lives.”

re: #66 Sol Berdinowitz

He is what Young is to Alabama - conservative but not quite reactionary. But not to worry, his own party will pick him apart and feast on his flesh before he gets very far.

Did you mean Byrne in Alabama? Young is pure nutcase theocrat.

CRAZY WINGNUT LOGIC: Why did Cooch lose? According to Prudence, he wasn’t Conservative enough! And Every Sarvis vote was a vote that should have gone to Cooch!

Sarvis vote was more Anti RINO….if GOP doesn't get on board with Teaparty, #GOP well have more Virginia results #2014 “PERIOD” #tcot #VA

— Prudence (@dennygirltwo) November 6, 2013

Women’s health was the defining issue in this race, and women decided this election. Thank you. #VAgov #keepkenout pic.twitter.com/berNRCDw40

— Planned Parenthood (@PPact) November 6, 2013

re: #70 Vicious Babushka

CRAZY WINGNUT LOGIC: Why did Cooch lose? According to Prudence, he wasn’t Conservative enough! And Every Sarvis vote was a vote that should have gone to Cooch!

[Embedded content]

I’ve read hundreds of Freep and other RW comments overnight—bottom line is “They didn’t learn.” That’s a consequence of the tighter-than-expected VA count.

re: #67 Justanotherhuman

It would be interesting to break down the vote into demographics and see where his support came from. I don’t know much about Buono, this wasn’t my fight, but women seemed to abandon her.

Just the picture of him berating that teacher should have turned a lot of people off—but it didn’t. He’s a bully and that’s been documented a number of times.

Women have a long way to go in this country, minorities even further.

He has a lot of name recognition, and a well-cultivated image of being a “moderate” (at least by modern GOP standards)

I admired him for standing up to the Islamophobes who gave him a hard time for a Muslim judicial appointment.

But his overall record is another matter.

We are so fucked.

Concentrations of warming gases breaks record

bbc.co.uk

“According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), atmospheric CO2 grew more rapidly last year than its average rise over the past decade.

“Concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide also broke previous records

“Thanks to carbon dioxide and these other gases, the WMO says the warming effect on our climate has increased by almost a third since 1990.”

re: #73 Sol Berdinowitz

He has a lot of name recognition, and a well-cultivated image of being a “moderate” (at least by modern GOP standards)

I admired him for standing up to the Islamophobes who gave him a hard time for a Muslim judicial appointment.

But his overall record is another matter.

Yes, he does a little here, a little there, just to keep people’s interest and to make it appear he’s more progressive than he really is.

Unfortunately, most people don’t think about these things from one day to the next, nor bother to look at a candidate’s entire record.

Huh, woke up to find out that Republicans swept the county council and the executive. So weird to watch the whole country going the other direction whilst a historically Democratic county swings the other way.

Aging suburbia is going to be a tough nut to crack for Democrats.

But the historically Republican county next door elected a Democrat (a former Republican vs a tea party type!) for executive, so something interesting is happening out there.

re: #74 Justanotherhuman

I just realized that that 33% increase in greenhouse gases happened from the year that my g-son was born. He is 23 yrs old now. I wonder what his son will face at his age; I doubt I’ll be around, but I’m already in mourning for them.

I’ve been fighting this since the early 70s, esp on a personal level of limited consumption, driving a small car, etc., and we’re no better off.

re: #78 Justanotherhuman

I’ve been fighting this since the early 70s, esp on a personal level of limited consumption, driving a small car, etc., and we’re no better off.

King Canute fought against the rising tide on a personal level, too…

But serioulsy, it has to start with basic education, starting with education on what science is and how it works: how scientists treat statistical evidence and come to findings and reach consensus.

As long as people are ill-educated on those topics, they will be open to the half-baked arguments as offered by the Koch brothers.

This is so fucking sad. And exactly what Republicans want for us. Jail, not help. This woman was struggling, and ashamed of her predicament.

Mom leaves for jail and leaves kids home alone, report says

wbtv.com

“Neighbors up and down the street say Robin Kearns kept to herself. They note her kids always seemed well-mannered, going to school and playing in the yard.

“I’ve never seen them arguing or fighting or anything,” said Toomer.

“Since she was usually inside, neighbors didn’t notice Kearns was gone and the kids were inside the home alone.”

The kids are 14, 11 and 6.

Another off election, another couple libraries get their funding slashed.

Reason #1,000,000,1 the American educational system is failing. Well to do families keep moving into “good” school districts and invariably vote to cut the tax base and school taxes. It’s like clockwork.

This involves the same issues discussed in Sol’s comment above,

re: #81 Aqua Obama

Another off election, another couple libraries get their funding slashed.

Reason #1,000,000,1 the American educational system is failing. Well to do families keep moving into “good” school districts and invariably vote to cut the tax base and school taxes. It’s like clockwork.

This involves the same issues discussed in Sol’s comment above,

In an otherwise boring election (in which the mayor, city clerk & treasurer all ran unopposed) citizens voted to uphold the school millage.

re: #79 Sol Berdinowitz

King Canute fought against the rising tide on a personal level, too…

Not what I meant. Everyone should fight on a personal level as well as politically, in groups, etc. I do what I think is socially responsible on a personal level all the time.

re: #80 Justanotherhuman

This is so fucking sad. And exactly what Republicans want for us. Jail, not help. This woman was struggling, and ashamed of her predicament.

Mom leaves for jail and leaves kids home alone, report says

wbtv.com

“Neighbors up and down the street say Robin Kearns kept to herself. They note her kids always seemed well-mannered, going to school and playing in the yard.

“I’ve never seen them arguing or fighting or anything,” said Toomer.

“Since she was usually inside, neighbors didn’t notice Kearns was gone and the kids were inside the home alone.”

The kids are 14, 11 and 6.

And nobody asked about her kids when she was sentenced? What a fucked-up, malicious, punishment and revenge-oriented justice system we have: one that completely mirrors a lot of the sentiment behind the people who put it in place and maintain it.

People have been conditioned to hate taxes. I understand because the tax burden has shifted downward for 30 years. They can be conditioned to promote it shifting upward.

re: #85 Amory Blaine

People have been conditioned to hate taxes. I understand because the tax burden has shifted downward for 30 years. They can be conditioned to promote it shifting upward.

I find that difficult as those at the upper end of the tax brackets fashion themselves to be Job Kreators and still successfully sell the trickle-down ideology to the masses

re: #82 Vicious Babushka

In an otherwise boring election (in which the mayor, city clerk & treasurer all ran unopposed) citizens voted to uphold the school millage.

Wish I could say the same. An entire township decided to forego the library tax and another turned down a .02 mill increase to fund one. Townships that (theoretically) have plenty of money.

But, it’s encouraging that there’s some positive movement happening out there… it can tell you a lot about an area…

Christie is tied to the abortion/rape wand crowd. No chance against Hillary. IMHO

re: #87 Aqua Obama

When I lived in Louisville, Ky., the library tax came up several times and was defeated several times. It puzzles me no end why people think libraries are expendable, or can survive on slim budgets. Books wear out, and new ones are not cheap. Nor are DVDs, CDs, computers, electricity, staff, and all the other expenses it takes to run a good library.

