U.S. Presidential Election 2016 (Sponsored by Betty Croker's Hamburger Helper)

[Lewis]

Do you even get/have a vote?

[phonics]

Nah, I didn't change my voting registration when I was in the UK to Swansea and this year was the cut-off

[Mazuuurk]

This chrome plugin is so good

https://snag.gy/yxCGDE.jpg

[Bernanke]

This Wikileaks-stuff tho...:


Just before the stroke of midnight on September 20, 2016, at the height of last year’s presidential election, the Wikileaks Twitter account sent a private direct message to Donald Trump Jr., the Republican nominee’s oldest son and campaign surrogate. “A PAC run anti-Trump site putintrump.org is about to launch,” Wikileaks wrote. “The PAC is a recycled pro-Iraq war PAC. We have guessed the password. It is ‘putintrump.’ See ‘About’ for who is behind it. Any comments?” (The site, which has since become a joint project with Mother Jones, was founded by Rob Glaser, a tech entrepreneur, and was funded by Progress for USA Political Action Committee.)


“Hi Don. Sorry to hear about your problems,” Wikileaks wrote. “We have an idea that may help a little. We are VERY interested in confidentially obtaining and publishing a copy of the email(s) cited in the New York Times today,” citing a reference in the paper to emails Trump Jr had exchanged with Rob Goldstone, a publicist who had helped set up the meeting. “We think this is strongly in your interest,” Wikileaks went on. It then reprised many of the same arguments it made in trying to convince Trump Jr. to turn over his father’s tax returns, including the argument that Trump’s enemies in the press were using the emails to spin an unfavorable narrative of the meeting. “Us publishing not only deprives them of this ability but is beautifully confounding.”


on the same day that Trump Jr. received the first message from Wikileaks, he emailed other senior officials with the Trump campaign, including Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Brad Parscale, and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, telling them Wikileaks had made contact. Kushner then forwarded the email to campaign communications staffer Hope Hicks.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DOiyCdmU8AAyh_l.jpg

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/the-secret-correspondence-between-donald-trump-jr-and-wikileaks/545738/

And they did it all over Twitter DMs. :face:

[Henry]

That really sucks for Wikileaks.

[phonics]

930432900616589312

lol. Why do you think Gary?

Not that it matters because they'll win anyway.

930441998368169986

[Raoul Duke]

Wikileaks isn't an organisation anyway, it's just Julian Ass-Anger with multiple personality disorder hanging out at the embassy wasting his life thinking he's important. If Twitter wasn't such a cesspit they should ban him and make him go insane.

Lol at America literally electing a nonce now too. Absolute third world country rolled in expensive glitter.

[Lewis]

It's hard not to admire the way that that nonce bloke is simply refusing to accept any of it.

[niko_cee]

He's not still in the embassy is he? I thought he got out a while ago.

[Boydy]

Pretty sure he's still there in his cupboard.

[Shindig]

They dropped the charges so I assume he left.

[phonics]

They dropped the charges so I assume he left.

It was never about the sexual assault charges. They were a pretense to have him extradited to the US. He's since doubled down on his anti-US stance to the point that his organisation has been designated a rogue operator by a CIA director appointed by the guy he supported in the hope that'd get him off. The moment he leaves, MI5 will ship him off to the US where he'd be jailed for life. He'll die in that cupboard.

[phonics]

930563553177858051

Christ.

Was Jewey Jewstein taken?

[Henry]

Trump sentenced to death (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/15/north-korea-sentences-trump-to-death-for-insulting-kim-jong-un?CMP=fb_gu)

Some good news at last.

[John Arne]

https://gyazo.com/52a439619ae89d7199ffe8c5fdbfc450.gif

[Bernanke]

Rubio did it better.

[Henry]

There are currently allegations circulating that Donald Tump hired Russian hookers to watch them pee on a bed which Obama had previously slept in. And that a tape exists of this.

...

:|

[Boydy]

Currently? The pee tape rumours have been around since before he was elected.

[Henry]

It must be getting another airing because of the investigations then. I hadn't heard it.

[Disco]

At least you're in the know now.

[mugbull]

It's all in the dossier innit

[Byron]

Hey guys, I heard that Princess Diana died. Could someone confirm?

[Byron]

It wasn’t the White House, it wasn’t the State Department, it wasn’t father LaVar’s so-called people on the ground in China that got his son out of a long term prison sentence - IT WAS ME. Too bad! LaVar is just a poor man’s version of Don King, but without the hair. Just think..

...LaVar, you could have spent the next 5 to 10 years during Thanksgiving with your son in China, but no NBA contract to support you. But remember LaVar, shoplifting is NOT a little thing. It’s a really big deal, especially in China. Ungrateful fool!

He's actually 12 isn't he? The mere suggestion that anyone other than him did it all just breaks his ego.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Jesus, talk about punching down.

[John]

It's bullshit too. Ball's oldest son is already in the NBA and despite only having been there for forty five minutes already has his own line of trainers. The thieving twat could have spent his life in China and old man Ball would still have been loaded.

It's amusing that Trump seems to think he deserves a parade on the odd occasion he does his fucking job. Although there's absolutely no chance he was personally negotiating over a couple of kids in prison. More likely is he threw a strop because they don't do Doritos in China and flounced off while his people sorted it out.

[phonics]

https://i.imgur.com/2Cl6JAF.gif

[John Arne]

Having seen an interview with this LaVar - he seems like an even bigger tool than Trump. It actually is a battle of the fucking idiots.

