War Room Lounge V43: STEM is Overrated

[Limbo Pete]

I encountered one of those once. A warning would have been nice.

"Tell ya what, she had a helluva handshake!"

 

[irish_thug]

"Tell ya what, she had a helluva handshake!"

She was actually very petite. 5'4" slim.

 

[Limbo Pete]

She was actually very petite. 5'4" slim.

"Firm grip for a little lady!"

 

[Cajun]

Hey, @Cajun, this reminds me of a discussion we had a while back. My recollection is that you were arguing that Democrats should nominate Biden because unlike Clinton, he has no "baggage" and is likable, and I was telling you that if he looked likely to win, he'd get smeared, and the right would see him as a demon, and a lot of self-declared leftists would hate him every bit as much as they hate Hillary. Already happening. I can also say in advance that if Biden tumbles (which I think is possible, as I think a lot of his support comes from the perception that he's "electable"), whoever takes his place will get the same treatment--demonized by the right and hated by True Leftists. Even St. Bernie will get it (already starting to be way less popular with the right than he was last time).

He brotha. Been busy and sick as of late. Will respond in the morning. Cheers.

 

[Cajun]

"Firm grip for a little lady!"

Shut up






Also.....

Spoiler

I love you

 

[Limbo Pete]

Shut up






Also.....

Spoiler

I love you

 

[PolishHeadlock2]

 

[Lead]

Is there any taxation method that is more of a slap in the face to the working middle class than raising gas taxes?

Illinois is set to raise the gas tax 24 cents per gallon. My freaking county is propositioning to the state to allow them to add their own gas tax on top of that.

My 35 minute commute so that I don't actually live in a city where there's a shooting every night is gonna sting a lot more.

Also part of the gas tax bill from such a liberal "go green energy!" state, a $1,000 per year fee to drive an electric car. Lol. Saving the environment doesn't mean they don't get to tax you to hell and back still.

I usually think government should avoid making basic necessities more expensive but the two main arguments I could see is you create a tax revenue stream that could go back to directly paying for roads, bridges, etc. and also you are slowly incentivizing the middle class to go to electric cars and reduce emissions. The thing is, those two are in conflict and that’s why you see the $1,000 electric car tax. They eventually will see a shortfall in revenues and have to replace it somehow. That’s one thing that bothers me with any type of sin tax. Government becomes dependent on it so if everyone stopped doing that activity, government would just move on to a new tax.

PA has high gas taxes. I don’t mind it cause it’s always what I’ve known and I live in a city with a ton of bridges. I’d have to think it through longer about what could offset it and whether it would be a worthy trade off.

 

[Jack V Savage]

I usually think government should avoid making basic necessities more expensive but the two main arguments I could see is you create a tax revenue stream that could go back to directly paying for roads, bridges, etc. and also you are slowly incentivizing the middle class to go to electric cars and reduce emissions. The thing is, those two are in conflict and that’s why you see the $1,000 electric car tax. They eventually will see a shortfall in revenues and have to replace it somehow. That’s one thing that bothers me with any type of sin tax. Government becomes dependent on it so if everyone stopped doing that activity, government would just move on to a new tax.

PA has high gas taxes. I don’t mind it cause it’s always what I’ve known and I live in a city with a ton of bridges. I’d have to think it through longer about what could offset it and whether it would be a worthy trade off.

Gas isn't really a necessity, though, and society already subsidize car use way too much (that is, a lot of the costs to it are paid by society as a whole rather than drivers). Buildings are required to provide parking in some cases, traffic imposes costs on everyone, pollution, wear and tear on roads, cities are designed for drivers rather than walkers, etc. Or current system reflects neither what a market would produce nor what anyone would plan. Obviously, we can't reverse that overnight, but the costs of driving should rise a lot, and that should be offset by people having more money. This all applies much more to cities than rural areas.

Also, sin taxes are among the very best taxes, and the revenue is only part of the benefit. If you tax something, you usually get at least somewhat less of it. Again, I wouldn't expect a total overnight change, but I think the ideal is a gov't entirely funded by sin taxes, land-value taxes, and estate taxes, with maybe income taxes that start at the top rate. And a large SWF to provide a UBD.

 

[senri]

Yes

 

[Trotsky]

I wish there was a way to aggregate and communicate the levels of norm breaking during this administration.

 

[ultramanhyata]

I don't have any double standards, though.

Cool story, bro.

Your problem is that you're discounting education and private-sector experience completely, which is not reasonable.

Oh... You mean like going to NYMA and Wharton and building a billion dollar real estate empire? lol

What happened to "Sure, Trump set the presidential qualifications bar lower than it's ever been - but we've seen what that's produced and the next candidate the dems choose needs to be on the opposite extreme"? Because that was your old position.

