FROM 2012 INTO 2013 POLITICS THREAD

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

He opened America's first soup kitchen in the Depression.

www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1660.html

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

That may not be true in Romney's case. Both Switzerland and the Caymans are well known for shielding assets from U.S. government view for the purpose of avoiding taxes. Switzerland's secrecy promises have been fodder for discussion in Congress.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

"May" not be true? That's some birther level inferring. Okay, maybe not that bad, but still...

If you can't show that he's doing something illegal, then I don't see the problem.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Re Romney and taxes: the "scandal" he is trying to hide is not that he did anything illegal, but that everything he did was completely legal, and if people found out how he did it, he and his fellow rich dudes (in theory) would lose their deductions in the ensuing outrage. I'm not sure that's exactly how things would have gone, but for sure Obama would have made a point of reminding us all about how much money Romney got in tax breaks compared to those moochers who were getting unemployment because the likes of Romney moved their jobs to China.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Well, if only he'd release his tax returns ...

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

He absolutely should. My ongoing stance is that you don't get to run for the most important office in the country and then ask for privacy in any area of your life. I want everything. I want fifth-grade report cards and internet browser histories.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

I asked to see where "self-interest" - as the phrase in all its late Randian grandeur and exclusionary Darwinism is currently understood - was written into the founding documents as our operative philosophy.

"Enlightened self-interest," per Smith and de Tocqueville, was the phrase of art several centuries gone by. Whatever happened to that?

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Ask and ye shall receive.

http://www.theonion.com/video/romneys-terrifying-google-search-history-leaked,29971/

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Richard Posner, the famed Seventh Circuit judge and law and economics guru, has written that he basically thinks all information, about all citizens, should essentially be available for the taking if we are to have a truly efficient and well-running society.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

By the way, you can't say Republicans haven't done their best to stop people from voting. It's an embarrassment to the concept of democracy when anyone engages in vote-suppression tactics, but clearly this round has been dominated by the Republicans because there's a demographic wave coming that they can't stop -- unless they try to block the door to the polls.

It's heartening to see, though, that so many people, Democrats and Republicans are alike, are willing to sweat out insanely long lines to vote anyway.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-05/why-voter-suppression-is-mostly-a-republican-tactic.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/ohios-provisional-ballot-order-the-biggest-legal-story-of-the-weekend/264498/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/05/early-voting_n_2077626.html

http://www.indystar.com/article/20121104/NEWS05/211040376/Early-voting-Marion-Co-down-from-2008-race?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Election%202012

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/news/article.asp?docKey=600-201211031439UPI_____TOPUTRAK_134006_4570-1&params=timestamp%7C%7C11/03/2012%202:39%20PM%20ET%7C%7Cheadline%7C%7CVirginia%20registration%20fraud%20case%20expanded%7C%7CdocSource%7C%7CUnited%20Press%20International%7C%7Cprovider%7C%7CACQUIREMEDIA%7C%7Cbridgesymbol%7C%7CUS;WPO&ticker=WPO

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Nate Silver gives Willard a 14% chance of winning. 10% of that is based on rigging the voting machines.