Sample of delicious wingnut tears:

Hey #GOP @Reince - YOU did NOTHING to help Cuccinelli in #VA in the #VAGOV race. NO MORE MONEY FOR YOU! YOU ARE OFF MY LIST!

— David Aaron Batten(TM) (@dmbatten) November 6, 2013

#VAgov race left over half the state very unhappy this morning. Majority lost.

— Just me (@reluctantzealot) November 6, 2013

Enjoy the out of control spending and higher taxes, Virginia. You deserve it. #VAGov

— Hair (@SHannitysHair) November 6, 2013

After being stabbed in the back by the #RINO #republicans, it is amazing how close @KenCuccinelli has kept this race. #vagop #vagov #tcot

— Tea Party Nation (@teapartynation) November 6, 2013

Reality worth remembering: if you voted for Sarvis, you voted for McCauliffe and #Obamacare, whether you meant to or not. #breitbart #tcot

— Heather R. Higgins (@TheHRH) November 6, 2013

When you give voters free shit so they will vote for you, you get millions on foodstamps who are not really hungry or needy. #cspanchat FAIL

— Dr. Helldigger (@drhelldigger) November 6, 2013

Fucking pluralities—how do they work?

Conservative (Inspite of @GOP RINOs) & Libertarian Take 53% As Dem Steals #VAGov With 47% http://t.co/DMmvyWX1yY #tcot #tiot

— Tea Party FTL (@TeaPartyFTL) November 6, 2013

re: #92 Vicious Babushka

Fucking pluralities—how do they work?

Math is hard!

Off election years our local wingnut radio hosts rile up their local rubes about library, school, etc. referendums.

If they keep their downward national trend, these off year elections will be a good way to maintain power.

Having glanced through the rantings of the Freepers, the Breitbrats, etc., my take on it is they’re still peddling their “Conservatism didn’t fail - it can only be failed” happy horseshit.

I’m starting to think that even an electoral drubbing a la Walter Mondale won’t be enough to make them part with their delusions.

What? Are these 2 trying to say that Miranda is a journalist and the papers he was in possession of weren’t stolen from the US govt?

Yikes. Yes. MT @SMaurizi: Police doc on @ggreenwald partner David Miranda is chilling for EVERY journalist http://t.co/Dj3trM77wJ

— Jose Pagliery (@Jose_Pagliery) November 6, 2013

What was a Brazilian national doing with secret US files?

What were Poitras and Greenwald doing with them?

You can’t paper over a crime when it’s not your “right” to have possession of something that has been stolen. It’s just adding one more crime to the original one.

re: #91 Vicious Babushka

When you give voters free shit so they will vote for you, you get millions on foodstamps who are not really hungry or needy

When you give corporations tax breaks and subsidies, they will contribute to you, you get an economy that produces profits but creates no jobs at a living wage

For every dollar an employee receives from SNAP, one dollar less in tax breaks for the company.

re: #98 Amory Blaine

For every dollar an employee receives from SNAP, one dollar less in tax breaks for the company.

A lot of these companies use tax law to pay little or nothing at all in the first place.

Looks like the Virginia AG’s race is a toss-up, with the possibility of a recount in the immediate future. Currently, Herring (D) has a 541 vote lead out of 2.2 million votes cast over Obenshain (R).

washingtonpost.com

re: #100 Dr Lizardo

Looks like the Virgina AG’s race is a toss-up, with the possibility of a recount in the immediate future. Currently, Herring (D) has a 541 vote lead out of 2.2 million votes cast over Obenshain (R).

washingtonpost.com

That’s good news for Herring. McDonnell won AG by 300 votes back in 2005. That pesky little fact aside though, really glad Herring may pull this out. I actually like him the most of any Dem on the ticket. So if him and now that Northam’s won, the Dem Party here has two guys who have one statewide now.

re: #101 HappyWarrior

That’s good news for Herring. McDonnell won AG by 300 votes back in 2005. That pesky little fact aside though, really glad Herring may pull this out. I actually like him the most of any Dem on the ticket. So if him and now that Northam’s won, the Dem Party here has two guys who have one statewide now.

Yep. I wonder who that lunatic E.W. Jackson is going to blame for his rather spectacular defeat?

re: #102 Dr Lizardo

Yep. I wonder who that lunatic E.W. Jackson is going to blame for his rather spectacular defeat?

SATAN!!!!!!!!

re: #102 Dr Lizardo

Yep. I wonder who that lunatic E.W. Jackson is going to blame for his rather spectacular defeat?

The media? Probably some crap about how the media “vilified” him for being a Christian.

re: #103 Vicious Babushka

SATAN!!!!!!!!

But of course.

re: #104 HappyWarrior

The media? Probably some crap about how the media persecuted him for being a Christian.

That wouldn’t surprise me either. The fellow struck me as a total loonie.

This person is completely batshit insane==>

If you want your constitution you can't keep it unless you fight for it. I mean fight, the old fashioned way. #tcot #p2 #ccot #pjnet #lnyhbt

— Andi Benghazi Silver (@andilinks) November 6, 2013

The #gop prefers communism to 1776 America, just like the libs they are afraid to admit they are communists. #tcot #p2 #ccot #pjnet #lnyhbt

— Andi Benghazi Silver (@andilinks) November 6, 2013

The Alinsky crowd are prima facie cheaters, it is their philosophy to cheat… Assume they did, make them prove they didn't. @bettered #tcot

— Andi Benghazi Silver (@andilinks) November 6, 2013

Wow, he may actually win…
vpap.org
Cool beans.

The nominating convention that the state GOP here now though effectively means that the GOP will be more likely to nominate these types of candidates. Perhaps E.W Jackson who actually ran for the nomination for Senate last year against Tim Kaine will run for Senate against Mark Warner and lose every county in the state.

Shorter Andi Links:
HURR HURR!! ALINSKY!!!! COMMUNISTS!!!! BENGHAZI!!!!

This was just another day in modern Virginia politics. The candidate that presents himself as a reasonable moderate voice is going to win most of the time. Sorry cons that we’re not the state the spawned Harry Flood Byrd anymore. I’m honestly surprised that they haven’t blamed the minority vote yet. Apparently when McDonnell won four years ago, 22% of that electorate was non white, last night it was 29%. Maybe you guys should stop alienating people with an inclusive message?

re: #107 Vicious Babushka

This person is completely batshit insane==>

[Embedded content]

Sure that makes as much sense as conservatives being afraid to admit that they’re actually Fascists. For crying out loud, I get not liking McAuliffe but he’s not a communist. Hell he’s even been criticized for and I don’t disagree with the criticism for taking his business to Mississippi because he had a personal friendship with Haley Barbour.

re: #112 HappyWarrior

Sure that makes as much sense as conservatives being afraid to admit that they’re actually Fascists. For crying out loud, I get not liking McAuliffe but he’s not a communist. Hell he’s even been criticized for and I don’t disagree with the criticism for taking his business to Mississippi because he had a personal friendship with Haley Barbour.

