President Biden: The NEW one and only politics thread

Well, I’m not a Republican. And I don’t agree with what Republicans think on:

Gun control - I’m for significant gun control

Health Care - I’m for universal, single payer

Social Security - I support its existence and expansion

The value of unions - I believe in them

Low income and capital gains taxes - I want an increase

Foreign Policy - I’m far less of a hawk

We certainly can talk about any of those things. Those are pretty standard Democratic Party ideas, except for foreign policy, where Democrats have become like Republicans.

It’s hard to know exactly what kind of political world you want to envision because you don’t say much about what you think.

 

In Australia, voting is mandatory. Also, every election is on a Saturday. Elections are events, complete with food trucks (serving what Aussies have come to know as “democracy sausage”) and places for the kids to hang out while you vote.

 

The Martin Act

The purpose of the Martin Act is to arm the New York attorney general to combat financial fraud. It empowers him to subpoena any document he wants from anyone doing business in the state; to keep an investigation totally secret or to make it totally public; and to choose between filing civil or criminal charges whenever he wants. People called in for questioning during Martin Act investigations do not have a right to counsel or a right against self-incrimination. Combined, the act's powers exceed those given any regulator in any other state.

Now for the scary part: To win a case, the AG doesn't have to prove that the defendant intended to defraud anyone, that a transaction took place, or that anyone actually was defrauded. Plus, when the prosecution is over, trial lawyers can gain access to the hoards of documents that the act has churned up and use them as the basis for civil suits. "It's the legal equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction," said a lawyer at a major New York firm who represents defendants in Martin Act cases (and who didn't want his name used because he feared retribution by Spitzer). "The damage that can be done under the statute is unlimited."

 

Maybe there should be a universal poll tax, levied on all citizens of voting age, with voters earning a rebate (a nominal amount, small but not insignificant) once their vote is submitted.

 

But isn’t not voting also a vote?

 

"Since a person wouldn't be able to look into the future and know the weather on voting day, should we extend in-person voting to a week? A federal week off?"

 

This is what the Trumpists fear.

 

No chance to do that if those who oppose voting access are in power.

 

I do find it weird that for all the FREEDOM righties say they love - they don't seem to realize that the "paradise" Putin has built in Russian has come at the cost of FREEDOM. I'm sure their love of bashing political leadership and guns would go over great in Russia.

 

Yeees

 

You could put a "none of the above" option on the ballot.

 

As they do in Nevada.