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I agree why didn't the energy and transportation secretary take transportation into account during his offhanded comment? I mean, it's not like that's a separate department and his job is to basically only look at energy as a problem, right?
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Feb 21, 2013 20:04
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thepedestrian posted:Yes because Steven Chu is the only professor ever to do this. I pointedly didn't mention the specifics. Are you absolutely certain that no facts could surface in a divorce that would change your opinion of someone? Quick, get Jack Ryan on the phone. While we're at it, what's the Count of Professors Who Do a Thing that make it non-lovely?
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Feb 21, 2013 20:09
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Stop judging the Energy Secretary on his relationship with his wife.
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Tatum Girlparts posted:I agree why didn't the energy and transportation secretary take transportation into account during his offhanded comment? I mean, it's not like that's a separate department and his job is to basically only look at energy as a problem, right? If you're going to support something (bringing American gas prices up to the levels of those in Europe) that would put a massive financial burden on already hurting working class Americans, it's pretty drat important to point out that you'd want to do so after providing them some alternative method to get from point A to point B. Obviously he wouldn't have all the details on that part but he at least should have mentioned that if it was his intent.
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Feb 21, 2013 20:11
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MaxxBot posted:If you're going to support something (bringing American gas prices up to the levels of those in Europe) that would put a massive financial burden on already hurting working class Americans, it's pretty drat important to point out that you'd want to do so after providing them some alternative method to get from point A to point B. Obviously he wouldn't have all the details on that part but he at least should have mentioned that if it was his intent. So lets flip this argument around, lowering gas taxes would release a massive financial burden on already hurting working class Americans. Not wanting to increase gas taxes is the same as wanting to reduce gas taxes unless you want to argue that we are in a Goldilocks zone for gas taxes.
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Feb 21, 2013 20:15
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MaxxBot posted:If you're going to support something (bringing American gas prices up to the levels of those in Europe) that would put a massive financial burden on already hurting working class Americans, it's pretty drat important to point out that you'd want to do so after providing them some alternative method to get from point A to point B. Obviously he wouldn't have all the details on that part but he at least should have mentioned that if it was his intent. This is the main argument for cap and trade.
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Feb 21, 2013 20:18
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MaxxBot posted:If you're going to support something (bringing American gas prices up to the levels of those in Europe) that would put a massive financial burden on already hurting working class Americans, it's pretty drat important to point out that you'd want to do so after providing them some alternative method to get from point A to point B. Obviously he wouldn't have all the details on that part but he at least should have mentioned that if it was his intent. This is all true, which makes it good that literally the only time he 'advocated' for this was in the context of basically saying 'we pay too little for gas, we should maybe look into what that implies', I imagine if he had, you know, a real proposal or task force or literally anything put in place to do anything at all it would involve looking into all of that.
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Feb 21, 2013 20:24
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karthun posted:So lets flip this argument around, lowering gas taxes would release a massive financial burden on already hurting working class Americans. Not wanting to increase gas taxes is the same as wanting to reduce gas taxes unless you want to argue that we are in a Goldilocks zone for gas taxes. The point of taxes is revenue, the ideal tax rate is that which is enough to pay for the infrastructure that the tax is supposed to support. If the gas tax increase was going directly to fund alternative energy and transportation then that would be fine, but that's a lot more specific than just saying that we need to "somehow" find a way to drive up gas prices so people use less of it.
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Feb 21, 2013 20:27
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MaxxBot posted:If you're going to support something (bringing American gas prices up to the levels of those in Europe) that would put a massive financial burden on already hurting working class Americans, it's pretty drat important to point out that you'd want to do so after providing them some alternative method to get from point A to point B. Obviously he wouldn't have all the details on that part but he at least should have mentioned that if it was his intent. I don't get this argument. Couldn't any "regressive" tax hike be accompanied by a refund check (say 150% of the median gas expense—at the new-tax price—of working class drivers) which phases out above a certain income level? That way you get the economic-behavior-altering benefits of higher prices without harming the worst-off people relative to the status quo. Plus since it's a straight check, people are encouraged to drive less if they can, and the cash difference is totally theirs.
