Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[iam416]

To sum up: Douchebag Asshat beats Crazy if the economy is strong. Acceptably Sane beats Douchebag Asshat.

But, by and large we'll ride it out with an asshat out for personal gain -- the evil we know -- versus electing a fucking Marxist during great economic times (59-20-15 better off-worse off-same polling numbers from Quinnipiac). If the economy heads south -- as it did in 2008, then it's a guarantee that any D will win. If it holds steady -- I think Crazy will lose.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Whitley, I owe you an apology for my mostly snarky take on a post you made last week siting a 2016 article on budget cuts to entitlement programs. You were correct in your assertion that Trump's budget proposal cut into those entitlement programs.

Some of the cuts as they are presented to the public are fine with me but we don't have the fine printed details so, I'm skeptical of their usefulness as expenditure cutting measures by the Federal Government. Besides, Congress isn't going to pass this budget as is. The Ds will eliminate entirely entitlement cuts to food stamps and tougher eligibility requirements for Medicaid. R's will prevent Trump from implementing some of the best reforms he's articulated in how the federal government negotiates (or not in the case of medicare; it does with Medicaid) for medications under Medicare because the Rs are in bed with pharma lobbyists. Here's an article that isn't pay-walled (Barrons is for me and has some of the best reporting) that's a bit loong but lays out what the public is allowed to know about the Trump's budget he just submitted. The headline tells a lot about the liberal leanings of the author.......

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trumps-budget-proposal-wont-reduce-your-social-security-check-but-it-could-lower-your-quality-of-life-and-health-care-2020-02-11?mod=mw_latestnews

[Jeff Buchanan]

In coronavirus news, it now has a name - COVID-19. Other notable coronaviruses include the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic of 2002-03 and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in South Korea in 2015, but the common cold, too, is a coronavirus.

Bold is mine. The point being, we're getting a ton of hyped up news about this thing. I don't mean to disparage the scope of the outbreak but, it's a cold virus with the potential to kill people over 65 AND with co-morbid disease.

Influenza has higher levels of morbidity and mortality compared to the known coronaviruses. The difference is that research sientists and physicans know more about flu and what to expect than they do with COVI-19. That's what makes this virus a bit more trouble some. For the facts, see the article below:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-does-the-new-coronavirus-compare-with-the-flu/

[Dr. Strangelove]

So far two of the prosecutors on the Roger Stone case have quit. One resigned his temporary posting in DC to go back to his usual position in the US Attorney's office in Baltimore. The other has resigned as an Assistant US Attorney entirely. That second guy, Jonathan Kravis, was also supposed to be the lead federal prosecutor on the upcoming Russian troll farm case (Concord Management). Guess that won't be happening.

EDIT: Aaaand a 3rd Prosecutor (Adam Jed) just withdrew from the case (not a resignation)

[Dr. Strangelove]

The entire Top 5 could stick around until Super Tuesday, at which point I think 3 of the 5 will drop out. Not including Bloomberg.

The one caveat is that if Warren finishes a distant 4th or worse tonight she may be gone. Seeing some people think this could happen.

EDIT: There's another weird theory floating around that if it ends up a contested convention between Bernie and the moderate camp, Warren may throw herself out there as a compromise candidate.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Pocahontas? A compromise to The Bern? They're both fucking communists. Give me Tulsi or Amy and I'll think about actually voting for one of them over Trump ...... but wait, I could probably stand another 4y of an ass-clown in the WH, full employment and solid market gains over whatever unknowns a D president, a D House and the predictable retribution the R's in Congress will take out on the next D prez.

[Dr. Strangelove]

You should write-in "present" for Tulsi

[Dr. Strangelove]

CNN was misrepresenting what happened with the Roger Stone Prosecutors. They described them all as "resigning" but eventually did clarify that just one outright resigned from DOJ, the other 3 quit the case. Still a big act of protest sure, but they should get the details right.

[Dr. Strangelove]

The former US Attorney for DC (who oversaw the Stone case among others) was nominated by Trump for a position at Treasury in December. He's abruptly pulled her nomination today. More payback.

SUSAN COLLINS IS CONCERNED

https://www.axios.com/trump-jessie-liu-treasury-us-attorney-838d1a3b-1d4d-414c-ac7d-77a7ba6d4edb.html

[Dr. Strangelove]

Looking grim for Joe

[Dr. Strangelove]

Yang is out

[iam416]

Looking pretty bad for Pocahontas, too.

[Whitley]

Yang is out

Sad to see him go. A possible VP candidate?

[Dr. Strangelove]

Looking pretty bad for Pocahontas, too.

Yeah at least Joe can pray and hope SC holds together. Warren has nothing to look forward to.

[Whitley]

Yeah at least Joe can pray and hope SC holds together. Warren has nothing to look forward to.

Still early. The Warren pockets (near MASS) have not reported yet so there could be some help for her but looking like 4th pretty cemented though.