[Bernanke]

The difference is one runs around on a court, one is supposed to run a country.

[John Arne]

Well yeah.

[John]

LaVar doesn't even do that. He shouts at the top of his voice about how good his children are at running around a court.

[Lewis]

935233424486526977

:lol:

[Lewis]

You were here long before any of us were here. Although we have a representative in Congress who they say was here a long time ago. They call her Pocahontas.

The lollest part of that is 'they call her'.

[Pepe]

I should be OUTRAGED but it is hard not to lol.

[Shindig]

Let's be honest. If you're meeting Trump, you'd consider an uneventful conversation a disappointment.

[niko_cee]

"He was surprisingly cordial . . ."

Not an anecdote to woo the dinner party circuit.

That series about him that has been running on Channel 4 has been quite good. Young Trump seems like he was way more self-aware than the modern incarnation. So I guess it's all an act, or he's senile. Still some pretty odious shit, particularly about women/his wives. He also comes across as more than a little Partridge-y which is quite amusing.

"He just kept shouting Dan!"

[ItalAussie]

He used to be smart enough to keep the fact that he's a massive dickhead under control, but it was always there. Now he's senile, and doesn't even realise that he's a massive dickhead, or that he needs to keep it under control at all.

[Shindig]

Now he's a celebrity dickhead, rather than a business dickhead.

[Pepe]

Dickhead in chief. He doesn't need to keep anything under control.

[phonics]

He's started retweeting Britain First today.

Nice.

[Mazuuurk]

https://snag.gy/U47pD2.jpg


This makes a lot of sense. Of course "inappropriate sexual behaviour" is not really something you should get fired for, while FAKE NEWS warrants prison.

[Magic]

He's started retweeting Britain First today.

Nice.

What a guy. :D

[Jimmy Floyd]

He'll be gone by this time next year. If the legal avenues haven't worked by then, someone will have shot him.

[Disco]

The Russia stuff will catch up to him eventually but I rather suspect it will be after he's left office.

[Mazuuurk]

He'll be gone by this time next year. If the legal avenues haven't worked by then, someone will have shot him.

I doubt it's much feasible to assassinate him, and your traditional shady types that will want to do that and have the means and "professionalism" - for lack of a better word - to do it are likely not that miffed by him being in charge.

The likeliest scenario is that his dementia takes (another) downward turn and he just isn't able - even by Republican standards - to appear in any official capacity. I dunno.

[Mazuuurk]

He'll be gone by this time next year. If the legal avenues haven't worked by then, someone will have shot him.

I doubt it's much feasible to assassinate him, and your traditional shady types that will want to do that and have the means and "professionalism" - for lack of a better word - to do it are likely not that miffed by him being in charge.

The likeliest scenario is that his dementia takes (another) downward turn and he just isn't able - even by Republican standards - to appear in any official capacity. I dunno.

[Lewis]

I hope he does the full eight years. It's funny.

[Pepe]

He'll get the full eight. Then he'll stroll around telling everyone within earshot how he was the best president ever.

[Bernanke]

I'd be surprised if his health, both mental and physical, allows for him to do 8 more years.

[Magic]

What's all this about mental health?

[Mazuuurk]

No sorry, we thought this was the Relationship thread.

[Magic]

:sick:

[Disco]

Apparently this Britain First lot once tried to get the Dudley Boys banned from entering the country because they thought they were Syrian hate preachers.

[Bernanke]

He tried replying to Theresa May but @ed the wrong one. :D

936033684775493638

[Henry]

As long as he's a useful idiot for the Republican party he'll stay in office. They're the real danger.

[ItalAussie]

He wants to privatize counter-intelligence because he thinks the CIA and its oversight have it in for him.

Is there a book running on whether there will actually be elections in three years time? I'm starting to think I'd take some of those odds.

[Mazuuurk]

Haven't all these "Historians" basically said since day one he will inevitably "stage a coup" to seize power over government within 3 years?

I wouldn't doubt his intentions to pull off something like that, only his ability to get the right (wrong) people to follow him.



EDIT: Then again, I suppose that's exactly how he got elected, so.

[Henry]

Looks like the near suicidal tax "reform" bill is well on its way to being passed.

You know how Republicans are obsessed with cutting the deficit and balancing the books? Well, in order to cut taxes on rich people and companies, this adds $1.4 trillion to the deficit, to be paid for by magically increasing economic growth.
If said magic fails to work, in a few years it automatically triggers spending cuts - to things like health. What could possibly go wrong?

[Disco]

Trump doesn't have the imagination to do anything too megalomaniacal, he'll totter along being racist and telling everyone how great he is for a few years and that'll be it.

[phonics]

lol Flynn flipped.

'Just now: @BrianRoss (https://twitter.com/BrianRoss) on @ABC (https://twitter.com/ABC) News Special Report: Flynn promised full cooperation to the Mueller team and is prepared to testify that candidate Trump "directed him to make contact with the Russians.”'

[Disco]

Welp, this could be interesting.

[Raoul Duke]

This is classic 'mob boss investigation' stuff from Meuller. Go after a bunch of shitmunchers, roll them over until you get high enough up the tree to get the capo. Then stick Donald in Guantanamo until he croaks :drool:

[Lewis]

Tenner sez nothing happens.

[ItalAussie]

Haven't all these "Historians" basically said since day one he will inevitably "stage a coup" to seize power over government within 3 years?

I wouldn't doubt his intentions to pull off something like that, only his ability to get the right (wrong) people to follow him.



EDIT: Then again, I suppose that's exactly how he got elected, so.