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Feb 21, 2013 20:27
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quote != edit
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Feb 21, 2013 20:29
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MaxxBot posted:The point of taxes is revenue, the ideal tax rate is that which is enough to pay for the infrastructure that the tax is supposed to support. If the gas tax increase was going directly to fund alternative energy and transportation then that would be fine, but that's a lot more specific than just saying that we need to "somehow" find a way to drive up gas prices so people use less of it.  A carbon tax would be Pigouvian, i.e. it's there because we don't want you to do it, and we will use the revenue to repair some of the damage your action has caused.e for on-topic: REPUBLICANS RAISE TAXES  in Wyoming!!! No telling how this will play out in those closely watched local races 
Acrophyte fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Feb 21, 2013 |
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Feb 21, 2013 20:57
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A bit late to the party on why Baucus is terrible (hey, it's snowing like gently caress here in Missouri and I've actually got to dig myself out), but once again The Onion says it better than anyone else ever could.
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Feb 21, 2013 22:14
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I know this is for 2014 elections not for 2013 ones but I had to bring up this VA governor poll... http://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes-centers/polling-institute/virginia/release-detail?ReleaseID=1852 The idea that McAuliffe can't break away from that literally insane person EVEN WITH a 3rd party republican taking 13% of the vote is very troubling. What the hell is going on in VA? This should be at least 5-6% ahead of what Obama ran in VA considering how terrible the republican candidate is. McAuliffe must be a truly horrible candidate.
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Feb 22, 2013 00:18
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mcmagic posted:I know this is for 2014 elections not for 2013 ones but I had to bring up this VA governor poll... That looks to me like 38% of people will say "Republican" no matter what, 38% of people will say "Democrat" no matter what, and pretty much no one has paid any attention to this race yet. I wouldn't be terribly concerned with a poll that shows 24% of people undecided.
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Feb 22, 2013 01:13
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OAquinas posted:And then you have shipping concerns on top of that--doubling gas prices will play hell with our truck based infrastructure and food deliveries. Basically, you'll completely gently caress the US economy for at least a few years, and that's assuming an easily adapted transition. From experience in the truck based infrastructure I can assure you that diesel is one of the lowest factors of operating costs involved in moving stuff from A to B- your biggest expense by far is skilled drivers. Saying you pay someone significantly less than their worth for driving a truck, that's $15/hour. City driving with multiple stops (and even refrigeration units running, you can go as little as 10 miles using a $5 gallon of diesel in that same hour. FedEx starts at something like $22/hour, after a year or two that's 28 with overtime anytime after 6pm. To add some reasoning to the perspective of gas not being terribly expensive, when calculating out the amount of energy in a gallon of gas I've heard numbers quoted above '20 man-labor-years'. It's energy dense stuff, and pretty much nothing would get done without it. Basically, yeah, gasoline is a wildly undervalued resource that the US gets for significantly less than its worth and, as gas prices every summer show, will be bought at a higher price without much actual commotion. I'd guess raising gas prices fucks lower income individuals worse than anyone else, but to not identify that we get gas on the cheap is simply turning a blind eye to the economics and physics of the situation.
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Feb 22, 2013 03:14
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As crazy as my state is, I really didn't see this coming: John Cornyn Gets A Tea Party Challenger In Texas Senate Race . Now looking at this seriously, which is hard to do as I will soon point out, one has to say that anything is possible, especially in the state that has given us Louie Gohmert, Rick Perry and now Ted Cruz. Mr. Wyatt has a website, Erik Wyatt 4 Senate, a facebook page Erik Wyatt on facebook and a Twitter account Erik Wyatt 4 Senate Based on his tweets, we know that he likes the Hoover Institute, the Cato Institute, Michelle Malkin and of course the Heritage Foundation. Before I go further, let me say that I admire the man for being an Iraq Veteran who was injured in combat and for his dedication to his family and country. I think the man is sincere in his desire to help his fellow citizens. But his sincere desire to help people is also a big non-starter for the GOP and the Tea Party in particular so I'm not sure how he even earned or deserves the tag of being a Tea Party Challenger. At his website he talks about the severe disability of his special needs step-son and says: quote:Military families struggle every single day they need a fighter in their corner, in the Senate, to fight for them and try to bring awareness to the struggles they face, and try to bring people to care about their needs, families with special needs children, families who struggle daily financially, medically, emotionally, and physically. Washington needs to grow a heart, and while I’m just one man; I can work on others’ way of thinking and enlighten and educate them and teach them how to care, as well. So I'm not sure how well this message will be received by the GOP/Tea Party in Texas. In his How We Can Cut Spending post, he wants to cut all foreign aid and even links to a graphic that clearly shows that Israel is, far and away, the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid and that's just a big no no. Oh, and he also mentions that his father is serving time in Oklahoma for child pornography. radical meme fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Feb 22, 2013 |
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Feb 22, 2013 22:44
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radical meme posted:Oh, and he also mentions that his father is serving time in Oklahoma for child pornography. Lets be honest if you want to run for office and your father is serving time for child pornography, you should probably just state that in the first place so if anyone goes "MY OPPONENT'S FATHER IS SERVING TIME FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY" you can go "Yes, I told you that."