HURR HURR UR A COMMUNIST!!!!1!!!! is a standard wingnut response to anyone who tries to engage in a conversation on Twitter. I think they have studied Alinsky with more devotion than any liberal who ever lived, including Alinsky himself and people who knew him.

re: #111 HappyWarrior

This was just another day in modern Virginia politics. The candidate that presents himself as a reasonable moderate voice is going to win most of the time. Sorry cons that we’re not the state the spawned Harry Flood Byrd anymore. I’m honestly surprised that they haven’t blamed the minority vote yet. Apparently when McDonnell won four years ago, 22% of that electorate was non white, last night it was 29%. Maybe you guys should stop alienating people with an inclusive message?

Actually, some have, as this example from FR will illustrate:

They are a generation of GOD hating, tattooed feminazi baby murderers and sluts… not all… just most. I see them every day. I have friends that have daughters and they have to limit who their daughters hang around with and they have to reeducate them daily from their public school indoctrination. Virginia will burn in hell for this treason… not the good people who did the right thing but those that voted for evil or voted for the liberaltarian or didn’t vote at all. Might I suggest Sunblock 20,000 for those so condemned.

re: #114 Dr Lizardo

Actually, some have, as this example from FR will illustrate:

They are a generation of GOD hating, tattooed feminazi baby murderers and sluts… not all… just most. I see them every day. I have friends that have daughters and they have to limit who their daughters hang around with and they have to reeducate them daily from their public school indoctrination. Virginia will burn in hell for this treason… not the good people who did the right thing but those that voted for evil or voted for the liberaltarian or didn’t vote at all. Might I suggest Sunblock 20,000 for those so condemned.

Lol. Bring it.

The crazy, it goes up to eleven.

re: #113 Vicious Babushka

HURR HURR UR A COMMUNIST!!!!1!!!! is a standard wingnut response to anyone who tries to engage in a conversation on Twitter. I think they have studied Alinsky with more devotion than any liberal who ever lived, including Alinsky himself and people who knew him.

Being a former English minor, I actually got Alinsky mixed with another Chicago Saul, Saul Bellow.

U know its a bad day for the #teaparty when you get wiped out in elections across the US & ur standard bearer gets fired by the Wash. Times.

— Mitch Stewart (@Mitch_Stewart) November 6, 2013

re: #61 wheat-dogghazi

I found articles about this idea from 2011. Here’s a more complete, and less optimistic report. slatesenergy.com

The engineering problem facing the developers is finding or building a suitable turbine to use the steam to drive the car. Convincing people that thorium (which Coleman used in its lantern mantles) is safe is another matter.

It has “Thor” in its name, so it must be a god-like element!
/ ;)

re: #114 Dr Lizardo

Actually, some have, as this example from FR will illustrate:

They are a generation of GOD hating, tattooed feminazi baby murderers and sluts… not all… just most. I see them every day. I have friends that have daughters and they have to limit who their daughters hang around with and they have to reeducate them daily from their public school indoctrination. Virginia will burn in hell for this treason… not the good people who did the right thing but those that voted for evil or voted for the liberaltarian or didn’t vote at all. Might I suggest Sunblock 20,000 for those so condemned.

That seems more an attack on the youth than the fact that Virginia’s diversity though. LOL at the tatttooed feminazi sluts. Tattoos are most common on the actually more conservative Gen-X and shockingly from what I see in Exit polls, McAuliffe did his best not with 18-29 year olds but with 30-43 year olds.

re: #92 Vicious Babushka

Fucking pluralities—how do they work?

[Embedded content]

Some people consider no result legitimate other than the one they were seeking. Those people are called “douchecanoes”.

Dear #GOP, One lesson from yesterday to take to Nov. 2014…you need to step a little further to the right. Thank you, #America.

— Sean McCabe (@darthstar99) November 6, 2013

re: #116 Amory Blaine

The crazy, it goes up to eleven.

If the GOP loses the House in the 2014 midterms the crazy may well go up to twelve. Maybe even more.

Lol.
Hey wingnuts, did you know Sarvis supports gay marriage?

re: #120 HappyWarrior

That seems more an attack on the youth than the fact that Virginia’s diversity though. LOL at the tatttooed feminazi sluts. Tattoos are most common on the actually more conservative Gen-X and shockingly from what I see in Exit polls, McAuliffe did his best not with 18-29 year olds but with 30-43 year olds.

Yep. As the GOP dwindles ever further into a Fundamentalist, White Nationalist party, I expect we’ll see more of this sort of thing, though.

Terry McAuliffe Win Disproves Media Myth Of #NRA's Electoral Dominance http://t.co/2Kj1siRQFt

— Sean McCabe (@darthstar99) November 6, 2013

re: #87 Aqua Obama

Wish I could say the same. An entire township decided to forego the library tax and another turned down a .02 mill increase to fund one. Townships that (theoretically) have plenty of money.

But, it’s encouraging that there’s some positive movement happening out there… it can tell you a lot about an area…

Only poor moochers need libraries!

Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area where Christie and deBlasio won by landslides for different reasons, and one of the few contested races in our area was for State Senate, where my current State Senator, Bob Gordon appears to be heading to a 2,000+ vote win, though it hasn’t been called yet over Fernando Alonso.

Leave it to CNN to try and draw conclusions from the larger races, and come to boneheaded ones.

It doesn’t take reading tea leaves to see Gov. Christie is looking ahead to 2016. The 60% win is significant, and he won across all demographics in a state that is reliably Democratic leaning in national elections. But does anyone think he’s going to survive GOP primaries with attacks for being a RINO and standing alongside Pres. Obama? What would help in the general election in getting moderates/independents works against him in the primaries where the rabid socon (and I repeat myself) view him as an interloper.

If Obamacare really mattered in the VA governor’s race, and support for repeal was so strong, Cuccinelli would have won (there’s pretty much no one in the country who was calling for its repeal and/or unconstitutionality than the guy who was among the people litigating the case to the Supreme Court). Opponents to the ACA turned out in droves for him, and it wasn’t enough.

Womens’ rights matter. So does GOP policies that are for small government so small to fit inside vajayjays and in bedrooms (reinstating sodomy laws were part of Cuccinelli’s platform, even as the US S.Ct. rejected a bid by him to reinstate portions previously voided in the state).

The NYC mayor’s race isn’t a bellweather for anything - even inside NYC. Bloomberg is gone after January. He tweaked the term limits law to get a 3d term (just barely in fact), and overstayed his welcome. Democrats turned GOPers have essentially won in NYC for 20 years - and now a true-blue Democrat is about to take the helm with support across all demographics. He’s made lots of promises and I doubt he’ll be able to do any of them - especially the tax hike on rich to pay for universal pre-k.

DeBlasio’s going to have to deal with expiring contracts with multiple unions, infrastructure that needs to be fixed (especially subways subjected to Sandy), a laundry list of projects that ought to be funded, and prioritizing a city budget that rivals those of many states (NYC has a population (8+ million: larger than 37/38 of the 50). Lots of challenges, and that’s not even touching on stop and frisk and reaching underserved communities.

re: #117 HappyWarrior

Better Call Saul.

re: #124 Varek Raith

Lol.
Hey wingnuts, did you know Sarvis supports gay marriage?

He very strongly supports it. That actually has some of them saying that he’s not a real libertarian. I don’t like where Sarvis stood on economic issues but I give him props for that and actually looking at gay marriage the same way I do. In his case and my brother’s case, their marriages would have been illegal before Loving. I believe Mr. Sarvis himself is half-Chinese and his wife is African-American. They’re pissed off in otherwords that the Libertarian candidate actually was a libertarian.

re: #109 HappyWarrior

The nominating convention that the state GOP here now though effectively means that the GOP will be more likely to nominate these types of candidates. Perhaps E.W Jackson who actually ran for the nomination for Senate last year against Tim Kaine will run for Senate against Mark Warner and lose every county in the state.