I'm not suggesting that I think it'll happen. But if you gave me 20/1 on him trying to find a pretext not to have the next batch of elections, I'd look at those odds a couple of times.

[Lewis]

Apparently it was President-elect Trump, not candidate Trump, who wanted contact with Russia. Which is a bit of a difference.

Tenners to the usual address.

[Henry]

So, Trump's tweet about sacking Flynn for lying to the FBI and the subsequent claims that it was his lawyer using his account (to get around the fact that Trump wasn't supposed to know about that, oops) begs a couple of questions.

Is it really credible that a top lawyer is going to probably wreck his career by making such an ill-advised statement, including using the word "pled" instead of "pleaded"?

But if it's true, are Trump's outbursts being stage-managed by his team at least to some extent, to distract from other shit that's going on? That's effectively the function they're performing, while Paul Ryan and company pass their odious tax cuts.

[Raoul Duke]

This guy: https://twitter.com/SethAbramson has been smashing it with regards to the most recent lunacy from The Dotard

[John Arne]

I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but I reckon Trump is definately a Russian plant. Whether he knows it or not, that’s another question.

Either that, or I’ve been watching too much of The Americans lately.

[phonics]

Seth Abramson is a massive grifter who's stuff falls to pieces the moment it's put under any scrutiny. Put him in the same bucket at Mensch.

[Disco]

When they realised there was a good chance they could get a complete fucking clown in the White House you bet the KGB did everything they could to make sure he got there. Not the first time either, Kruschev boasted to Kennedy that it was him that got him elected.

[Henry]

When they realised there was a good chance they could get a complete fucking clown in the White House you bet the KGB did everything they could to make sure he got there. Not the first time either, Kruschev boasted to Kennedy that it was him that got him elected.

"Everything they could" is pretty limited. This is a storm in a teacup. Can't say I give a fuck about Trump being damaged by his incompetent handling of it though.

[Jimmy Floyd]

People massively overestimate the Ruskies on a daily basis, which of course is what Putin wants them to do.

[Shindig]

House of Tards.

[Disco]

I'm not suggesting they were stuffing ballot boxes or anything but you can easily imagine a situation in which they put someone they knew close to him. He's hilariously easy to manipulate and has done business in Russia for years, it's entirely possible that he's been influenced in some way.

[phonics]

He's an absolute nutter.

859393829505552385

[mugbull]

Paging ItalAussie

[ItalAussie]

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to be reacting.

[phonics]

I thought it was the right that was supposed to be good at governance?

lol

938254283727831042

P.S. lol 2

'The GOP had originally intended to abolish the AMT. But on Friday, with the clock running out — and money running short — Senate Republicans put the AMT back into their bill. Unfortunately for McConnell, they forgot to lower the AMT after doing so.This is a big problem. The Senate bill brings the normal corporate rate down to 20 percent — while leaving the alternative minimum rate at … 20 percent. The legislation would still allow corporations to claim a wide variety of tax credits and deductions — it just renders all them completely worthless. Companies can either take no deductions, and pay a 20 percent rate — or take lots of deductions … and pay a 20 percent rate.'

… Murray Energy Corp., an Ohio-based firm and the largest privately held U.S. coal-mining company, complained that the AMT decision and the Senate’s tougher limits on interest deductions made a “mockery out of so-called tax reform.” Robert Murray, the company’s chief executive officer, said the Senate tax plan would raise his company’s tax bill by $60 million.

[Giggles]

What's the big deal about this Jerusalem thing?

[Lewis]

Israel occupies East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of any independent state. They were obviously never ever ever (ever ever ever) getting it back, but there was an entire industry built around the idea of Israel somehow being talked into giving them it back, so this puts a stop to that.

[Giggles]

Ah right. I knew, because it was the yanks, that it would be favourable to Israel as they're mates and all. I just never knew it was split or any of that.

[Spikey M]

How, in 2017, do you not know that?

[Giggles]

How, in 2017, do you not know that?

Because I don't care what happens that far away and I always thought Jerusalem was in Israel anyway. But Twitter was alight about this tonight and I knew some of you would know why.

[Raoul Duke]

Why do people give a disproportionate amount of fucks about Israel? It's a country about the size of Switzerland or Papa New Guinea. Yeah it's got some religious stuff in it but why does America have such a raging stiff one eye for it?

[Pepe]

Isn't it about it being their CENTER OF POWER in the region or some shite like that? I have never cared much or known much about the whole Israel-Palestine topic.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Why do people give a disproportionate amount of fucks about Israel? It's a country about the size of Switzerland or Papa New Guinea. Yeah it's got some religious stuff in it but why does America have such a raging stiff one eye for it?

Holocaust overhang. World War II is still a decisive factor in world politics, just as most American internal issues still stem from their Civil War.

[mugbull]

Around half of important Americans are Jewish (you don't see them as elected representatives, but you do in basically every other sphere), and they're generally the ones with the money and the access, so American politics has essentially become a proxy for their interests.

[Jimmy Floyd]

And that.

[Raoul Duke]

That must be why all the Nazis are having such a tough time of it over there

[Bernanke]

Aren't evangelicals invested in it as well because Jesus will return there on the rapture or something?

[Spikey M]

Why do people give a disproportionate amount of fucks about Israel? It's a country about the size of Switzerland or Papa New Guinea. Yeah it's got some religious stuff in it but why does America have such a raging stiff one eye for it?

Because Jesus, innit.

[Henry]

Aren't evangelicals invested in it as well because Jesus will return there on the rapture or something?

