Tuesday, November 8, 2016

What a Nail Biter

Apparently it is much closer than thought.  How Exciting !!!

29 comments:

Laurie said...

At this point I agree with the NYT that we are awaiting the final results of a Trump victory. Something is seriously wrong with the voters of this country.

Here is an excerpt of about 50 examples of how despicable Trump is :

(It is intended for people who see Trump for who he is - I just thought it captured many aspects of Trumps character)

"Space precludes me from listing all of the despicable things Trump has said and done during this campaign; your own beliefs and priorities will dictate which one you found most appalling. Was it when he called immigrants rapists and criminals? When he got in a fight with a Gold Star family? When he encouraged his crowds to “knock the hell” out of protesters? When he said an (American-born) judge in his fraud case couldn’t be objective because “He’s a Mexican”? When he used his Twitter account to pass on racist memes authored by white supremacists? When he said he’d order the U.S. military to commit war crimes? When he made up nicknames for his primary opponents like a ten-year-old schoolyard bully? When he mocked a reporter’s disability? When he proposed a religious test for entering the United States? When he threatened to sue the dozen different women who had publicly accused him of groping them? When he told his supporters to go to “certain areas” in cities to harass non-white voters? When he used anti-Semitic tropes to warn of an international conspiracy of bankers plotting against him? When he promised to jail his opponent if he won?

Or maybe what most sickened you about Trump was his incessant and shameless lying, or the long list of scams he ran to separate struggling people from their money, or his repugnant misogyny, or his obsession with getting revenge on anyone who criticizes him, or his record of stiffing small businesspeople who did work for him, or the way every neo-Nazi and Klansman seems to have rallied to his cause, or simply, to sum it all up, the fact that he has displayed a positively epic combination of repellent personality traits without evidence of a single human virtue to be found."

So did your wife and daughters vote for Trump? did you have to explain to anyone why the things listed in excerpt from the column don't matter to you.

At least I have very little money to lose when the stock market takes a huge hit tomorrow and my family will probably be well situated to stay employed during the Trump recession. My son was asking me how bad it will be under Trump and a GOP congress and I said it depends on who you are- a rich white person or a poor minority or immigrant. The future for my students is looking very worrisome to me. It will be a sad day at my school tomorrow.

ps James Comey truly deserves a huge amount of blame for this terrible outcome.

pps Even if there is small miracle and Hillary wins this is still a very depressing night.

John said...

Well I am pretty sure my daughters voted for Clinton and my wife did a write in but I do not know. As of this morning I am now apparently "responsible for Trumps win" even though he did not win this state... The joy of being me... :-)

Please remember that I voted against Hillary and Socialism / illegal immigrants / Political Correctness run amok , not for Trump... I wish we would have had better choices on both sides.

John said...

My advice for Liberals is that same advice I would have given Conservatives had Clinton won.

They are now your President... Start looking for their positive aspects and stop focusing on the negatives. Remember that every cloud has a silver lining.

Laurie said...

Trump is not my president. I am renouncing my citizenship (unofficially). I didn't watch his speech last night and I will not watch his inauguration. My younger son is already talking about how he'd like to live abroad.

I only care about what happens in MN, where although I am not happy about it I accept the the GOP won the legislature.

My students asked me if I will protest Trump. I said yes, if he is a really bad president.

John said...

Trump is as much your President as Obama was Jerry's. Of course you are both too stubborn to accept that. :-)

Are you planning to spend the next 4 years complaining about "how terrible" Trump is like Jerry did for the past 8 years of Obama?

Do you think that is healthy or wise?

The reality as I keep trying to explain is that these are just people... Not demons!!!

Anonymous said...

Laurie...an appeal:

The ability to leave this country and live abroad is called privilege. Unfortunately, those you would leave behind will be the ones who have little recourse and will suffer the most.

Joel

John said...

I'll bite...

Who exactly do you think will suffer?

How will they suffer?

Laurie said...

I am extremely offended that you could compare Trump and Obama. Did you not read the 50 links I provided to you about how Trump is the worst, most dangerous, most unfit presidential candidate ever?