And that right there is what Cuccinelli should be cursed for by Republicans. Conventions and caucuses attract only the the very most committed of a party, and those people are often out of step with most of their state. Hence they may not know or not care that they are nominating someone who can’t win.

Primaries are more expensive, but they are a better vetting for the general election. They also give the a party’s money men a chance to block out crazies by funding someone more acceptable.

re: #126 darthstar

@darthstar99 I wonder how much Michael Bloomberg paid David Brock's people to say that.

— Kurt Akemann (@Dark_Falcon7) November 6, 2013

re: #131 Dark_Falcon

And that right there is what Cuccinelli should be cursed for by Republicans. Conventions and caucuses attract only the the very most committed of a party, and those people are often out of step with most of their state. Hence they may not know or not care that they are nominating someone who can’t win.

Primaries are more expensive, but they are a better vetting for the general election. They also give the a party’s money men a chance to block out crazies by funding someone more acceptable.

Well do well to remember that this state GOP almost did nominate Bob “babies with Down Syndrome are God’s punishment for abortion” Marshall for Senate five years ago. There’s loads of problems but make no mistake, the problem with the Virginia GOP is instead of having reasonable men like John Warner, Tom Davis, and Linwood Holton as its leaders, they’re been replaced with people like Cuccinelli, Jackson, and the aforementioned Marshall. It is through your party’s action that my state has gone from reliably red to purple. But I’ll tell you what, even if they had the primary, Bolling would have still lost the primary.

YES, WORRYING SIGNS FOR DEMOCRATS IN SWEEP OF STATEWIDE OFFICES IN OFF-OFF YEAR ELECTION W TERRY MCAULLIFFE AT TOP OF TICKET!

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) November 6, 2013

Thats sad. The test of love is not in how they act but in how we react RT @stigma_bin: @SenTedCruz I don't want a world where Ted Cruz is in

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) November 6, 2013

re: #128 lawhawk

DeBlasio’s going to have to deal with expiring contracts with multiple unions, infrastructure that needs to be fixed (especially subways subjected to Sandy), a laundry list of projects that ought to be funded, and prioritizing a city budget that rivals those of many states (NYC has a population (8+ million: larger than 37/38 of the 50). Lots of challenges, and that’s not even touching on stop and frisk and reaching underserved communities.

The unions will demand big, fat raises and De Blasio will have to oblige. Much of the monies any tax increase will generate will go to pay for the new union contracts, thus proving Scott Walker’s point about public sector unions.

re: #134 darthstar

[Embedded content]

Hahaha seriously. The Dems weren’t even able to do this the year they had Mark Warner at the top of the ballot in 2001.

re: #136 Dark_Falcon

The unions will demand big, fat raises and De Blasio will have to oblige. Much of the monies any tax increase will generate will go to pay for the new union contracts, thus proving Scott Walker’s point about public sector unions.

One, the contracts have yet to be negotiated.
Two, Walker’s hatred of anyone who does real work while in Government has never been right and is gutting this state. It hurts their narrative against government when state, county and municipal workers are more efficient and productive than the thieves they want to give privatization contracts to.

re: #136 Dark_Falcon

UNION THUGS!!!11ty

/eyeroll

And, DF, don’t take it wrong but BBL because I have a date with a 9mm & a shooting range ;)

So, have the RWNJs informed us yet that a Democratic victory in a red state is actually a bad sign for the Dems for 2014?

re: #136 Dark_Falcon

The unions will demand big, fat raises and De Blasio will have to oblige. Much of the monies any tax increase will generate will go to pay for the new union contracts, thus proving Scott Walker’s point about public sector unions.

Union Members…just look at them destroying our economy…#VoteBlue #UniteBlue #GetOutTheUnionVote pic.twitter.com/Hyf3aXd9rs

— diane straub (@didikins4life) November 5, 2013

re: #140 William Barnett-Lewis

And, DF, don’t take it wrong but BBL because I have a date with a 9mm & a shooting range ;)

Meh, doesn’t bother me a bit. Have fun!

re: #136 Dark_Falcon

DeBlasio does not have to oblige. The unions, particularly the transit union, is already offering up some concessions on work rules, and we’ve all seen how transit keeps the city running - they got the city running after Sandy faster than anyone would have imagined and are dealing with the cleanup still.

A top union official said Local 100’s leadership has put forth its own set of money-saving proposals and isn’t interested in “broadbanding,” or the merging job titles, which would would lead to a smaller work force.

“We have supported Transit in the past when it replaced booth agents with ones that roam the station,” he said. “It makes for a safer, more welcoming subway. But the sad truth is that the move outside was soon followed by a reduction in station staffing. The question for Transit is how does it restore its credibility here?”

Local 100’s latest list of contract proposals include extending the time it takes a newly hired worker to reach the top pay rate from three to five years, and requiring new hires to pay 2% of base pay for healthcare. Transit workers now pay 1.5% for coverage.

Instead of another three-year contract, Local 100 is proposing a five-year agreement with annual raises between 3% and 4%. It also wants protective partitions on all buses within two years and four weeks maternity leave.

re: #136 Dark_Falcon

The unions will demand big, fat raises and De Blasio will have to oblige. Much of the monies any tax increase will generate will go to pay for the new union contracts, thus proving Scott Walker’s point about public sector unions.

Yeah Walker’s dealing with the unions was just the public sector unions being unreasonable. If telling yourself that makes you feel better. The fact of the matter is those unions were willing to budge but Walker wanted to take away their right to even collectively bargain and then he and his allies attacked teachers.

Christie to campaign only w/Republicans who oppose gay marriage, not those who want to totally ban anal #BalancingAct http://t.co/cJy0jqISnf

— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) November 6, 2013

re: #144 lawhawk

DeBlasio does not have to oblige. The unions, particularly the transit union, is already offering up some concessions on work rules, and we’ve all seen how transit keeps the city running - they got the city running after Sandy faster than anyone would have imagined and are dealing with the cleanup still.

Way to bust the uncooperative union meme myth.

re: #138 William Barnett-Lewis

One, the contracts have yet to be negotiated.
Two, Walker’s hatred of anyone who does real work while in Government has never been right and is gutting this state. It hurts their narrative against government when state, county and municipal workers are more efficient and productive than the thieves they want to give privatization contracts to.

Was it over when the Unions bombed Pearl Harbor? NO!

re: #141 Dr. Matt

So, has the RWNJs informed us yet that a Democratic victory in a red state is actually a bad sign for the Dems for 2014?

Repeatedly last night. They haven’t quite settled on a talking point yet, but they seem to be slowly coalescing around “Obamacare is dragging Democrats down!” and asserting the proof is that Cucci did better than polled.

re: #146 darthstar

[Embedded content]

I am glad he didn’t. Weird thing I discovered last night but Mudcat Saunders, southwest Virginia political adviser who advised Mark Warner, Jim Webb, and later worked on Edwards’ 2008 campaign actually endorsed Cuccinelli. I mean as I said, I get not liking McAuliffe and his style though I find it funny that he has a problem with Terry for being corporate when Mark Warner is very corporate like.