Yeah, they have to go back to Israel and then convert to Christianity in one version. In another they go back to Israel and then are all killed in the final war/armageddon. Or something.

That's literally the basis that these decisions are being taken on. Apparently when George Bush was trying to convince Chirac about invading Iraq, he started babbling about it too.

[Spikey M]

We should just write it off really. Give the Jews Wales, the Muslims New Zealand and sink Israel/Palestine into the sea.

[Lewis]

Lewis, explain to me why President Donald J. Trump is so lol in less than fifty seconds: easy mate (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD8aOFGmDVQ)

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSuregWhlWk

[John Arne]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot3Orz8KeLo

[Jimmy Floyd]

Republicans don't seem prepared for the fact that because of Trump they will never win another meaningful election again (except for Idaho governor or whatever) for the next 40 years.

I suppose they could try and deny black people the vote.

[Bernanke]

Republicans don't seem prepared for the fact that because of Trump they will never win another meaningful election again (except for Idaho governor or whatever) for the next 40 years.

I suppose they could try and deny black people the vote.

Give it 8 years with a black and/or female D-president and they're back in.

[John Arne]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DQ5y1tsWsAAdh3E.jpg

[Bernanke]

Race wars. :drool:

[Henry]

Surprisingly magnanimous reaction from Trump.

But hopefully this makes it more difficult for the GOP to push their poisonous policies through Congress.

[ItalAussie]

So it turns out that we've discovered where the line is in US politics. And it's being a child sex predator. Republicans should probably note that one down.

When they said that gay marriage would lead to public acceptance of paedophilia, I don't think they imagined this being the way that played out. :D

[Disco]

Republicans don't seem prepared for the fact that because of Trump they will never win another meaningful election again (except for Idaho governor or whatever) for the next 40 years.

I suppose they could try and deny black people the vote.

They're already doing it, I only skim read it but there was an article the other day about a load of driving licence offices (one of the few types of id used to register voters) being closed, all of which just happened to be in black districts. Coupled with the electoral border-gore that goes on over there it isn't too much of s stretch to see it as a move to disenfranchise certain minorities/communities.

[Bernanke]

This is an electoral district in North Carolina:

https://i.imgur.com/WYbBIj6.jpg?1

:rolleyes:

[Spoonsky]

Thank fucking fuck that Moore lost. Seems like we've finally drawn some sort of line.

The gerrymandering in the US is pretty absurd. It seems so obviously corrupt yet everyone pretty much accepts it.

[Disco]

I'm not sure it's too heartening when the line you've drawn is 'Paedophile marginally beaten'. The fact that he had that much support from religious cretins should still be rather worrying. Why is that by the way, is it really just based on abortion? Sets a weird precedent if it's ok to fuck children but binning them off before they're even alive is not even to be considered.

[Pepe]

If you're on the red team you support the red team players no matter what. Same for the other side.

[John Arne]

If you're on the red team you support the red team players no matter what. Same for the other side.

Did the democrats not force Al Franklin to resign just this past week?

[Pepe]

They did. But a Democrat governor will choose his replacement. The question is whether they would have hounded him out if a Republican was set to take his place.

[Spoonsky]

I'm not sure it's too heartening when the line you've drawn is 'Paedophile marginally beaten'. The fact that he had that much support from religious cretins should still be rather worrying. Why is that by the way, is it really just based on abortion? Sets a weird precedent if it's ok to fuck children but binning them off before they're even alive is not even to be considered.

It's not heartening, but it's so much better than the alternative, which seemed like a very real possibility.

For background on why the the hardcore God-freaks go in for him, it's because that's his entire selling point (https://www.gq.com/story/alabama-senate-race-explainer).



Roy Moore is a former Alabama state court judge who earned a certain type of notoriety for refusing to remove a wooden plaque of the Ten Commandments from his courtroom that he had installed after taking the bench in 1992. In 2000, Moore was elected as Alabama's chief justice after running a campaign that argued, among other things, that the absence of organized religion in the American justice system "corresponded directly with school violence, homosexuality, and crime." Once there, he promptly commissioned a granite version of his Ten Commandments plaque and had it displayed in the Alabama Supreme Court building. Moore lost several subsequent lawsuits, led by the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center, that sought its removal, and when Moore refused to comply with a federal court order to take the monument out of his courtroom, he was relieved of his position in a disciplinary proceeding before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary.

[Pepe]

Yeah, the religious shite was much worse than the noncing stuff.

[Henry]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/14/roy-moore-issues-fiery-video-refusing-to-concede-immorality-sweeps-over-our-land?CMP=fb_gu


Roy Moore refused to concede the Alabama senate election in a fiery video statement released Wednesday night in which he warned “the heart and soul of our country is at stake”.

“Today, we no longer recognize the universal truth that God is the author of our life and liberty,” the former Republican candidate said. “Abortion, sodomy and materialism have taken the place of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

He added: “Immorality sweeps over our land.”

Gobshite.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Sodomy covers all three of those, iirc.

[Disco]

Push the whole lot into the sea and start again.

[Henry]

I wonder what he thinks "liberty" means...

[John]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRA6ExeUQAAxmWG?format=jpg

I could not be happier with that.

[Kikó]

He changed it to say Dicken's Christmas carols not long after as well.

[phonics]

The Virginia house is now split 50-50 (previously 49-51R) due to a 1 vote victory for a democrat.

[Mazuuurk]

He changed it to say Dicken's Christmas carols not long after as well.

