Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[hack]

We'll find out soon enough. If Trump and the reaction to him isn't the ultimate GOTV campaign for the left, then, well, I just don't know.

I still think that Bernie was almost there, in terms of a Trump-style approach to campaigning. Finger a villain, rant on, don't be overly specific on solutions. Find somebody who is a little less of a gentleman than Bernie, and get on that. It should be that simple. Then again, it's the Dems. We'll see how they autopsy this and move on.

[Wild Hoss]

We'll find out soon enough. If Trump and the reaction to him isn't the ultimate GOTV campaign for the left, then, well, I just don't know.

IMO; the Bernie's approach doesn't move the needle for the demos that put Barack over the top. The Ds need to motivate those blocks, or find new ones.

The latter part is possible, if Trump fails to deliver for critical parts of his voting block. There, we agree. But I am not sure that fail necessarily flips them blue.

[edindetroit]

It will be interesting to see how that new arena works in the Midtown area, there has been an influx of hipsters there.

Gentrification

[froot loops]

There is some complaints about that, but a lot of that area has been vacant or abandoned.

[hack]

IMO; the Bernie's approach doesn't move the needle for the demos that put Barack over the top. The Ds need to motivate those blocks, or find new ones.

The latter part is possible, if Trump fails to deliver for critical parts of his voting block. There, we agree. But I am not sure that fail necessarily flips them blue.

Well when the numbers are really and truly final we'll have a better sense of it, but the Dems aren't far off. A little more participation from the base, a little more consolidation of the Tulsi Gabbard types that could go either Sanders or Trump, four more years of old racists dying and young people coming into the electorate, etc. etc.

[entropy]

froot.. you also have to remember, no party will dominate forever. Someone will always feel left out and will change teams in an attempt to better their position.

I also believe that human nature is to divide rather than unify... I think that goes against any one group remaining in a party in perpetuity.

[Da Geezer]

Regarding Hillary's state of the art campaign, and Trump's seat-of-the-pants operation there is this from Forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2016/11/22/exclusive-interview-how-jared-kushner-won-trump-the-white-house/#542764d12f50

I could have told them that being a real estate developer was a perfect training ground for the leader of the free world; second only, perhaps, to being a hospital administrator

[Whitley]

Some Trump cabinet news

Sec. of Education: Trump met with Michelle Rhee (pretty sure this is just for the Photos)and Betsy DeVos on Saturday along with Jerry Falwell Jr.

Oh, and Ben Carson is thought to be under serious consideration to be the HUD Sec.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I don't much care about Trump dissing the NYTs. He's working to shape how Americans will see him and his presidency and he'd rather not have the print and broadcast media do that.

IMO, no one in the media is asking substantive questions about policy which goes to your second point, DSL. I just turn the TV off when breathless reporters pose questions about Trumps business and the potential for conflicts of interest.

Not that there might be conflicts but my point is who is asking substantive questions like this:

Is there something you can do at the federal level, grant block funding perhaps, to move site projects ahead in the various states in the rust belt, for example, that are trying to attract new businesses to set up shop on these sites? Wouldn't this help to achieve the job growth prospects in America that you campaigned on? (thanks for your insight on that for ohio, talent)........ or........

It seems that manufacturing costs are driven by both labor and energy costs. Couldn't we attract more manufacturing to this country where there are abundant energy resources (oli and NG) by incentivising the development of these resources and making them cheaply available to manufacturers who might want to locate their manufacturing facilities in the US. due to the lower energy and transportation costs?

So Jeff, If Trump's plan is to use the Office of the Presidency to personally enrich himself and pressure foreign governments into giving his family's real estate projects tax breaks and sweetheart deals...you don't think anyone should be bothered by that?

[Da Geezer]

Jeff:

Not that there might be conflicts but my point is who is asking substantive questions like this:

Is there something you can do at the federal level, grant block funding perhaps, to move site projects ahead in the various states in the rust belt, for example, that are trying to attract new businesses to set up shop on these sites? Wouldn't this help to achieve the job growth prospects in America that you campaigned on? (thanks for your insight on that for ohio, talent)........ or........

