Politics And Current Events

[Morkle]

Would this, in your opinion, also expand to members of Congress as well?

Absolutely. Do I care if they're all criminals? yes. I think this should be highly regulated, highly scrutinized.

The thing that bothers me most is that stuff like insider trading is effectively legal for members of Congress. A law was passed several years ago to criminalize it, but it was quickly amended to remove the public disclosure of stock trades requirements, and so in practice Congresspeople can make a killing based on their regulatory knowledge. Iirc, the average investment return for a Representative is roughly 7% and the return for a Senator is somewhere north of 10%.... while the average return for a 'civilian' investor is actually barely positive.

I don't know what this makes me, but I am very much hard-line get money out of politics. I don't care of lobbyists, I just want the best policies that help the most people, or make the most common sense.

[Morkle]

Would this, in your opinion, also expand to members of Congress as well?

Is this the "they are all criminals" argument that we often hear from nobody?

Nah, sorry, I'm not a party-line flunkie...I'm just curious as to what level does the scrutiny go down to...or, and I don't think this is the case, but or is this just a "well, now that I see that Trump is like [this]/has done [this]/whatever" I want it to be illegal/banned/etc.

I think I've been pretty consistent that if you're committing crimes, you need to get punished full-stop. I don't care about political affiliation, I want the best people leading our country.

[shmenguin]

I don't think the problem is necessarily term limits as much as it is election fatigue.

The average size of a Congressional district today is roughly 775,000 people; when the Constitution was ratified, the population of the entire country was barely 4 million. It is not practical to have every House seat up for election every two years; you have a situation today where members of Congress spend as much time on the phone gladhanding for contributions as they do in their offices or committee rooms.

i don't see how changing the cadence of elections would have any impact on the prime directive for people with unlimited term limits. they exist for the purpose of being re-elected. their behavior isn't relative to the schedule in which that takes place. from end-to-end they act the same the whole way. so let's not overthink this.

[tifosi77]

The two-year cycle is crushing, and it is entirely relative to the election schedule. While fundraising obviously goes on to varying degrees all the time, they manifestly do not act the same way throughout in both houses; it is usually only the final two years of a Senatorial term that a Senator really turns the fundraising into overdrive. Transpose that to the People's House, and it means that the day the new Congress is sworn in all the members are already in reelection fundraising mode. Space that out to four years, take the initial pressure off.

[Troy Loney]

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4445 ... stand-firm

Two warmongers meet, decide that war is the best option.

[Morkle]

I really want to know what caused Graham to just straight up go from hating Trump to worshipping the ground he walks on.

[shmenguin]

The two-year cycle is crushing, and it is entirely relative to the election schedule. While fundraising obviously goes on to varying degrees all the time, they manifestly do not act the same way throughout in both houses; it is usually only the final two years of a Senatorial term that a Senator really turns the fundraising into overdrive. Transpose that to the People's House, and it means that the day the new Congress is sworn in all the members are already in reelection fundraising mode. Space that out to four years, take the initial pressure off.

fundraising mode isn't why our federal government is a farce. party-imposed gridlock and choosing signaling over actual lawmaking are much bigger issues. both would be addressed on some level by term limits. neither would be addressed by a schedule change.

[Troy Loney]

I really want to know what caused Graham to just straight up go from hating Trump to worshipping the ground he walks on.

Probably just wants to avoid a primary race against a trumpkin.

[shmenguin]

I really want to know what caused Graham to just straight up go from hating Trump to worshipping the ground he walks on.

is this rhetorical or are you genuinely curious?

[Freddy Rumsen]

Garden variety corruption in PA

The state Auditor General is demanding answers after KDKA found millions of dollars in contracts by Pittsburgh Public Schools have been flowing to EdTech companies.

https://twitter.com/KDKA/status/1129544640502423553

[Morkle]

I really want to know what caused Graham to just straight up go from hating Trump to worshipping the ground he walks on.

is this rhetorical or are you genuinely curious?

It's rhetorical, I know he's hiding a boy issue the Russians found....

[Morkle]

Garden variety corruption in PA

The state Auditor General is demanding answers after KDKA found millions of dollars in contracts by Pittsburgh Public Schools have been flowing to EdTech companies.

https://twitter.com/KDKA/status/1129544640502423553

Disgusting.

[DigitalGypsy66]

I really want to know what caused Graham to just straight up go from hating Trump to worshipping the ground he walks on.

is this rhetorical or are you genuinely curious?

It's rhetorical, I know he's hiding a boy issue the Russians found....

He wants to get reelected. If he goes against Trump, he'll get primaried here in SC. Trump is very popular here in SC.

[Factorial]

I don't think the problem is necessarily term limits as much as it is election fatigue.

The average size of a Congressional district today is roughly 775,000 people; when the Constitution was ratified, the population of the entire country was barely 4 million. It is not practical to have every House seat up for election every two years; you have a situation today where members of Congress spend as much time on the phone gladhanding for contributions as they do in their offices or committee rooms.

i don't see how changing the cadence of elections would have any impact on the prime directive for people with unlimited term limits. they exist for the purpose of being re-elected. their behavior isn't relative to the schedule in which that takes place. from end-to-end they act the same the whole way. so let's not overthink this.