So he still didn't get the actual error? :D

[Henry]

They got their billionaire tax cut through. Now watch them go after Medicare and Social Security since they can't afford to pay for them any more.

This is the biggest outrage since Trump was elected, not any of the other stuff.

[Lewis]

It seems a bit daft to pile a load more debt up when their economy is in otherwise good condition, but I read that eighty per cent of people will receive a decent tax cut out of it, so there must be a lot of billionaires.

[Pepe]

Almost half of Americans don't pay income tax, so it makes no difference to them. The standard deduction was doubled, so people who do pay taxes and use the standard deduction (which I guess is most people on a salary, since most probably don't want to/can't deal with itemized deductions) will be getting some sort of break. The break does benefit corporations and wealthy people the most, which is not bad in and on itself.

The main issue is that, from what I've read, the new tax code doesn't really achieve anything good. It simplifies certain parts but adds complexities to others. I don't think anyone believes it will spur any growth either (definitely not enough to offset the decrease in revenue.) So it is just adding to the deficit for the sake of giving people FREE MONIES. The true scare comes from the fact that many believe that cuts on social programs will follow, since we need to 'balance the budget.' In the end I guess it will all come down to who does well in the upcoming elections. If the Republicans continue to run riot, cuts are sure to follow. If the Democrats do well, then taxes might end up going right back up.

[Lewis]

The state/federal deductions stuff sounds lol insofar as it poses places like California problems.

[Pepe]

Yeah, there is definitely some State-level trolling going on. Tribal politics at its finest.

[Henry]

It seems a bit daft to pile a load more debt up when their economy is in otherwise good condition, but I read that eighty per cent of people will receive a decent tax cut out of it, so there must be a lot of billionaires.

Most people will get a small cut for a few years, and then will see increases. Billionaires and corporations get a much larger and permanent cut.

[Magic]

Almost half of Americans don't pay income tax, so it makes no difference to them. The standard deduction was doubled, so people who do pay taxes and use the standard deduction (which I guess is most people on a salary, since most probably don't want to/can't deal with itemized deductions) will be getting some sort of break. The break does benefit corporations and wealthy people the most, which is not bad in and on itself.

The main issue is that, from what I've read, the new tax code doesn't really achieve anything good. It simplifies certain parts but adds complexities to others. I don't think anyone believes it will spur any growth either (definitely not enough to offset the decrease in revenue.) So it is just adding to the deficit for the sake of giving people FREE MONIES. The true scare comes from the fact that many believe that cuts on social programs will follow, since we need to 'balance the budget.' In the end I guess it will all come down to who does well in the upcoming elections. If the Republicans continue to run riot, cuts are sure to follow. If the Democrats do well, then taxes might end up going right back up.

FREE MONIES to spend on all those American made goods.

[mikem]

The bill is both the largest tax increase and tax cut in US history. It is a tax increase on the upper middle class and lower wage earning rich to fund a small temporary tax cut for middle income and a large permanent tax cut for non wage earnering wealthy and companies.

Most middle class people will get $100-$200 more take home pay till 2027 when their taxes go up. I’m sure Republicans think those will get made permanent and it is just an accounting gimmick to make the deficit impacts look better. However, repealing the ACA mandate drops a massive hole in health insurance company profits as 30 million relatively healthy people decide not to pay $600 -1.5k a month for insurance. Premiums will go up for corporate plans because most people have plans that cost $600-800 with an employee contribution of $150 - $300. Those are the easiest to hike because companies don’t care how much they pay for those plans. People will eat the increase because dropping off your company plan is so much worse.

Professional families in places like California and New York earning 150-300k are all getting a tax hike. They all itemize state taxes, mortgages, college funds, and who knows what else. So this is a big blue state to red state transfer.

R’s are going to be selling a whole “look at all the new companies” nonsense. But is all going to be Kansas, which has the highest rate of new companies and one of the lowest of new jobs as upper middle class people who can swing it become llc’s.

[Bernanke]

It's pretty amazing the Dems will be able to run on tax cuts for the middle class and decreasing the deficit in 2020, just by promising to repeal this bill.

[mikem]

What R’s are doing has worked for them fairly well in the past in the late 80’s and Bush’s second term. They just say “ohhh, scary - D’s want to add so much spending and they will have to push your taxes up.” They may be going to the well one time too many because nobody seems to buy it anymore.

D’s always fall into the utter bad faith sucker’s bet that anyone cares about the deficit. Really, they should just run on a post-it that says:

New Health Care Bill
Section 1: Everyone can sign up for Medicare if the want to.
Section 2: Cost? Lol.

[Spoonsky]

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/366405-netanyahu-israel-is-a-country-that-says-merry-christmas

Now that is some 3D chess from Trump.

[Raoul Duke]

Redditor jokingly predicts Trump will claim credit for airline safety record, hours later he does just that...

https://np.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/7nkvdo/airlines_recorded_zero_accident_deaths_in/ds2lxld/

:D

[Lewis]

https://s10.postimg.org/jb83eqlzd/Untitled.png

Threatens to nuke a country, goes away for quarter of an hour, and then comes back to post about some lol awards he has made up. Seriously, who is still not finding this hilarious?

[phonics]

It's like looking into the abyss. The only positive I have is that if they ever antagonised him over here, he'd get confused and end up nuking Stockholm off the map instead.

I think he has a genuine brain disease.

[John]

You're about a year behind the curve on that. He's senile.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I blocked him on twitter ages back (since the no mark journalists I follow always love retweeting him as if no one will have seen Trump's tweets). Makes life a lot more peaceful and sane.