So where is all the whinging coming from? Oh yeah…

Interest in Obamacare rises despite website problems: Reuters/Ipsos poll

reuters.com

(Reuters) - Uninsured Americans are showing more interest in the coverage offered under President Barack Obama’s healthcare law despite technical problems that have hindered enrollment through a government website, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

“The glitches have crippled HealthCare.gov, the new online insurance marketplace meant to serve people in 36 states, frustrating millions of would-be applicants since it opened for enrollment on October 1.

“The poll’s findings are good news for Obamacare supporters who worry the problems and bad press could dissuade people from signing up, particularly the young and healthy who are crucial to diversifying the pool of insured and keeping premiums down.”

re: #149 Targetpractice

Repeatedly last night. They haven’t quite settled on a talking point yet, but they seem to be slowly coalescing around “Obamacare is dragging Democrats down!” and asserting the proof is that Cucci did better than polled.

There also seems to be a notion that all of Sarvis’ votes should be awarded to Cuccinelli.

re: #152 Vicious Babushka

There also seems to be a notion that all of Sarvis’ votes should be awarded to Cuccinelli.

To which this Sarvis voter says Ha!

re: #152 Vicious Babushka

There also seems to be a notion that all of Sarvis’ votes should be awarded to Cuccinelli.

Yeah, they’re combining his total with Cucci’s and declaring it proof that a majority of VA voters wanted a Republican governor.

re: #154 Targetpractice

Yeah, they’re combining his total with Cucci’s and declaring it proof that a majority of VA voters wanted a Republican governor.

HURR HURR!!

Obama Donation Bundler backed Libertarian candidate to split votes in tight race. http://t.co/HtXFRh0uwb @HOUSEofCIN #teaparty #UniteBlue

— Irritated.Goldfish (@Gondien) November 6, 2013

re: #154 Targetpractice

Yeah, they’re combining his total with Cucci’s and declaring it proof that a majority of VA voters wanted a Republican governor.

And at the same time whining about Sarvis having socially libertarian positions , you know being upset that Sarvis actually is a Libertarian, not a libertarian like Glenn Beck.

Dan Stewart: “I was flattered when I heard Rand Paul plagiarized me, though a bit less when I heard how many other people he plagiarized.”

— Top Conservative Cat (@TeaPartyCat) November 6, 2013

re: #155 Vicious Babushka

HURR HURR!!

[Embedded content]

i didn’t see them being pissed when the RNC actually openly worked to get Nader on the ballot. Hell though, it’s a free country. Why the hell should we had to be forced to pick between a douche and a turd sandwich?

HURR HURR

.@MunichEleven: @cgpb Virginia - the new #Obamaville >> pic.twitter.com/OxNaooTbmH #uniteblue

— Carmen G Pastor (@cgpb) November 6, 2013

re: #159 Vicious Babushka

HURR HURR

[Embedded content]

Wait, what’s the wingnut issue with daycare?

Christie’s short coattails will sure raise eyebrows. He won by 20 points but Democrats retained control in the legislature - holding all their seats in the Senate, and maybe losing 2 seats in the Assembly.

That’s a critical issue if Christie wants to position himself nationally. It speaks to New Jerseyans’ view of Christie as a leader, but find the positions taken by the rest of the party as major suckage.

re: #149 Targetpractice

Repeatedly last night. They haven’t quite settled on a talking point yet, but they seem to be slowly coalescing around “Obamacare is dragging Democrats down!” and asserting the proof is that Cucci did better than polled.

Ah. I like that one. Makes perfect sense…you know, the first time the Democrats simultaneously held the VA governorship and White House in decades is actually an indicator of bad things to come.

I do love that they’re calling Sarvis a plant for the Dems. The man actually tried to get the nomination to run as a Republican to run against the then Dem majority leader in the Virginia State Senate. Maybe just maybe conservatives not every Virginian who leans right on the economy loves so-con wackos like Cuccinelli. I’m solidly left of center on economics and social issues but unlike Jim DeMint, I don’t believe you you have to be economically left of center or right of center to be socially left of center.

re: #160 Ian G.

Wait, what’s the wingnut issue with daycare?

HURR HURR MOTHERS IS LEAVIN THERE CHILDRENS WITH STRANGERS SO THEY CAN GO OUT AN TAKE AWAY A MAN’S JRRB!!!!1!!!!! THEY SHOULD STAY HOME WITH THERE CHILLRENS!!!!!

re: #152 Vicious Babushka

There also seems to be a notion that all of Sarvis’ votes should be awarded to Cuccinelli.

Sarcasm?

re: #160 Ian G.

Wait, what’s the wingnut issue with daycare?

Well in the picture, it’s a DNC HQ. They’re implying that day care will indoctrinate the kiddies. Because you know sharing and respecting others is tyranny.

re: #144 lawhawk

DeBlasio does not have to oblige. The unions, particularly the transit union, is already offering up some concessions on work rules, and we’ve all seen how transit keeps the city running - they got the city running after Sandy faster than anyone would have imagined and are dealing with the cleanup still.

I’m not sure I agree with the size of those raises, since they’re pretty large and might be problematic budget wise. The rest of the things the transit workers want are reasonable, given the work they did during Hurricane Sandy. The pay raises may need to be adjusted downward a bit, but I’d say that at base THAT particular union is putting forth demands equal to its accomplishments.

My statement about public sector unions may be considered withdrawn when it comes to NYC’s transit workers at the curent time.

The daycare is next to the abortion clinic.

re: #165 Dr. Matt

Sarcasm?

Not really, there’s this belief that if not for Sarvis, Cuccinelli would have won but the actual exit polls strongly dispute that. Sarvis’s I think got a lot of votes because I think he was able to tap into why people didn’t like the two candidates here. Whether it was Cuccinelli being a lunatic or McAulifffe being a falke.

re: #166 HappyWarrior

Well in the picture, it’s a DNC HQ. They’re implying that day care will indoctrinate the kiddies. Because you know sharing and respecting others is tyranny.

At least there’s gambling and booze at the end of the strip mall…so we can fund raise off Republicans.

politico.com

For many (not all, but many), the label “libertarian” is just a way to make a more odious worldview more acceptable in public. Thus it is with Ron Paul, a white supremacist secessionist who has wrapped all that up in the “libertarian” label. Well, the mask has really come off of late, between this stumping for a candidate right out of Franco’s Spain, and the John C. Calhoun rhetoric. The sad part is that so many apparently honest people fell for his bullshit hook, line, and sinker.

On the plus side, his dunce of a son lacks the intelligence and self-awareness to hide his neo-confederate sympathies. Nobody will make the same mistake with Rand.

re: #168 Amory Blaine

The daycare is next to the abortion clinic.

At the Republican strip mall the Church is next to the gun store.

re: #172 Dark_Falcon

At the Republican strip mall the Church is next to the gun store.

Why not just make the church and the gun store one and the same?

Image: jesus-gun-wwjd41.jpg

re: #172 Dark_Falcon

At the Republican strip mall the Church is next to the gun store.

Praise the lord and pass the ammunition.