I didn't think it was possible to be more ridiculously entitled than Beto. But then Mayor Pete came on the scene. Run for governor. Or see if you can win a Senate seat and serve a couple terms. Get back to us in 15 years and we'll see what you've been able to accomplish.

Based on his time at the helm in South Bend it looks like he's a man with real resistance to the type of self-criticism and reevaluation vital to course corrections and personal improvement. He sadly appears to be a lot like Trump in this regard.

In an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd earlier this month, Buttigieg noted that for many, it felt as though the economic recovery from the 2008 financial crisis never happened. But, he said, “we’ve got it moving in the right direction.”

“We made sure that our neighborhoods were improved, because the issue of blight and vacant and abandoned properties was harming neighbors especially in minority neighborhoods,” Buttigieg said. “People didn’t think it could be done, but we dealt with 1,000 houses in 1,000 days by marshaling resources, concentrating them and working to fix the problem.”

People who live in the affected neighborhoods tell a more complicated story. They are still wrestling with the program’s impact, and are less sold on its successes.

One of the first problems to emerge was the clouds of dust, feared to contain lead and asbestos, that spread uncontained from the demolition sites. Soon, wild animals, like raccoons and groundhogs, appeared in people’s homes. Vacant lots, where crumbling houses once stood, became dumping sites as tall grass grew.

“I think that there just wasn’t a clear understanding of the domino effect — the true impact of what the actions were going to be throughout the neighborhood,” said Regina Williams-Preston, who represents the city’s northwest in its Common Council, a governing body. “We basically traded one problem for another.”

 

[Jack V Savage]

Oh... You mean like going to NYMA and Wharton and building a billion dollar real estate empire? lol

What happened to "Sure, Trump set the presidential qualifications bar lower than it's ever been - but we've seen what that's produced and the next candidate the dems choose needs to be on the opposite extreme"? Because that was your old position.

No it wasn't. I don't know why you think it's acceptable to just lie all the time. Dems need to put in someone who is highly competent and ethical. They don't need to put in someone really old. And you're still ignoring my position. It's fine if *you* don't think that education or private-sector experience matter. I do. I'm not being hypocritical because I don't agree with your unreasonable position.

Compare my actual comment with your version:

Trump's vulnerability makes it especially important that Democrats don't put up someone who isn't capable of doing a great job. Even a shitty Democratic candidate like Gabbard or Harris can win in 2020, and I think Democrats need to set a good example and pick someone who is super capable and highly ethical. It would be totally demoralizing to the country to move past Trump and then right toward someone with some of the same issues as him.

And in that same thread, I said this:

"My view is that if someone doesn't have an impressive work history, a good academic background works as a substitute. You're looking for signs of an impressive, capable, decent person. Gabbard doesn't provide any of that."

I didn't think it was possible to be more ridiculously entitled than Beto. But then Mayor Pete came on the scene. Run for governor. Or see if you can win a Senate seat and serve a couple terms. Get back to us in 15 years and we'll see what you've been able to accomplish.

So now *this* is hypocritical considering your comments on Gabbard. Her pitch is basically:

"Hello fellow American. This you should vote me. I was in Army. Good. Thank you. Thank you. If you vote me I'm hot. What? I support peace through killing lots of Muslims. The democratic vote for me is right thing to do America. So do."

Anyway, we know that no matter who Democrats nominate, you're going to think that they are the Devil so I don't even get why you try to address them individually. You said in 2016 that Trump winning would be better for the left. That's still true in 2020, right? And then electing Ivanka in 2024 will *really* get the left fired up and ready to start voting in 2028 or maybe 2032.

 

[HockeyBjj]

There's a basketball team named the Pelicans?

 

[Higus]

There's a basketball team named the Pelicans?

They used to be the Charlotte Hornets

 

[all caps]

There's a basketball team named the Pelicans?

I'm pretty sure they are a farm team. Where guys go for a few years to build a name so a real team can pick them up. Kinda like the Seattle Mariners.

 

[HereticBD]

There's a basketball team named the Pelicans?

Embarrassing ain't it? May as well call your team the Kitty Cats.

 

[Gregolian]

They used to be the Charlotte Hornets

Charlotte Hornets -> New Orlean Hornets -> NO Pelicans

Charlotte Hornets -> NO TEAM -> Charlotte Bobcats -> Charlotte Hornets

Talk about dumb levels of conufsing.

 

[Trotsky]

There's a basketball team named the Pelicans?

Embarrassing ain't it? May as well call your team the Kitty Cats.

Lol, I lost it when they decided on that name. I thought it was a joke. I have nothing against the bird, but it's just phonetically a very cartoonish and effeminate word.

 

[Trotsky]

Charlotte Hornets -> New Orlean Hornets -> NO Pelicans

Charlotte Hornets -> NO TEAM -> Charlotte Bobcats -> Charlotte Hornets

It cracked me up when the Bobcats had those jerseys that just said "CATS" on them.