[phonics]

You're about a year behind the curve on that. He's senile.

Mans needs two hands to drink a glass of water. It's a lot worse than senility.

[Lewis]

His hands are too big and powerful to casually pick glass up like we would.

[Shindig]

I just think he's a latent, flamboyant homosexual.

[John]

What's that got to do with him being a thick, mental liar?

[phonics]

Have you seen Shindigs opinions on trans people?

[John]

I have. It was me who called him out last time, I'm sure. Always good to have someone clarify what they think the connection is when they spout some bonkers non sequitur though.

[phonics]

I have. It was me who called him out last time, I'm sure. Always good to have someone clarify what they think the connection is when they spout some bonkers non sequitur though.

'Gamers' definitely dont have an issue with them though. And any issues they may have with them can be filed under 'ethics in game journalism'.

[Boydy]

Have you seen Shindigs opinions on trans people?

I don't think I have. What is it?

[phonics]

The search function is so bad on VB the best suggestion I can make is for Brianna Wu or something. John may be able to direct you better.

[Shindig]

I dunno. Something about them taking the commitment a bit too young or rushing into it. I realise it's a lot more nuanced a debate but I'm sure John has the post bookmarked. Trump strikes me as an amazingly camp father-of-four.

[phonics]

Didn't you call transsexual people mentally ill?

[Lewis]

They are.

[mikem]

https://s10.postimg.org/jb83eqlzd/Untitled.png

Threatens to nuke a country, goes away for quarter of an hour, and then comes back to post about some lol awards he has made up. Seriously, who is still not finding this hilarious?

Seriously? Imagine having Russel Brand as PM. Any penchant for a funny line is ruined by wondering whether or not he’s pissed on your couch. Trump hasn’t mentally deteriorated. He has been this way since the 80’s. He just sounds insane because virtually everything he says is a lie of convenience. If you don’t want to believe the lie it eventually becomes jarring. We just were able to ignore it when it was about countertops and crown molding.

I’m completely dreading the Bannon / Trump Civil War now that it has arrived.

[Lewis]

Russell Brand is nowhere near as funny as him.

[mikem]

Selection was about someone “funny” by being annoying.

[John]

I'm confident I'll never be wondering if Russell Brand has pissed my couch, PM or not.

[mugbull]

Bannon's gonna be disappointed at how few people end up on his side after this

[Henry]

This new behind the scenes book is :drool:

As some may have suspected, they didn't want or expect to win. It was all a plot to enhance their showbiz careers. Melania was in tears on election night when the result became clear.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm 99% sure Melania is currently being played by a series of body doubles.

Also, fucking lol at Crooked Hillary failing to beat that.

[Boydy]

What book is that, Henry?

[Henry]

What book is that, Henry?

https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Fury-Inside-Trump-White/dp/1250158060

The stuff about Bannon is from it. See also Rupert Murdoch calling him an idiot, amid much else.

[Magic]

Anything Murdoch says I'm inclined to think the opposite, so GO TRUMP.

[Henry]

I'll probably read it. It's not out until next Tuesday I understand.

[phonics]

Isn't Michael Wolff a well known fabulist who makes up quotes?

[John]

He almost certainly does make up quotes, although I'm not sure he's ever been properly captured for it, but the bigger problem is that he makes up whatever meetings or scenarios he needs to pad out the narrative he's trying to present.

He's essentially a novelist.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Twitter buys it, so it's all true.

[ItalAussie]

If Trump's people had half a brain, and he had a single drop of impulse control, they'd laugh the book off and ignore it.

They don't, he doesn't, and they won't.

[Disco]

I love the way he came back from christmas golf holidays and immediately had to threaten nuclear war just in case people had forgotten to talk about him in the last week. Classic paranoid narcissism.

[ItalAussie]

He threatens nuclear war, that book is reported, and his approval rates jump by a percent. What a broken country.

Between this and the Jerusalem stuff, at what point do we have to start thinking of the US as itself being a rogue nuclear power? They clearly have no desire currently to be a part of any supranational body or oversight.

[mugbull]

Bannon's gonna be disappointed at how few people end up on his side after this

Reports that Breitbart might fire Bannon. He has no one on his side.

[Pepe]

at what point do we have to start thinking of the US as itself being a rogue nuclear power?

About seventy years ago?

[phonics]

The woman who was one of the first in the Roy Moore accusers house burnt down the other night and it's being investigated for arson. What a country.

[Boydy]

Just burn the whole country down.

[Dark Soldier]

Here's that new Trump book, Fire and Fury:

http://www.filedropper.com/fireandfury-wolffmichael

[-james-]

This bit is good:

https://i.imgur.com/8rgcmdZ.png

[Raoul Duke]

That is fake news, made up to satirise people's willingness to believe anything negative about him

[-james-]

Is it, though???

[ItalAussie]

I will say that despite the fact that large chunks of it feel quite made-up, the very real reaction has been amusing.

Republicans are eating themselves from the inside out.

[Shindig]

If I was Commander in Chief, I'd be pulling that shit left, right and centre. When are you going to get the opportunity?

[Raoul Duke]

Is it, though???

https://twitter.com/pixelatedboat/status/949118287480111104

[-james-]

I can't believe Trump thinks there's a gorilla channel.

[ItalAussie]

I can't believe Trump thinks there's a gorilla channel.

That one isn't true - it's a hoax excerpt.

[Boydy]

I can't believe he talks to the gorillas on the gorilla channel, as if they can hear him.