Term limits are not a panacea to all that ills congress. They get reelected because the constituents want them reelected.

[Factorial]

The two-year cycle is crushing, and it is entirely relative to the election schedule. While fundraising obviously goes on to varying degrees all the time, they manifestly do not act the same way throughout in both houses; it is usually only the final two years of a Senatorial term that a Senator really turns the fundraising into overdrive. Transpose that to the People's House, and it means that the day the new Congress is sworn in all the members are already in reelection fundraising mode. Space that out to four years, take the initial pressure off.

4 would be better but 2 gives the people a chance to throw the bums out in quick order like they did in 2000 and 2018.

[Trip McNeely]

Garden variety corruption in PA

The state Auditor General is demanding answers after KDKA found millions of dollars in contracts by Pittsburgh Public Schools have been flowing to EdTech companies.

https://twitter.com/KDKA/status/1129544640502423553

Disgusting.

Eugene Depasquale keeps on finding some good **** as the auditor general. Central Catholic for da win baby

[Factorial]

I really want to know what caused Graham to just straight up go from hating Trump to worshipping the ground he walks on.

is this rhetorical or are you genuinely curious?

It's rhetorical, I know he's hiding a boy issue the Russians found....

He wants to get reelected. If he goes against Trump, he'll get primaried here in SC. Trump is very popular here in SC.

Apparently someone announced they will challenge Amash in the GOP primary since he came out for impeaching Trump.

[Morkle]

Yea, that call-out was almost immediate for Amash. Which pretty much shows how you don't poo-poo lord Trump.

[Freddy Rumsen]

I don't think the problem is necessarily term limits as much as it is election fatigue.

The average size of a Congressional district today is roughly 775,000 people; when the Constitution was ratified, the population of the entire country was barely 4 million. It is not practical to have every House seat up for election every two years; you have a situation today where members of Congress spend as much time on the phone gladhanding for contributions as they do in their offices or committee rooms.

i don't see how changing the cadence of elections would have any impact on the prime directive for people with unlimited term limits. they exist for the purpose of being re-elected. their behavior isn't relative to the schedule in which that takes place. from end-to-end they act the same the whole way. so let's not overthink this.

Term limits are not a panacea to all that ills congress. They get reelected because the constituents want them reelected.

Also, term limits empower the lobbyists and career staff in Washington as they then hold the knowledge base for daily work in the Congress.

[Guinness]

career staff in Washington

Specifically with regard to executive branch bureaucrats, this is a primary reason why the conservative voting public will NEVER see the kind of "change" they supposedly want until these department/positions are eliminated.

The Federal bureaucracy seems to be a barbed hook - once set, it's both difficult and painful to remove. Frankly, many of them (the conservative voting public) don't actually want the change they say they want (e.g. "keep your damn hands off my Medicare!"). Yet somehow around here the theory goes that the GOP has somehow gotten more and more radical over the years... I'm not sure what the hell that ("radical") is even supposed to mean, if that's true.

There's no "small government" party to be had on the national stage.

[tifosi77]

Apparently someone announced they will challenge Amash in the GOP primary since he came out for impeaching Trump.

Yea, that call-out was almost immediate for Amash. Which pretty much shows how you don't poo-poo lord Trump.

Some things I believe are important to note re Amash:

- The number of Republicans in Congress saying there are grounds for impeachment now stands at one (1), and he's in the wrong chamber for it to be of any help towards that goal;
- he has voted along with Trump's preferred line a little over 70% of the time, which is by far the lowest amount of any Republican in Congress;
- he was already primaried once before (2014) because he was such a thorn in the side of party leadership for his contrarian practices, and to that point Speak Boehner removed him from Paul Ryan's budget committee;
- the guy primarying him says he had already committed to the race and was holding off announcing until closer to July 4, but got some collateral marketing from the Trump Tweets.

[Morkle]

Federal Judge rules Trump can not block financial records. Must have them over to Congress. Oh boy.

[Link to the full decision](https://assets.documentcloud.org/docume ... 190520.pdf)

>It is **simply not fathomable** that a Constitution that grants
Congress the power to remove a President for reasons including criminal behavior would deny
Congress the power to investigate him for unlawful conduct—past or present—**even without
formally opening an impeachment inquiry.**
>
>...
>
>The court is well aware that this case involves records concerning the private and business affairs of the President of the United States. But on the question of whether to grant a say pending appeal, the President is subject to the same legal standard as any other litigant that does not prevail. Plaintiffs have not raised a “serious legal question[] going to the merits.” Population Inst., 797 F.2d at 1078. And, the balance of equities and **the public interest weigh heavily in favor of denying relief. The risk of irreparable harm does not outweigh these other factors.**
Powerful, emphatic precedent.

Powerful, emphatic precedent.

[Morkle]

House Intel Released Cohens testimony too.

[Dickie Dunn]

Wonder how this will interfere with our plans to "end" Iran.

[Factorial]

More claims of treason by Trump tonight.

For investigating him.