BBO Discussion Forums: Has U.S. Democracy Been Trumped? - BBO Discussion Forums

Sounds right.

Racism has been around forever, and it didn't go away during Obama's presidency. But something definitely seems to have changed since Trump took office -- it's become far more overt. All the 911 calls on black people just going about their normal lives, for instance. The above letter is more of the same.

Illiberals and anti-liberals, on the other hand, appreciate the dark energy of human irrationality—not merely as a fact of our nature to be negotiated, but as a potent political resource. People do not think; they feel. They do not believe what is true; they regard as true that which they wish to believe. A lie that affirms us will gain more credence than a truth that challenges us. That’s the foundational insight on which Trump built his business career. It’s the insight on which Trump’s supporters built first their campaign for president and now their presidency itself.

David Frum of the Atlantic explains the modern populist:

It hardly seems like a coincidence that the same psychology also allows people to fall for con games. Everyone knows intellectually "if it seems too good to be true, it probably isn't", but feelings, hopes, and greed win out.

"This change, along with a lower business tax rate, would likely give the typical American household around a $4,000 pay raise," Trump David Dennison said in October.

A new NPR/Marist poll finds that 1 in 5 jobs in America is held by a worker under contract. Within a decade, contractors and freelancers could make up half of the American workforce. Workers across all industries and at all professional levels will be touched by the movement toward independent work — one without the constraints, or benefits, of full-time employment.

Everybody got their raise, right?

At least the job market is great....

But wages have been stagnating for decades when adjusted for inflation.

https://www.marketwa...inds-2018-07-17

But wages have been stagnating for decades when adjusted for inflation.

https://www.marketwa...inds-2018-07-17

A Russian billionaire who purchased a mansion from President Trump in 2008 in a business deal that is now being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller was detained Tuesday in Monaco and questioned related to an ongoing corruption probe.

Dmitri Rybolovlev, president of AS Monaco, was detained voluntarily by authorities in Monaco on Tuesday and is under investigation for charges of corruption and influence peddling according to French news service Le Monde.

It is staggering to see how racist this country actually is.

Are you talking about Michigan senate race?

Specifically, the new Democratic House majority should devote its first 100 days to passing five pieces of legislation, then dare the Senate and the Trump White House to follow suit or be called out for their refusal to act.

First, a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 and restore Trump-repealed rules protecting overtime pay. Democrats should show their support for hard-working people who are doing everything right and still not earning enough to live on. During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to support a minimum-wage increase; on the eve of the 2018 election, his chief economic adviser proposed abolishing the law altogether. Democrats should find out where the president and the Trump-dominated Senate really stand.


Second, legislation to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, expand its coverage and patch up the gaps that the Trump administration has punched in it. Put aside the big debate over comprehensively changing the system for later; deliver on the core promise of most Democratic campaigns in 2018.

Third, a bill to restore the Voting Rights Act and reverse Republican voter-suppression efforts. The cause of democracy should not be carried by Democrats alone, but that is what it has come to. The greatest democracy in the world should not be the one where it is hardest to participate in the democratic process.

Fourth, a simple, non-porked-up infrastructure bill, with funding for bridges and roads, airports and mass transit, clean-energy projects and new schools. Avoid the complexity and exotica that — while good policy — ultimately made the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act bad politics. If it doesn’t employ workers in hard hats, it isn’t “infrastructure” for this purpose.

And finally, a clean bill, free of extraneous issues, that grants legal status to the immigrant children known as “dreamers.” Trump has promised to sign such a bill; it’s time to end the uncertainty of these young people, who have so much to contribute.

Yes, this leaves much still undone. Child care. Job training. College assistance. Criminal-justice reform. Campaign finance reform. And so much more. These are important, too. But Democrats need a focused agenda of quickly actionable items for the first 100 days. After that, they will have at least another 630 days in control of the House — and plenty of time for investigations.

I agree with this WaPo opinion writer(Ronald Klain) - Dems, do these 5 things before initiating any investigations:

It is important for the Democratic party to show they can govern in order to retain these seats in 2020. Restoring balance to the U.S. political system is a long-term proposition that requires patience for incremental change.

Can they really do any of this when they only control one house? Which of these initiatives would the Senate go along with?

Evangelicals" is an umbrella term that encompasses numerous Protestant denominations that share core tenets of Christianity. This includes the Bible as the ultimate moral and historical authority, the desire to evangelise and spread the faith and the need for a religious conversion known as being "born again".

More than a quarter (25.4 percent) of US Christians identify as evangelical, according to the latest Pew data. Of that number a vast majority, 76 percent, are white

"Across all racial groups, those who define themselves as evangelical tend to be much more conservative than those who do not define themselves with that label," said Janelle Wong, a professor of American studies at the University of Mary and the author of, Immigrants, Evangelicals, and Politics in an Era of Demographic Change.

There, then, is the red wall. 57.15 million who are "much more conservative than other conservatives" of which 43.43 are also white. And it is now apparent after two election cycles that this group also shows up at the polls to vote. When you have someone cynical enough to make a pretense of believing as they do, throwing some crumbs at them, and making them "believe" you can see why it is a formidable task to turn them away from demagoguery that appeals to emotions rather than intellect.

I agree with this WaPo opinion writer(Ronald Klain) - Dems, do these 5 things before initiating any investigations:

It is important for the Democratic party to show they can govern in order to retain these seats in 2020. Restoring balance to the U.S. political system is a long-term proposition that requires patience for incremental change.

I wonder how many evangelicals actually suppose that Trump believes as they do, considering that Trump's life and actions diverge wildly from the life and teachings of Jesus. My guess is that many of them rationalize their by supposing that a deity is using an unbeliever to accomplish desired ends.

That leaves open, of course, how evangelicals could possibly square Trump's policies with the life and teachings of Jesus.

Key in all these races is that independents broke toward congressional Democrats for the first time since Barack Obama led the ticket in 2008. Exit polls show that the 3 in 10 voters who didn’t identify with either party supported Democratic candidates by a 13-point margin, 54 percent to 41 percent.