[Lewis]

949498795074736129

How does he pack so much into only a few words (lol at 'Sloppy Steve')?

[Jimmy Floyd]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DS3QzunW4AAqOKt.jpg

That's the sort of thing someone says just before Air Force One gets bombed by the CIA.

[Yevrah]

That Gorilla thing is brilliant and demonstrates how people will believe almost anything if it supports their view.

[Disco]

Well yes, but also that he's such a manbaby that it doesn't seem that far outside his normal behaviour.

[Yevrah]

No, it really does.

"17 hours a day, with his face four inches from the screen"

Have a day off.

[-james-]

No, it really does.

"17 hours a day, with his face four inches from the screen"

Have a day off.


Still can't believe they elected him. Incredible.

[Disco]

No, it really does.

"17 hours a day, with his face four inches from the screen"

Have a day off.

Granted but the bit about him just wanting to see them fighting is spot on, in a sane world it would be perfect satire.

[Shindig]

The whole world's an echo chamber, lads.

[Lewis]

Lads.
Lads.
Lads.

[ItalAussie]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DS3QzunW4AAqOKt.jpg

That's the sort of thing someone says just before Air Force One gets bombed by the CIA.

That is just about the least stable thing I've ever read. History's not going to remember him kindly.

[Magic]

It's like Hazza became POTUS.

[Bernanke]

On my first try. :D

[Yevrah]

It's like a shit Linkedin profile has somehow found its way to running the US.

[Reg]

He didn't write that.

"being, like, really smart"

Come on. He's got a team tweeting for him who are trying to get the most reaction possible.

[Shindig]

I would say so. It's all too consistent and at odds with every other Presidential campaign he's ran. This is his formula and it got him into power.

[Lofty]

The sane tweets are written by the team, the insane tweets at 5.30 am when he wakes up are unfiltered Trump.

[Henry]

I have the Wolff book and have read the first bit. First impression is that it's very likely based on real stuff but he's used quite a lot of creative license to create a "narrative".

[Magic]

So it's a load of made up bullshit then. Fake news.

[Henry]

So it's a load of made up bullshit then. Fake news.

That isn't remotely what I said.

[-james-]

What are his sources? Bits like knowing that Rupert Murdoch called him a fucking idiot once he got off the phone with him seem fictional.

[Henry]

What are his sources? Bits like knowing that Rupert Murdoch called him a fucking idiot once he got off the phone with him seem fictional.

His sources are many of the people who worked in the White House, including some of the inner circle. And himself, from having been present for some of it.

[Mazuuurk]

On my first try. :D

I can imagining him saying something like that to poor Melania when they have sex as well.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I don't think there's any danger Melania allows that to occur.

[Mazuuurk]

Probably not anymore, but they do have some children don't they?

Then also, you speak of her as if she has integrity which it just feels like that ship has sailed in the first place for her, somehow.

[phonics]

Melania doesn't exist, she's just a series of body doubles. Elon Musk was on that board of technology to create an AI version of her that would let Donald touch her bits.

[Jimmy Floyd]

She probably went into the marriage hoping for a massive heart attack, or maybe even to slip a quick cyanide in his McFlurry, and instead she's now got 40 secret service agents watching their every move. Pity really.

[phonics]

That's an interesting tidbit that's popped up lately (maybe from the book?), I thought Trump was just a McDonalds loving slob but apparently it's his way of making sure no-one is poisoning him...

[Boydy]

That's an interesting tidbit that's popped up lately (maybe from the book?), I thought Trump was just a McDonalds loving slob but apparently it's his way of making sure no-one is poisoning him...

Why couldn't someone poison his McDonalds?

[Boydy]

How did Wolff find out about the gorilla channel bit? Was he there when Trump was watching it?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Yep, disguised as a large chicken selects meal.

[phonics]

Why couldn't someone poison his McDonalds?

He sends staffers and they order multiple burgers and he only eats one. It's mental.

[Boydy]

He sends staffers and they order multiple burgers and he only eats one. It's mental.

You could poison all of them.

[Disco]

He sends staffers and they order multiple burgers and he only eats one. It's mental.

Foolproof.

[phonics]

You could poison all of them.

You'd have to know they were going to Donald and which ones. The man only eats Big Macs, there's like 70 of them slowly thawing on the rack at all times.

[Henry]

So it appears that The President of the United States is going to simulate an "Awards" ceremony for the most dishonest media outlets using his Twitter account. He's finally sunk to the level of the TTH Awards.

[phonics]

Looking up the details, turns out that it was in fact in the book so he's probably just a fat slob like the rest of us.

[phonics]

So it appears that The President of the United States is going to simulate an "Awards" ceremony for the most dishonest media outlets using his Twitter account. He's finally sunk to the level of the TTH Awards.

Hope they're better at counting votes than igor.

[Lewis]

Those awards were lol enough, but then people started pretending they wanted to win in case they won.

[Pepe]

Should probably give the award to the FAILING NY Times (https://theintercept.com/2018/01/03/my-life-as-a-new-york-times-reporter-in-the-shadow-of-the-war-on-terror/).

[Disco]

Hope they're better at counting votes than igor.

I know who I'd rather give access to a nuclear arsenal.

[Raoul Duke]

Wikileaks (which is definitely not an arm of Pravda) has leaked the book, if anyone wants to have a butcher's.