To Joel - I am not leaving, it is my son who wants to get out of here and perhaps live abroad.

I try to stay politically active for the benefit of my Somali special ed students, whose futures are not bright.

Anonymous said...

"Who exactly do you think will suffer?"

The most vulnerable, as is always the case under Republican leadership.

Joel

John said...

Laurie,
Jerry would absolutely swear that Obama is far worse than Trump ever could be... Are you calling him a liar?

When are you going to understand that good and bad are relative? A "good" person who you think is passing laws that hurt America from your perspective is a bad person. Whether they are or not.

The reality is that Obama and Trump are just human sinners like the rest of us. Most people will try to judge them based on their personal perspective.

I personally have never met a truly evil person and I hope I never do.

John said...

Joel,
Now that is vague and useless... You can do better.

Anonymous said...

"You can do better."

You first.

Joel

John said...

"Who exactly do you think will suffer?"

This will be challenging since I see it differently... I see it as people will bear more of the natural consequences of their life choices:

- People who did not study, learn, work hard, save, invest, etc will have less given to them. And people who did will have less taken from them.

- People who have more children than they can afford and responsibly raise may have less given to them. And people who don't may get to keep more.

- People who get married and stay married may get to keep more. And people who don't may be given less.

- People who choose to not conform to America's normal social, working and business culture may receive less, and those who do will continue to succeed.

Is that what you were thinking?

Anonymous said...

"People who did not study, learn, work hard, save, invest, etc will have less given to them."

Interestingly, the less educated a person is, the more likely they are to have voted for Trump. So, what exactly is the goal of that under-educated Trump voter? Will they go to school to advance themselves? Are they expecting the government to create jobs for them...jobs that will likely require advanced knowledge or skills? It has been proven that hard work does not guarantee that you'll even have enough to provide for your family, much less save and invest.

As for marriage, there are now many thousands/millions of marriages at risk of being nullified by the Trumpence administration and its surrogates. Government-coerced divorce...now there's a lovely thought. Doesn't really jibe with your marriage nonsense, does it?

I will not address your other points, because obviously money is the only thing that's important to you. I'm not that dull.

Joel

John said...

In my extended family I have a lot of low education level relatives, however they more than make up for this with work ethic, learning job skills, staying married, and pinching pennies. They simply are against big government taxes and handouts. Ironically they mostly live in SD and TX... And they very likely voted for Trump.

Your mistake is that you keep thinking most people want government to do things for them. Where as most of my friends and family just want government to provide national security, basic laws, basic infrastructure, etc. They are very independent otherwise, and rely on their friends / family to help them if times get tough.

Personally I don't think the GOP will go after LGBT marriage, unless they give that hot potato back to the States where it belonged in the first place. (ie not being decided by 1 SCOTUS Justice) Since LBGT's are in most movies, TV shows, etc and the companies have ruled.(ie socially accepted) I hope they don't rock that boat again. But maybe things will stabilize and the bathroom and business service laws will be settled. (ie Religious vs LGBT rights)

John said...

Now it's "only money"...

Yet Clinton's whole sales pitch was how to take more from the successful to give to the unsuccessful. It seemed pretty important to the Liberals during this election season.

Sean said...

There's a difference between accumulating money for yourself and trying to make sure that everyone has a chance to be successful.

Let's face it: the Presidential candidate who won last night is aiming to sign a tax bill that will cut his own tax liability by perhaps millions of dollars per year.

John said...

Maybe... The big question is will that in some way benefit American employees and tax payers?

I am more curious if he will follow through on closing the carried interest policy as promised?

Bar Stool Economics

Daily Kos Refutes BSE

John said...

I thought the Daily Kos refute was fascinating. The author seems to think that we all live in HUGELY different countries with access to HUGELY different freedoms...

Now I do understand that some people do have it easier than others, however I have never understood why that means they should pay most of the bar tab.

"Anyway, readers, I think the main response to be made against this email is that the original premise is false: our economic stratification is in no way accurately modeled by ten guys going out to drink together at the same bar, and presumably drinking the same beer in the same amounts. Without that false premise, the whole parable falls apart."

Anonymous said...

Whatever, John...

