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+--- Thread: General Discussions (/thread-4803.html)
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Re: General Discussions - PaulP - 08-05-2022
Mav, no doubt your knowledge in these areas is better than mine. I heard a figure from Chris Hedges that said the GOP and Democrats agree on roughly 90% of legislation. And I'm not sure exactly how you define mainstream - I suspect the positioning of the Dems as far right as they are is more the work of the DNC, not the rank and file. Bernie Sanders enjoyed considerable popular support in 2016 and 2020, and failed to win the nomination both times. The wealthy elites that have real power in the DNC hate Sanders, they hate his ideals, and they worked diligently to install a more complaint, obedient figure like Biden. The Squad, so far as I can tell, exert very little influence on policy. As much as it pains me to say it, they seem to be little more than window dressing, existing to give some kind of weight to the idea that the Dems are "for the people." At least that's how I see it.
I'm not really convinced that the failures of the Dems to enact "people first" legislation is solely down to GOP roadblocks, even if the latter is ably led by that despicable Mitch "there's no such thing as too low" McConnell.
Re: General Discussions - LP - 08-05-2022
(08-05-2022, 03:18 AM)PaulP date Wrote:I'm not really convinced that the failures of the Dems to enact "people first" legislation is solely down to GOP roadblocks, even if the latter is ably led by that despicable Mitch "there's no such thing as too low" McConnell.In terms of US and local politics, often I have to wonder how much of that apparent inability to progress due to a roadblock or other external interference, really turns out to be based on a mutual benefit be it ever so subtle!
Intent can be rather plastic.
Re: General Discussions - Mav - 08-05-2022
Lobbyists and dark money certainly create a disconnect between popular support for legislation and what can be passed into law. For instance, gun reform is pretty popular according to surveys but the NRA has managed to kill any attempts to pass sensible restrictions. Trying to wean the US off fossil fuels is likewise exceedingly difficult. The Koch brothers have been GOP megadonors and their money comes from fossil fuels. Senator Joe Manchin is a Democrat but he’s also a coal baron from a pretty conservative State (West Virginia). He’s able to single-handedly shoot down any Bill that comes before the Senate as McConnell will line up 50 Republican Senators behind him. Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t like Biden’s energy policies or a raft of progressive policies.
Unfortunately, the Democrats have to deal with the reality that they can’t get popular legislation through Congress. As well as the problems of dark money and lobbying, they also have to face a rigged electoral system distorted by gerrymandering and voter suppression at state level and a conservative Supreme Court that stands ready to kill progressive White House action (for example, it ruled that Biden couldn’t use existing powers to phase out coal-fired power generation and as mentioned above there’s no way the Congress will give him that power).
I would love to see more progressive policies being pursued, but everyone in the US knows Congress is broken and campaigning on those policies is almost dishonest. Biden argued that he could break the deadlock in Congress by reaching out to Republicans. He had a history of doing so in the Senate back in the day. But his hopes of bipartisan deal making have been dashed. He was so desperate to get some cooperation that he reached a highly dubious deal with Mitch McConnell. He agreed to nominate an anti-abortion judge in Kentucky if McConnell agreed to let Biden’s judicial appointments go through. This was lunacy as McConnell would have broken his promise after pocketing the judge he wanted. This caused consternation amongst Democrats as this deal was revealed in the wake of the Supreme Court reversing Roe v Wade and would have undermined Democrats campaigning on pro-choice policies. As it was, the deal was blocked by McConnell’s fellow Republican Senator for Kentucky, Rand Paul, who threw a hissy fit because he wasn’t kept in the loop.
I guess if you’re going to be impotent if you win elections as a Democrat, you might as well offer the Sun and the moon to inspire the voters, but you have to be extremely pragmatic and crafty once you are elected. And progressive voters have to be satisfied with small successes here and there.
Perhaps Bernie might have won in 2016, but remember that Hillary won the popular vote handily and she probably would have become President if FBI Director James Comey hadn’t delivered his October surprise by announcing he was reopening the investigation into the emails only to shut it down a few days later. Bernie wasn’t as popular with black voters as Hillary and it’s the black voters who delivered victory for Joe Biden in 2020. Picking Joe Biden as the candidate in 2020 was a pretty reasonable choice as he was the guy who was going to cause Trump the most problems. Trump had identified him quite early as the guy he needed to kill off. He went after him in particular at his rallies and we now know he had been trying to get dirt on him well before he was nominated as the Democratic Presidential candidate. Given how important it was to beat Trump, I can certainly understand why Democrats went with the safe option.