[Raoul Duke]

Steve Bannon is out at Breitbart: https://www.axios.com/bannon-steps-down-from-breitbart-1515531865-997e7908-962a-4e4b-b8b9-5319eacdbb35.html

The rats are eating each other whilst the ship sinks :drool:

[Boydy]

US to loosen nuclear weapons constraints and develop more 'usable' warheads

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/09/us-to-loosen-nuclear-weapons-policy-and-develop-more-usable-warheads?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

Oh great.

[Lewis]

Policy reviews get all the divs out of the woodwork trying to sneak pointless shit in under the radar. Back when men were men and every nuclear option was properly explored (such as the chicken-powered atomic landmine) it was chemical weapons, and now it appears to be this.

[mikem]

I can’t quite put my finger on why Trump assumes that immigrants from Haiti, Mexico, or Ghana must be undesirable uneducated people from shithole countries in a way the extremely technically skilled catalogue model mothers of his children from Slovenia or the Czech Republic are not. What could it be?

[ItalAussie]

Ignoring the obvious, I found it amusing that he wanted immigrants from places like Norway.

Places like Norway have a better standard of living than the US, you dumbass.

[Henry]

He's trying to shut down the government over BUILD THE WALL too, is he not?

[Kikó]

At least it's only another 3 years.

[Spikey M]

Ignoring the obvious, I found it amusing that he wanted immigrants from places like Norway.

Places like Norway have a better standard of living than the US, you dumbass.

Given the choice between Detroit, Baltimore, and the shitty parts of LA, Chicago and New York and the ‘Shitholes’ he took a shot at... I don’t think there’s a lot in it.

I imagine I’m less likely to get shot by both criminals and the fucking police in Haiti.

[Pepe]

Places like Norway have a better standard of living than the US, you dumbass.

That'll change once Oprah takes over.

[Lewis]

At least it's only another 3 years.

Seven.

[Disco]

Let's be fair though, he's not wrong, any country that elected him to office is desperately in need of more intelligent people.

[Pepe]

And those 'intelligent people' can only come from Norway and not from the 'shitholes?'

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-01-12/africa-is-sending-us-its-best-and-brightest


One of the most striking facts about immigration to the U.S., unbeknownst even to many immigration advocates, is the superior education of Africans coming to this country. If we consider adults age 25 or older, born in Africa and living in the U.S., 41.7 of them have a bachelor’s degree or more, according to 2009 data. For contrast, the native-born population has a bachelor’s degree or more at the much lower rate of only 28.1 percent in these estimates, and foreign-born adults as a whole have a college degree at the rate of 26.8 percent, both well below the African rate.


Economist Edward Lazear suggests a simple experiment. Consider immigrants to the U.S. from Algeria, Israel and Japan, and rank them in order of most educated to least educated. The correct answer is Algeria, Israel then Japan. Although that’s counterintuitive at first glance, it’s easy enough to see how it works. If you are Algerian and educated, or aspire to be educated, your prospects in Algeria are relatively poor and you may seek to leave. A talented, educated person in Japan or Israel can do just fine by staying at home. These kinds of considerations explain about 73 percent of the variation in the educational outcomes of migrants.

[Pepe]

My favorite chimpout regarding the Trump thing comes from Rod Dreher, who is seething because Trump rather take religious-less Norwegians over the devout Catholics coming from El Salvador and Haiti.

[Lewis]

Using 'African' in any immigration context must be the most pointless exercise imaginable. West Africans yes mate. North Africans no thanks.

[Pepe]

Same thing can be said about 'Asians.'

[Lewis]

With all this in mind sticking to shithole/non-shithole seems like the safest bet.

[Spikey M]

Which is fine, but America goes largely on the shithole list.

[mikem]

This is what it looks like when they fuck up the National Warning System in the US. Mistake in testing the new additions in Hawaii today:

https://mobile.twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/952246857933221888/video/1

[Magic]

Must be blocked or deleted?

[mikem]

Looks like they deleted it. We get them for Amber alerts for missing kids or natural disasters. This one was “there is an incoming ballistic missile” to every smartphone and television in Hawaii.

[Henry]

North Korean media are about to report that the glorious leader has destroyed, in one decisive strike, all of Hawaii; and that while Western media quickly tried to cover with a ludicrous story about a false alarm, the push notes and these here photographs of the craters prove the fact. Which will prompt Trump to swear quick retaliation.

[Shindig]

"Hawaii was on my shithole list." - D. Trump.

[niko_cee]

(alleged) Birthplace of Barry O, so almost certainly on (the) Donald's (s)hit list.

[Shindig]

"Last in, first out." and then he pushes his BIGGER BUTTON.

[phonics]

Dear Donald,

Your denial would sound a bit better if you weren't claiming to be 'The least racist person you'll ever interview'. Just a smidge of humility would make him one of the most effective Republican presidents of all time.

[phonics]

We're so used to bonkers stories about Trump coming out that not only did he have an affair with a porn star that he paid 130k of hush money to, she said (priror to the payment) he asked her to spank him with a copy of Forbes magazine with his face on it and it's not even a B-tier story.

Every other line of this story is something else nuts.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DT50_MjW4AAKoBT.jpg

[Boydy]

That fucking Gorilla Channel thing wasn't that far off the mark. :D

[phonics]

https://i.imgur.com/BrZCTP8.png

The last one is so good. Like he read (lol) 'So long and thanks for all the fish" and took it literally.

[Pepe]

I thought it was gorillas.

[Disco]

Fucking hell :D He really is just a four year old in a suit (with a big tie).

[John]

The worst part of the Stormy Daniels thing is that he apparently told her she reminded him of his daughter, while he was fucking her.

[Lewis]

Elsewhere, this MEMO sounds good.