//

re: #161 lawhawk

Christie’s short coattails will sure raise eyebrows. He won by 20 points but Democrats retained control in the legislature - holding all their seats in the Senate, and maybe losing 2 seats in the Assembly.

That’s a critical issue if Christie wants to position himself nationally. It speaks to New Jerseyans’ view of Christie as a leader, but find the positions taken by the rest of the party as major suckage.

I think what it is they genuinely like him as a person and are willing to overlook his positions. At the same time, I think many of them see him as a good governor but don’t think he’d make a great president. I mean the guy’s at his ultimate political zenith in NJ and he still would lose to Clinton in an election there. I dunno. I’m not from New Jersey so I don’t understand New Jersey political dynamics.

re: #173 Ian G.

Why not just make the church and the gun store one and the same?

Image: jesus-gun-wwjd41.jpg

Bit too commercial for the church. Need to keep up appearances, you know.

re: #170 darthstar

At least there’s gambling and booze at the end of the strip mall…so we can fund raise off Republicans.

True.

re: #167 Dark_Falcon

Their salaries have largely been frozen since the contracts expired - some for several years. 3-4% raises means that they’re getting just above the rate of inflation, so they’re not exactly outsized raises, and they correspond to what many in the private sector are getting.

They’re not asking for 5% raises, which is a tactic they’ve taken in previous talks, so they’re much closer to where they’re going to end up. I see 3% being probable, along with other concessions while beefing up protections for bus drivers. Maternity leave is a no brainer.

re: #167 Dark_Falcon

Serious question: You are the most anti-union person I have come across (online or otherwise). Where did this position come from? Was your father a union person who got screwed? Or did he do battle with the unions while you were growing up?

My wife dealt with strike threats, protests, etc. all last season. I regularly interact with people dealing first hand with some unreasonable union demands, and none of them are as vehemently anti-union as you project yourself to be.

re: #175 HappyWarrior

I think what it is they genuinely like him as a person and are willing to overlook his positions. At the same time, I think many of them see him as a good governor but don’t think he’d make a great president. I mean the guy’s at his ultimate political zenith in NJ and he still would lose to Clinton in an election there. I dunno. I’m not from New Jersey so I don’t understand New Jersey political dynamics.

Many of the Democrats who voted for Christie in 2009 and now in 2013 see him as the man who can fix problems for the Garden State. They remain Democrats and vote for Dems for other offices, but last night they felt that Christie has done good enough work to warrant retention.

I’ll state the obvious: Christie won because the Democratic candidate simply sucked.

McDonalds waited 13 years for y'all to forget about this. Enjoy your 'Mighty Wings' everyone. pic.twitter.com/09vvbxkT8j

— IG: BlackMigo_Quese (@BlackMigo_Quese) November 5, 2013

re: #182 darthstar

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And with that, I thank you for the reminder of why I am glad I don’t do fast food as much as I used to.

re: #181 Dr. Matt

Combination of awful candidate, and Christie remaining popular after showing leadership during and after Sandy (undermined by his unflagging support of NJ Transit leaders that decided to flood out its rail fleet on purpose).

re: #9 goddamnedfrank

I think the real takeaway is that The Cooch is a casualty of the GOP civil war. I’m guessing that the business guys, national chamber of commerce and wall street money men explicitly told the GOPe to let Cuccinelli twist in the wind. There’s still a ton of resentment in boardrooms across the country over both the shutdown and how close we came to default. Now the money is being directed with far more discretion, and next year, if we’re lucky, the anger will grow on both sides, to the point where the GOPe and Tea Party start ignoring primary results and challenge each other in general election contests.

Never happen. The teatards are all perfectly well aware that their little band of pathetic pudknockers has zero chance of achieving anything without crutching on the “vote whichever one has an R next to the name” crowd. There’s a reason they’ve co-opted the Republican party rather than forming their own third party. They’ve seen what happens to fringe third parties in this country — Luap Nor and his similars, they don’t even break 10% of the vote in nationals. The entire momentum of the t-party, such as it is, has come from taking advantage of those life-long hardline R-down-the-ticket types that don’t know any better.

He was looking for his wings.

re: #183 HappyWarrior

And with that, I thank you for the reminder of why I am glad I don’t do fast food as much as I used to.

One side effect of keeping kosher: very very few fast food places, and when there are they are usually vegetarian.

re: #181 Dr. Matt

I’ll state the obvious: Christie won because the Democratic candidate simply sucked.

Well that probably won’t happen in 2016.

re: #182 darthstar

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Outrageous outrage! She sued. Figures. Here, you can read more about this at Snopes.

re: #186 Amory Blaine

He was looking for his wings.

Lol.

re: #179 darthstar

I’m only against public-sector unions. I often have a problem with how private sector unions act, but I feel they perform a needed role and have no objection to their existence.

As to your other question: I’m sorry, but I cannot answer you here. If you want, you can send me an email (nic is blue) and I’ll explain a bit, but even then I won’t be able to give a full explanation.

re: #136 Dark_Falcon

The unions will demand big, fat raises and De Blasio will have to oblige. Much of the monies any tax increase will generate will go to pay for the new union contracts, thus proving Scott Walker’s point about public sector unions.

I’m sorry, what was that? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of billions of taxpayer dollars going to pay executive bonuses at AIG, etc.

But nah, that’s cool. Just fuck those teachers, that’ll make up the difference. Why would you want to attract the best and brightest to teach our kids anyway?

HURR HURR

Cuccinelli could have won if the entire Republican Party backed him and supported him. Republican Party is heavily splintered.#TCOT #LNYHBT

— Gene (@aviary7) November 6, 2013

re: #193 Vicious Babushka

HURR HURR

[Embedded content]

He says it like it’s a bad thing.

All hail government! //

re: #193 Vicious Babushka

HURR HURR

[Embedded content]

And he would have lost big time if his Dem opponent wasn’t an unlikable tool. But it is what was it and Cuccinelli is not governor and for that, I am thankful. At least McAuliffe has decent people surrounding him. Cucci? He had Jackson and Obanshain. A man who called POTUS the anti-christ and another guy who wants the cops involved in miscarriages.

re: #184 lawhawk

Combination of awful candidate, and Christie remaining popular after showing leadership during and after Sandy (undermined by his unflagging support of NJ Transit leaders that decided to flood out its rail fleet on purpose).

Uhm…why? What was their rationale?

re: #160 Ian G.

Wait, what’s the wingnut issue with daycare?

Mothers ar supposed to stay home, barefoot and pregnant and home-school their kids.

HURR HURR

Proof that Democrats are more destructive than the atomic bomb #TCOT #LNYHBT pic.twitter.com/49Xt7iQyJN

— Alexis (@MercuryOneOC) August 7, 2013

Let’s look at all the things wrong in this photo montage.
1. Photo of “Hiroshima” is more likely photo of Dresden or other European ruins—look at cathedral.
2. Comparing lit-up city at night to one abandoned building is apples to road apples. Detroit all lit up at night looks nice, and a color shot of the same view shown in the 1945 vista would look even nicer.

re: #193 Vicious Babushka

HURR HURR

[Embedded content]

That’s not a ‘hurr hurr’. More a point of analysis. really. Might be wrong, but not obnoxious.

re: #199 Vicious Babushka

HURR HURR

[Embedded content]

Let’s look at all the things wrong in this photo montage.
1. Photo of “Hiroshima” is more likely photo of Dresden or other European ruins—look at cathedral.
2. Comparing lit-up city at night to one abandoned building is apples to road apples. Detroit all lit up at night looks nice, and a color shot of the same view shown in the 1945 vista would look even nicer.