There’s some small hope coming out of Georgia. Stacey Abrams is a star and is spearheading a voting rights campaign which seems to have helped the Democrats win both Senate seats in Georgia and she’ll be running for Governor come November. If she can win support in such a ruby red State, anything is possible.
Re: General Discussions - DJC - 08-16-2022
It seems that Scotty from marketing was right when he sermonised about people not trusting governments ... and particularly any governments that he has a role with :
Re: General Discussions - LP - 08-16-2022
(08-16-2022, 06:08 AM)DJC date Wrote:It seems that Scotty from marketing was right when he sermonised about people not trusting governments ... and particularly any governments that he has a role with :It's a bit hard to judge this, as much as I want to slam Scotty the facts are not yet known, the media will want to paint it one way, however the implementation was clearly dodgy.
For example, I could argue that early in the pandemic the needs for leadership, governance and management were not clear. In this regard it's easier to take over an established portfolio, or more than one if needed, given they have established bureaucracy in place, than it would be to lump the unknowns of the pandemic on any individual. It was probably reasonable to say I can look over the day to day of several ministries, some ministers being constrained by border closures and the like, and free them to address the unknown pandemic as a team.
It also meant that the newly formed national cabinet had an equivalence across state and federal boundaries.
Even so, he should have done all this with transparency not secrecy, it left someone like Frydenberg in an untenable situation, and reeks of a secret NSW takeover of Federal politics.
I would think the biggest issues are yet to surface, wait until the states do a retrospective analysis of this.
Re: General Discussions - northernblue - 08-16-2022
Massive stench about this, but apart from becoming Emperor, what exactly did Scotty expect to gain ?
Does he get a superannuation boost for being a minister with 6 portfolios ?
A resume filler…?
I could agree with LP that early on in Covid it may have been a insurance policy of sorts, but why the secrecy…?
Re: General Discussions - Baggers - 08-16-2022
(08-16-2022, 10:30 AM)northernblue link Wrote:Massive stench about this, but apart from becoming Emperor, what exactly did Scotty expect to gain ?
Does he get a superannuation boost for being a minister with 6 portfolios ?
A resume filler…?
I could agree with LP that early on in Covid it may have been a insurance policy of sorts, but why the secrecy…?
...and why didn't he do the same with a number of other ministers? And why the secrecy? And why not tell the folks who had the portfolios that he'd put himself in there as well (as insurance). Didn't a few folks who worked with him report he was a compulsive liar? Did Dutton know? Be interesting to see what comes out in the wash.
Re: General Discussions - DJC - 08-16-2022
(08-16-2022, 06:13 AM)LP link Wrote:It's a bit hard to judge this, as much as I want to slam Scotty the facts are not yet known, the media will want to paint it one way, however the implementation was clearly dodgy.
For example, I could argue that early in the pandemic the needs for leadership, governance and management were not clear. In this regard it's easier to take over an established portfolio, or more than one if needed, given they have established bureaucracy in place, than it would be to lump the unknowns of the pandemic on any individual. It was probably reasonable to say I can look over the day to day of several ministries, some ministers being constrained by border closures and the like, and free them to address the unknown pandemic as a team.
It also meant that the newly formed national cabinet had an equivalence across state and federal boundaries.
Even so, he should have done all this with transparency not secrecy, it left someone like Frydenberg in an untenable situation, and reeks of a secret NSW takeover of Federal politics.
I would think the biggest issues are yet to surface, wait until the states do a retrospective analysis of this.
Yes LP, it’s easy to see how multiple ministers could have been necessary when COVID was taking off. Dutton said as much on the wireless yesterday. However, placing all of that power in the hands of one person, and the secrecy around Scotty’s appointments, smacks of megalomania and a complete disregard for the Westminster system and the need for transparency in government.
I expect that the folk who were outraged by the Victorian Government’s state of emergency legislation will be up in arms about Scotty’s attempt at presidential rule.
Re: General Discussions - Gointocarlton - 08-16-2022
He should be commended, 5 additional ministries and not a cent of extra pay.
Re: General Discussions - northernblue - 08-16-2022
(08-16-2022, 10:54 AM)Gointocarlton link Wrote:He should be commended, 5 additional ministries and not a cent of extra pay.
Has this been fact-checked ? ?