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Feb 23, 2013 06:43
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Welp, The Michigan Democratic Party convention in Detroit is over and the votes were never cast for the new party chairman. Mark Brewer is out, Lon Johnson is in. Double the usual number of delegates arrived to take part in the vote and there was the threat of a floor fight about to start over it. Appears the UAW arrived with 1400 delegates and they were all going to vote for Johnson. Mark Brewer, the 18 year incumbent decided to step down because he knew he would never win the election. Who is Lon Johnson? He's originally from the Detroit downriver area but currently calls Kalkaska home, a town in Northwestern Michigan near Traverse City. His wife, Julianna Smoot, was a Deputy Manager of Barack Obama's 2012 presidential reelection campaign and also served as the White House social secretary. Lon Johnson is a team member of TVV Capital in Nashville Tennessee, a venture capital firm. I have mixed feelings about this guy because before 2012 you never heard of him until he ran for the state house seat in Kalkaska in 2012.
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Feb 23, 2013 23:12
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Highspeeddub posted:Who is Lon Johnson? He's originally from the Detroit downriver area but currently calls Kalkaska home, a town in Northwestern Michigan near Traverse City. His wife, Julianna Smoot, was a Deputy Manager of Barack Obama's 2012 presidential reelection campaign and also served as the White House social secretary. Lon Johnson is a team member of TVV Capital in Nashville Tennessee, a venture capital firm. I have mixed feelings about this guy because before 2012 you never heard of him until he ran for the state house seat in Kalkaska in 2012. How did Lon manage to gain so much support in such a short period of time? Has he said anything concrete about what he wants to do? apparently not posted:While the general public did not know much about Johnson until he ran for state House out of Kalkaska last year, top Democrats praised his previous behind-the-scenes work for the party. He launched his candidacy earlier this month with the backing of the UAW and Michigan's entire Democratic Congressional delegation. He previously has worked on Democratic campaigns, so hopefully he's actually competent at getting people elected. Of course, the fact that it seems notable that he wants to win statewide seats either means this report was running scarce on details, or the MI state Democratic party was previously run by functionally broken people.
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Feb 24, 2013 03:55
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Spiderfist Island posted:He previously has worked on Democratic campaigns, so hopefully he's actually competent at getting people elected. Of course, the fact that it seems notable that he wants to win statewide seats either means this report was running scarce on details, or the MI state Democratic party was previously run by functionally broken people. Michigan went for Obama by nearly 10% in the last two elections. It hasn't voted for a Republican president since 1988. Yet they don't hold a majority in either state house; in fact Republicans hold a whopping 70% of Michigan Senate seats. Winning statewide seats is exactly what they need to be doing. So yeah, functionally broken people have definitely been involved here.
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Feb 24, 2013 04:49
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mcmagic posted:I know this is for 2014 elections not for 2013 ones but I had to bring up this VA governor poll... McAuliffe is a pretty terrible candidate all things considered. His claims to fame are losing the Senate in 2002, losing more House seats in 2002 as DNC Chair and losing by 25% in the Democratic Primary in 09. I'm going to be extremely depressed if our idiot AG becomes governor, but this is what happens when you have a really weak bench and only one candidate with a hint of name recognition.
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Feb 24, 2013 06:29
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Spiderfist Island posted:How did Lon manage to gain so much support in such a short period of time? Has he said anything concrete about what he wants to do? Yeah, there's a lot of states like that, one party nationally, the other/s locally. Boils down often to the rural/urban divide.
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Feb 24, 2013 14:54
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Juliana Smoot currently works for the DNC in Chicago. I'm already seeing Republicans screaming about the ominous Obama political machine is infiltrating Michigan.