It seems that manufacturing costs are driven by both labor and energy costs. Couldn't we attract more manufacturing to this country where there are abundant energy resources (oli and NG) by incentivising the development of these resources and making them cheaply available to manufacturers who might want to locate their manufacturing facilities in the US. due to the lower energy and transportation costs?

Exactly

One thing both items have in common is environmental overregulation. Unless you have to deal with it on a daily basis, it is hard for most folks to understand how pernicious it has become.

For example, (I understand this is not enviro-induced, but is toady's bitch from my point of view) I mentioned to Talent how expensive it is to tear something down. In CA, I just finished a pair of tear-downs near the coast. I had to have an anthropologist from Sonoma State and an Indian Chieftain on site at all times. It is not the cost of paying them, but the waste of time to coordinate with these guys. The reason for this requirement is to prevent another Kennewick Man from falling into the hands of scientists which would call into question the whole "Indian gambling and welfare" industry.

I happen to believe it would be good for the country if, when one of the incredible number of Environmental Organizations, files a suit, they post a bond for the amount of time and money that the Defendant would lose during the litigation. These suits have little or nothing to do with the health, safety, or welfare of people in the US. They have everything to do with stopping some sort of development that the Enviros have deemed to be against their interest. If they lose, the Defendant recoups his cost.

And, to continue with regards to cheap energy, virtually all regulation (and subsidy) is based on anthroprogenic global warming. That is what drives the price of crude or coal higher. If you work your way back on so many regulations, you find a war on carbon as the culprit. That is what hurt us in the Midwest. I talked to a third grader yesterday and when I asked her what she wanted to be, she said a scientist so she could "save the world..." We are teaching our kids this nonsense! And the fear of carbon dioxide absolutely has all the earmarks of a religion. No proof, pure faith, utterly wrong in virtually every prediction.

One suggestion: Allow companies to repatriate funds from overseas tax-free if they are spent on plant or equipment in the rust belt. What would be the downside of that?

[froot loops]

North Carolina's governor lost the election but is trying to claim it was stolen and trying to use the claim to get granted another 4 year term. Rooting out voter fraud!

http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/11/21/pat_mccrory_is_trying_to_steal_the_north_carolina_governorship.html

Yeah I know, Slate is coming from inside the liberal bubble.

[Da Geezer]

Hack regarding Froot's assertion that Detroit will be better in 20 years:

Why do you think that?

I agree with froot on this. As he points out, Detroit has had reasonably good municipal government after being forced to by Lansing and by the Bankruptcy Courts. Michigan has become a good-government state (like Ohio) , and right-to-work state (which helps everyone). As long as Detroit stays away from the Democratic machine politics that put them into the mess they were in, I think they could resemble Cleveland in 20 years.

[hack]

You can't really say that regulation is driving energy costs higher if energy costs aren't actually high. Oil's been sub-$50 for 1.5 years now. US natural gas is dirt cheap, especially compared with the rest of the world. Take a look at Henry Hub vs spot-market LNG prices.

[froot loops]

Machine politics is giving it too much credit, it was a kleptocracy under Kilpatrick. Plus the word machine imies some sort of organization which there was none. You could also argue that it they graduated machine politics now under Duggan. But he is very competent.

[Da Geezer]

You can't really say that regulation is driving energy costs higher if energy costs aren't actually high. Oil's been sub-$50 for 1.5 years now. US natural gas is dirt cheap, especially compared with the rest of the world. Take a look at Henry Hub vs spot-market LNG prices.

I can and indeed do say that over-regulation has driven energy costs higher.

The fact that over-regulated oil has been at $ 100 in the fairly recent past, and that over-regulated oil has been sub-$ 50 in the last 1.5 years doesn't mean that over-regulated hydrocarbons are anywhere nearly as cheap as they could and should be. And that applies to electricity too, because so much of electrical generation relies on hydrocarbons still.

And, again, this over-regulation has no provable benefit to the H,S, and W of the citizens of this country. We are not talking smog here. We are now talking carbon dioxide.