Agreed. Nagasaki actually did have a cathedral (which has since been rebuilt), but Hiroshima never did.

re: #191 Dark_Falcon

I’m only against public-sector unions. I often have a problem with how private sector unions act, but I feel they perform a needed role and have no objection to their existence.

As to your other question: I’m sorry, but I cannot answer you here. If you want, you can send me an email (nic is blue) and I’ll explain a bit, but even then I won’t be able to give a full explanation.

And why are you against public sector unions?

The tea leaf reading in VA is mostly focused on the exit polls as the pundits try to make some sense out of how Cucci could have won over white women and the anti-ACA crowd by significant margins but still lose. And one major unifying shock is that turnout was still so strong in an off-year election when most predictions were (again) that Democrats couldn’t keep up that level of enthusiasm without Obama on the ballot.

re: #199 Vicious Babushka

If you let facts get in the way, she can’t make her meme!

re: #199 Vicious Babushka

Basing a city’s entire economy on a single industry is a failed industrial/economic decision, politics an only hope to mitigate the social consequences of such a disastrous policy.

I know, I come from Gary, Indiana…

re: #193 Vicious Babushka

HURR HURR

[Embedded content]

“And it would have worked, too, if it weren’t for you meddlesome kids and your stupid dog our crazy candidate and his fullblown batshit insane running mate!”

re: #191 Dark_Falcon

I’m only against public-sector unions. I often have a problem with how private sector unions act, but I feel they perform a needed role and have no objection to their existence.

As to your other question: I’m sorry, but I cannot answer you here. If you want, you can send me an email (nic is blue) and I’ll explain a bit, but even then I won’t be able to give a full explanation.

Sorry, the email function isn’t working. My apologies.

re: #203 Targetpractice

The tea leaf reading in VA is mostly focused on the exit polls as the pundits try to make some sense out of how Cucci could have won over white women and the anti-ACA crowd by significant margins but still lose. And one major unifying shock is that turnout was still so strong in an off-year election when most predictions were (again) that Democrats couldn’t keep up that level of enthusiasm without Obama on the ballot.

I think he alienated many middle class white women with his obsession with social issues. Republicans have shown no interest in the issues that matter to young single working women.

re: #202 kirkspencer

And why are you against public sector unions?

I’ve answered that repeatedly and I’m not going to re-argue my beliefs on that matter this morning.

All of our cars during the rise of the middle class were built there.

re: #210 Amory Blaine

All of our cars during the rise of the middle class were built there.

Damn UAW.// I love how all the problems with Detroit are all the Dems’ fault but don’t mention the rampant poverty in the brightest red areas of the country.

re: #197 Joanne

Backstory:

NJ Transit supposedly had a plan to deal with storms and flooding - move them to higher ground.

They didn’t. More than half the rail fleet was flooded out by Sandy in the Meadows and Hoboken yards. It took months to get service restored to pre-storm levels because of the reduced number of rail cars.

NJ Transit stonewalled - first claiming that they didn’t have a plan, then offering up a rediculous redacted one that shed no light on the subject, then indicating that their experts didn’t think the areas where they stored the trains would flood, and then they ultimately blamed some underling for purposefully moving the trains into the low lying areas. Gov. Christie even said that they couldn’t fire the guy because of civil service and instead demoted him.

Turns out that civil service doesn’t apply to NJ Transit, but the local media did track down someone who was demoted after all this.

None of this passed the smell test. The top officials at NJ Transit screwed up by not following their own guidelines to move trains to higher ground ahead of Sandy, including not heeding all the dire flooding predictions that were coming in days ahead of the storm.

The after-action claims are just as nuts. There was gross incompetence and no one was ultimately held accountable except for some low-level employee who really doesn’t have the power to move the fleet as was claimed.

In other words - either it was gross incompetence or as Gov. Christie claims - someone purposefully moved the fleet into a precarious position. The latter is the official position, and the fact that they didn’t move equipment to higher ground ahead of the storm despite all the warnings suggests a willingness to ignore facts and logic and allowed the fleet to be flooded out.

Well, I don’t know anyone who’s benefiting from this, but I don’t know any investors, either.

Dow Blasts To Record Highs!

businessinsider.com

The rich get richer, ad nauseam. How much do they need, truly?

re: #212 lawhawk

In other words - either it was gross incompetence or as Gov. Christie claims - someone purposefully moved the fleet into a precarious position. The latter is the official position, and the fact that they didn’t move equipment to higher ground ahead of the storm despite all the warnings suggests a willingness to ignore facts and logic and allowed the fleet to be flooded out.

Petty vindictiveness for Christie being too chummy with Obama?

re: #210 Amory Blaine

All of our cars during the rise of the middle class were built there.

True, but after WWII that was in large part because the car-making industries of the non-communist world had largely been pounded flat, or were preoccupied with demand in Europe in the case of the UK. For much of the world, the US was the only game in town.

In the late 60’s competition emerged, especially from Japan, while the Big Three and the UAW had grown complacent about their supremacy. As a result, they lost a great deal of their market share. It wasn’t just the unions, the management of Ford, GM, and Chrysler screwed up just as badly.

re: #213 Justanotherhuman

Well, I don’t know anyone who’s benefiting from this, but I don’t know any investors, either.

Dow Blasts To Record Highs!

businessinsider.com

The rich get richer, ad nauseam. How much do they need, truly?

Remember back in 2009, when the DOW was the be-all end-all measure of the President’s success according to right-wing radio?

re: #214 Sol Berdinowitz

Petty vindictiveness for Christie being too chummy with Obama?

No, because that chumminess happened after the hurricane, whereas this was a decision made before Sandy hit.

So apparently 6 of the 11 counties of Colorado voting for secession voted “yes”.

I added up the population of these 6 counties, and combined, it’s about 29,000. That’s roughly the population of Ithaca, NY. I’ll tell you what, wingnuts: you can have North Colorado as the 51st state if Ithaca becomes the 52nd. It will be nice to have a “moderate” Green and an actual Marxist (not an “ACA is communism!” Marxist) as Ithaca’s two senators. At least their votes will cancel out the votes of Cornyn and Cruz, who are pretty much the right-wing mirror images of a Green and a Marxist.

re: #199 Vicious Babushka

Yeah, Detroit in ruins…. totally.

Not to say that there aren’t areas that are in bad shape. But even there, people are working to demolishing abandoned structures, and opening up neighborhoods that had populations shrink.

re: #212 lawhawk

Thank you!

re: #213 Justanotherhuman

Well, I don’t know anyone who’s benefiting from this, but I don’t know any investors, either.

Dow Blasts To Record Highs!

businessinsider.com

The rich get richer, ad nauseam. How much do they need, truly?

If you know a teacher, or a firefighter, a cop, someone working for a corporation that has a 401k plan as part of the compensation package, you DO know people that benefit by it. Those 401K plans are tied to the markets success (or failure) for those peoples retirement

re: #219 lawhawk

Yeah, Detroit in ruins…. totally.