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Feb 24, 2013 15:49
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Highspeeddub posted:I'm already seeing Republicans screaming about the ominous Obama political machine is infiltrating Michigan. It's about time, we need something to actually work around here. I'm having a hard time getting over Johnson's credentials as a venture capital hack. That, and the fact that he just sort of appeared out of thin air doesn't fill me with a lot of enthusiasm. On the other hand, anything is better than Brewer.
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Feb 24, 2013 16:39
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Highspeeddub posted:Juliana Smoot currently works for the DNC in Chicago. I'm already seeing Republicans screaming about the ominous Obama political machine is infiltrating Michigan. They'd loving scream that no matter what.
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Feb 24, 2013 18:11
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Joementum posted:Safe Democrat (no race): 34 I don't think VA is a tossup, it's probably solid D assuming Warner runs.
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Feb 24, 2013 18:28
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Kim Jong Il posted:I don't think VA is a tossup, it's probably solid D assuming Warner runs. I'm certain he was talked into it. The way I read it he doesn't enjoy being a senator and wants to be Governor again, but was discouraged from running because his popularity keeps the seat safe. If McAuliffe wins he's definitely going to run in 2017.
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Feb 24, 2013 19:08
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mcmagic posted:I know this is for 2014 elections not for 2013 ones but I had to bring up this VA governor poll... I'm glad I can post this here, unlike on Facebook, where a number of my other friends in local politics here in NoVA have bought into T-Mac: McAuliffe is a lovely all-around candidate and, at least outside of his home where I'm sure he's a nice guy, a pretty terrible person. Let's ignore the fact that people only know him as a political hack and that even most of Northern VA won't go for someone who's entire background is in politics. People have been telling me for 2 years now that he has the winning issue of jobs "wrapped up." Ok? So what about his lovely electric car company? Have you or anyone else seen one of his cars? Without a popular product, the company might as well be Solyndra or (insert generic company no one cares about here) to most low-info voters. Oh, and where did he build it's factory? Republican-run Mississippi. There goes the "Dems like me are better for business!" argument. "Oh! But you see! He applied for a loan from VA but got rejected! Because the Republicans don't help business!" Wonderful, so we're running on the "Bob McD didn't give me enough corporate welfare" platform. Great. That'll look good. THAT'S LITERALLY THE ENTIRETY OF HIS "I'm a job creator!" ARGUMENT. Thank god the Clintons have been rehabilitated in the minds of most Americans, because that's literally all he has going for him: Bill as his salesman. "Oh! But T-Mac is a salesman himself! Let him get Cuccinelli on stage and he'll argue circles right around him!" First off, this assumes that people give a poo poo about political events and debates in low-info elections. Getting people to care enough to vote in these elections is enough of a task. Believe me, I've done it twice now. In 2009, the biggest problem was that the Obama voters 1) are low-info voters who don't follow non-federal races AT ALL and 2) Democrats don't ever play with a chip on their shoulder like the GOP does (whether in the majority or not!), and assume Obama's in His Heaven, All's Right with the World. "I'll think about voting, if I do, I always vote Democrat" is the most common response I got from people in 2009. Also, T-Mac's personality in these situations, at least to me, is TERRIBLE. He's always talking AT YOU VERY LOUDLY. Bill Clinton might have the same views, but you'll buy them because He Feels Your Pain. T-Mac comes off as any number of archetypes that everyone avoids: a carney, a car salesman, and...a politician. True story: a friend was at a DNC event with T-Mac. Terry literally introduced himself and shook his hand 5 TIMES in the course of the event. He can't even be bothered to pay attention to the people he's campaigning in front of. The last time I was at an event where he was present, I spoke to Mark Warner for 15 minutes about rural broadband in my home county. It's not a wealth thing. It's not a political beliefs thing. It's a personality thing, and he has the wrong one for going up against a stoic man who will always been unfazed and serious about every issue, even if he's insane. We got T-Mac as a candidate without a primary because he has been travelling the state handing out money to every Dem officeholder for the past 4 years. That's why Periello didn't run. That's why no Senator ran. He's calling in his favors, and no one wants to compete with his money. Brigadier Sockface posted:I'm certain he was talked into it. The way I read it he doesn't enjoy being a senator and wants to be Governor again, but was discouraged from running because his popularity keeps the seat safe. If McAuliffe wins he's definitely going to run in 2017. I'm not sure what you're getting at here, but Warner will run in 2014 (he's said as much) and didn't run in 2013 because he doesn't want to be seen as giving up on a job (he served 1 term as gov because that's all anyone can serve at one time in VA. He wants to stay in the Senate now to not be seen as a quitter if he runs for prez). If he's going anywhere, it's the presidential race in 2016, but I think he's outmatched there unless Hillary stays out and Cuomo gets bad press. De Nomolos fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Feb 24, 2013 |
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Feb 24, 2013 19:53
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CroatianAlzheimers posted:It's about time, we need something to actually work around here. I'm having a hard time getting over Johnson's credentials as a venture capital hack. That, and the fact that he just sort of appeared out of thin air doesn't fill me with a lot of enthusiasm. On the other hand, anything is better than Brewer. I agree with that, but Johnson has a very tough road ahead and he can't wait to start looking for candidates and firing up the base 6 months from now, not with the energy going currently with repealing RTW and undoing some of the debilitating plans Snyder wants. Emergency Manager for Detroit, raising taxes again and I could go on and on. Now that it appears he is going back on another promise and looking to run for a second term, we have a huge fight to find someone who can run against him and win. Johnson needs to get to work on that starting now.