The very people who voted for Trump in droves, the non-college educated white rural voters, will not be the ones to benefit from a Trump presidency. Conservative voters never seem to learn that the Republican party just isn't terribly interested in them except for their vote.

Joel

Sean said...

"The big question is will that in some way benefit American employees and tax payers?"

It seems to me we have lots of history on this strategy over the last 35 years or so. And it has failed to produce prosperity for most Americans.

John said...

Joel,
The Democrats have not done any better by the poor and unfortunate. That is except to grow them like bunnies for their voting pool. I can hear the DFL leaders consulting...

"Now we want them to grow in numbers... But we don't want them to actually be successful ... Otherwise they may start voting GOP... What a balance to maintain... Oh my !!!"

Sean,
Let's hope that Trump is as different as he seems to be. Of course if he surrounds himself with those "reduce taxes and miracles will occur" idiots... We are going to be in trouble again.

Then the pendulum will swing again...

Sean said...

"Of course if he surrounds himself with those "reduce taxes and miracles will occur" idiots... We are going to be in trouble again."

Read his plan. It's awful. Again, you're counting on the guy you voted for NOT doing what he promised to do, which is a fascinating concept.

CRFB: Promises and Price Tags

John said...

I think I have been perfectly clear here.

I voted against Hillary and the Boiling of us Frogs.

I have no love for Trump... And hope sincerely that he listens to people like Paul Ryan.

Sean said...

"And hope sincerely that he listens to people like Paul Ryan."

Paul Ryan is a clown.

Ryan Plan Gets 69% of Its Budget Cuts From Programs For People With Low or Moderate Incomes

John said...

Now let's remember that a large chunk of the US Total Government's Budget goes to people with low and moderate incomes. They are the people who pay far less in taxes than they receive in cash, services, infrastructure, etc from the government.

Of course cuts will impact them... What is your balanced moderate solution to bring spending into alignment with tax revenues?

Sean said...

"What is your balanced moderate solution to bring spending into alignment with tax revenues?"

First off, I would suggest that it's not necessary for the federal government to run a balanced budget. We should just seek to control the deficit to keep it within historical norms (like it is now).

Second, I would suggest that balancing the budget on the back of poor people is not the way to make our country more prosperous. It's a recipe for creating decline. (Is it any wonder that the fact that as incomes for the bottom 80% have stagnated that our last two economic recoveries have been less than impressive? When the spoils only accrue to a few at the top of the scale, the economy sputters. Yet Republicans are back yet again with the very same policies that exacerbate this trend.)

Third, we are going to have get more creative to control healthcare costs. Republican solutions to this issue, though, reduce spending by reducing the amount of health care that American receive. That doesn't strike me as a realistic solution to the problem. We are going to have take steps to move away from paying physicians by the procedure but rather based on their performance. We are going to have to give Medicare additional powers to negotiate prices (particularly as it relates to Rx). And, we need to open up Medicare to allow people under the age of 65 to buy in if they so choose.

Fourth, we do need to revolutionize the way we provide government services. It's often too complex and too difficult for people to navigate all the various programs that provide small pieces of the puzzle. Whether it's something like a guaranteed minimum income or a real consolidation of the alphabet soup of government programs into a few more comprehensive buckets, there are changes that need to be made. We need to clearly decide what we are incentivizing and build the programs to reward them without the sort of "cliffs" that can hold people back from progressing up the ladder.

John said...

We have a $20 Trillion National Debt and you are okay adding to it while times are good. Really?

Bush lowered the taxes on everyone and the Democrats let them go back up on the wealthy, along with making them pay more for ACA. Sorry but the cuts have come from where the money is spent.

Typical Left healthcare ideas.

"Guaranteed Minimum Income"... When did we become a Dem Socialist country?

Sean said...

"We have a $20 Trillion National Debt and you are okay adding to it while times are good. Really?"

Yep. (And I'd also remind you yet again that you just voted for guy who's vowed to explode the debt, so you have precisely zero standing to lecture me on this topic.)

"Typical Left healthcare ideas."

Well, as we discovered a couple of months ago when I challenged you on this topic, your bag of ideas is pretty much empty.