Not to say that there aren’t areas that are in bad shape. But even there, people are working to demolishing abandoned structures, and opening up neighborhoods that had populations shrink.

You mean a far-right loon, on the internet, put out something that was demonstrably false and easily proven so with two minutes of googling?

What a shocker!

re: #199 Vicious Babushka

Why is it never Portland or Austin or San Francisco or (now) New York City that’s used as an example of what happens when Democrats run things?

Or hell, Pittsburgh. It had a lot in common with Detroit, especially the whole economy being built around a single industry that is now a shell of its former self. Yet it’s thriving right now. Why? Well, answering that question requires a lot of examination of economic, demographic, and even geographic questions. It’s much easier if you’re a wingnut simpleton to just scream “DEMOCRATZ RECKED DETROYT!”

re: #219 lawhawk

Yeah, Detroit in ruins…. totally.

Not to say that there aren’t areas that are in bad shape. But even there, people are working to demolishing abandoned structures, and opening up neighborhoods that had populations shrink.

ZOMG LOOK AT THESE HORRIBLE APOCALYPTIC RUINS OF DETROIT!!!!

re: #182 darthstar

But I thought Nose-to-Tail cooking was all the rage in culinary circles these days?

BUT THEIR RR NO JRRBZ IN DETROIT!!!!!1!!!

re: #223 Ian G.

Why is it never Portland or Austin or San Francisco or (now) New York City that’s used as an example of what happens when Democrats run things?

Or HOUSTON.

re: #221 sattv4u2

If you know a teacher, or a firefighter, a cop, someone working for a corporation that has a 401k plan as part of the compensation package, you DO know people that benefit by it. Those 401K plans are tied to the markets success (or failure) for those peoples retirement

QFT

re: #225 freetoken

But I thought Nose-to-Tail cooking was all the rage in culinary circles these days?

They tried to push it, but its now just gone to the dogs.

Crazy troll meltdown on this thread.

re: #221 sattv4u2

If you know a teacher, or a firefighter, a cop, someone working for a corporation that has a 401k plan as part of the compensation package, you DO know people that benefit by it. Those 401K plans are tied to the markets success (or failure) for those peoples retirement

Yes, and it’s a fucking shame because so many lost huge chunks of their 401ks during the economic meltdown.

Have they caught back up yet? The 401k, like the IRA, was a replacement for dedicated company pension plans that were handled by a professional administrator and were guaranteed. That system worked for years and allowed people who had years w/a company to retire with few worries. Has anyone ever done a real comparison of these plans with 401ks?

This is what Republicans want to tie SS to—the stock market. Over my dead body. Those 401ks are hardly worth the paper they’re written on—I’ve had experience with 4 of them and could have done just as well saving money on my own.

re: #209 Dark_Falcon

I’ve answered that repeatedly and I’m not going to re-argue my beliefs on that matter this morning.

Thank you. Went looking. Found this from 2011:

To briefly recap, the answer is that say, an auto-workers union can organize and even strike for better pay and working conditions, but they cannot decide who owns the company they work for. By contrast, a public sector union can directly try to put into office the people with whom it would be negotiating. Sometimes this ends up meaning that the unions back a candidate, if he wins he raises their salaries, which they then funnel back into his campaign in dues payments. Private sector unions have no such power.

It’s still stupid. Sorry, Dark, but it is, on multiple levels.

If private companies are corporations - as many are - then unions can indeed influence the decision through their ownership of stock. Frankly, some own LARGER proportions of voting power than public unions do in that arena.

It also appears to me that you give no credence to the values unions provide, or you give it so little weight that you will toss all the benefits for the risk that these people (as opposed to pretty much every lobbying organization there is) might have influence.

re: #231 Justanotherhuman

Yes, and it’s a fucking shame because so many lost huge chunks of their 401ks during the economic meltdown

Just as “The rich get richer, ad nauseam. How much do they need, truly” took huge hits also

Have they caught back up yet?

Mine has.

re: #231 Justanotherhuman

History shows, as long as you’re ‘in” for the long haul and not some penny stock day-trader, the market is a good investment

re: #230 Vicious Babushka

Crazy troll meltdown on this thread.

Don’t worry, Sideways Quarks have a very short half-life.

/Just good,clean fun.

re: #226 Vicious Babushka

BUT THEIR RR NO JRRBZ IN DETROIT!!!!!1!!!

Be still my heart. I always favored Tudor style. Those photos are stunning. Lovely, lovely homes.

re: #235 Dark_Falcon

Don’t worry, Sideways Quarks have a very short half-life.

/Just good,clean fun.

I’m sure that means something to someone somewhere!!!

re: #237 sattv4u2

I’m sure that means something to someone somewhere!!!

It’s a physics joke. It would go past anyone who doesn’t know what quarks are.

re: #230 Vicious Babushka

Crazy troll meltdown on this thread.

Wow. WTF was all that about?

re: #227 Vicious Babushka

Or HOUSTON.

Annise Parker looks a little like a 1940s movie star in that, but I can’t think who.

re: #236 Joanne

Be still my heart. I always favored Tudor style. Those photos are stunning. Lovely, lovely homes.

And most of them are <100K, some even <50K

re: #239 Lidane

Wow. WTF was all that about?

Intense dislike of Islam, with a dislike of religion in general added in.

re: #239 Lidane

Wow. WTF was all that about?

Some butthurt that Marvel Comics has a Muslim girl superhero because ISLAMOPHOBIC RAGE.

re: #182 darthstar

How different is a fried chicken head from a fried chicken wing, when you come right down to it?

re: #221 sattv4u2

If you know a teacher, or a firefighter, a cop, someone working for a corporation that has a 401k plan as part of the compensation package, you DO know people that benefit by it. Those 401K plans are tied to the markets success (or failure) for those peoples retirement

Kiddies, can you spell “co-opt”?

That’s right. Now can you spell “hostage”?

re: #223 Ian G.

Why is it never Portland or Austin or San Francisco or (now) New York City that’s used as an example of what happens when Democrats run things?

Or hell, Pittsburgh. It had a lot in common with Detroit, especially the whole economy being built around a single industry that is now a shell of its former self. Yet it’s thriving right now. Why? Well, answering that question requires a lot of examination of economic, demographic, and even geographic questions. It’s much easier if you’re a wingnut simpleton to just scream “DEMOCRATZ RECKED DETROYT!”

They’re never used as examples because they’re (relatively) successful.

(eta: duh. //)

re: #244 jaunte

How different is a fried chicken head from a fried chicken wing, when you come right down to it?

Instead of a crappy toy with your meal, they gave her something useful. A free comb!!

re: #243 Vicious Babushka

Some butthurt that Marvel Comics has a Muslim girl superhero because ISLAMOPHOBIC RAGE.

Which is stupid. Marvel has had other Muslim hero characters before. They’re a bit late in getting all butthurt over it.

And yet the RWNJs continue to be amazed as why America is rejecting them….

Fox News’ Scott Brown: Cuccinelli lost because libertarian candidate was Democratic plant

re: #224 Vicious Babushka

ZOMG LOOK AT THESE HORRIBLE APOCALYPTIC RUINS OF DETROIT!!!!

Look at this nice place under 150k.