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Feb 24, 2013 20:13
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De Nomolos posted:
Oh, what I mean is that if (when) the president thing doesn't work out he'd much prefer another term as Governor rather than staying in the senate, and had in fact considered running this year.
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Feb 24, 2013 23:58
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De Nomolos posted:stuff about T-Mac I'd never thought I would see the day when Virginia would officially take the plunge and make Cucinelli the governor, but with T-Mac being his sole opposition it is approaching closer with each passing day 
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Feb 25, 2013 00:14
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Highspeeddub posted:I agree with that, but Johnson has a very tough road ahead and he can't wait to start looking for candidates and firing up the base 6 months from now, not with the energy going currently with repealing RTW and undoing some of the debilitating plans Snyder wants. Emergency Manager for Detroit, raising taxes again and I could go on and on. Now that it appears he is going back on another promise and looking to run for a second term, we have a huge fight to find someone who can run against him and win. Johnson needs to get to work on that starting now. Lon Johnson should be able to put together a string of victories in 2014. Anything less is a failure.
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Feb 25, 2013 05:10
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AsInHowe posted:Lon Johnson should be able to put together a string of victories in 2014. Anything less is a failure. That'd be nice, wouldn't it? What's Michigan's Democratic bench even look like for 2014? The whole party has been such an embarrassment for so many years that even with new blood in the leadership position I'm not particularly hopeful.
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Feb 25, 2013 05:37
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Fuschia tude posted:I don't get this argument. Couldn't any "regressive" tax hike be accompanied by a refund check (say 150% of the median gas expense—at the new-tax price—of working class drivers) which phases out above a certain income level? That way you get the economic-behavior-altering benefits of higher prices without harming the worst-off people relative to the status quo. Plus since it's a straight check, people are encouraged to drive less if they can, and the cash difference is totally theirs. Other than that I don't think it should scale off at a particular income level, this is pretty much what I would support.
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Feb 25, 2013 05:49
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De Nomolos posted:T-Mac I am very worried that our wonderful Attorney General is going to win because McAuliffe is that bad of a candidate. I see absolutely no upside for him in the race other than "I'm not Ken Cucinelli." But hey Kerry's "I'm not Bush" strategy when McAuliffe was DNC Chair worked out great so I'm sure he'll be fine 
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Feb 25, 2013 17:27
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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/ashley-judd-makes-steps-senate-bid/story?id=18570742 I thought we had another month before April 1st.
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Feb 25, 2013 21:01
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Cheekio posted:http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/ashley-judd-makes-steps-senate-bid/story?id=18570742 You can't tell me it wouldn't be hilarious to see Ashley Judd beat that turtlefaced pain-in-the-rear end. It'll never happen, but it would be completely hilarious.
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Feb 25, 2013 21:04
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Kinky Freidman might run for Governor of Texas again in 2014.
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Feb 25, 2013 23:35
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Why the hell not?
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Feb 25, 2013 23:48
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He did surprisingly well last time without having a platform and seemed to not really give a poo poo, who knows what he could do if he actually had organization and enthusiasm?
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Feb 25, 2013 23:55
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CroatianAlzheimers posted:Why the hell not? And we already got his campaign slogan.
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Feb 25, 2013 23:56
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