US Politics Mega-thread - Page 1654

On February 19 2015 03:32 Yoav wrote:


No, the current AP test portrays the US in a very negative light in many ways. Some nationalists want to change that. Also, generally, almost nothing controversial in the US is nationwide unless it's established by the courts. State-by-state is the usual way of things. AP tests are something of an exception, since they're run by a monopoly. Hardly a conservative one, most would agree.

On February 19 2015 05:16 GreenHorizons wrote:


The current AP test is not required and a different test could be administered, also could you cite an example of what you think on 'the test' is "portray[ing] the US in a very negative light" in an unfair way?

On February 19 2015 06:01 ZasZ. wrote:


Did he say it was unfair? The AP test can (and should) be portraying the U.S. in a negative light on many topics, and that would be completely fair. I don't think we should still feel guilty for something our grandfather's grandfathers did, but sugarcoating the past so that you think U.S. history is all puppies and rainbows won't help anyone and just makes nationalism worse. The U.S. participated in its fair share of atrocities, kids should learn about it in school the way it actually happened, and we should all move on and do better.

On February 19 2015 01:35 oneofthem wrote:
this guilt thing is just a rightwing narrative against 'liberal elite education.' been going on since the 1980's.

readers of wf buckley would know

(Bloomberg) -- Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, facing a $283 million deficit that needs to be closed by the end of June, will skip more than $100 million in debt payments to balance the books thrown into disarray by his tax cuts.

The move comes as Walker, 47, mounts a 2016 bid for the Republican presidential nomination, and while his state is under stress from a projected shortfall that could exceed $2 billion in the two-year budget beginning in July.

Delaying the $108 million principal payment due in May on short-term debt would free funds. The move doesn’t require legislative approval, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau said in a Feb. 13 memorandum. The terms of the debt sale allow Wisconsin to defer the payment in any given year, a procedure known as a restructuring, without defaulting.

“They need some cash,” said Todd Berry, president of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, a nonpartisan research group that examines taxes and government spending. “This is kicking the can down the road.”

A spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Administration said the state is taking advantage of “favorable short-term interest rates” for the restructuring.

“With these types of notes, the maturity schedule and amortization is determined solely by the state, unlike a traditional bond,” said Cullen Werwie.

Werwie also noted in an email that Walker’s predecessor, Democratic Governor Jim Doyle, “utilized similar financial tools.”

On February 19 2015 08:26 Mindcrime wrote:


it's been going on a lot longer than that; Richard Hofstadter wrote about it in 1966.

On February 19 2015 08:22 Mohdoo wrote:
Lol, this whole ap history thing is getting worse and worse. Those of you defending it earlier, how about now? http://thinkprogress.org/education/2015/02/18/3624062/oklahoma-bill-banning-ap-us-history-make-students-study-ten-commandments-3-speeches-reagan/

On February 19 2015 09:02 oneofthem wrote:

true. the stuff about liberals trying to brainwash kids into guilt is kind of buckley territory tho

On February 19 2015 08:22 Mohdoo wrote:
Lol, this whole ap history thing is getting worse and worse. Those of you defending it earlier, how about now? http://thinkprogress.org/education/2015/02/18/3624062/oklahoma-bill-banning-ap-us-history-make-students-study-ten-commandments-3-speeches-reagan/

On February 19 2015 04:16 oneofthem wrote:
illegal immigrants are not eligible for federal programs. at the state and local level, undocumented immigrants use medical and other social services at a lower rate. but they do not have insurance, so the actual cost is pretty inflated due to emergency room charge.

the cost of healthcare for undocumented immigrants accounts for about 1.5% of overall medicare cost despite making up 3% of population. (rand study from your friendly miltary industrial complex, http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/25/6/1700 )

education of immigrant children costs about 3-4% of the public education expenditure at aggregate, with much higher social and economic return. (Becera, 2012) This paper also has analysis of cost of law enforcement etc and immigrants have lower or same crime rates as natives.

for income aassistance benefits, immigrants have lower rate of use than citizens.

http://www.cato.org/publications/economic-development-bulletin/poor-immigrants-use-public-benefits-lower-rate-poor



as far as economic impact is concerned, working immigrants are always positive by basic economic theory. multiplier and so on.


also found this one on colorado
https://bellpolicy.org/content/undocumented-immigrants-pay-taxes-equal-services

These are not tax “refunds” but direct, free cash payments from the U.S. treasury to low-income illegal immigrants who owe no taxes. It is a dramatic cash transfer from lawful residents to unlawful residents, required by the president's imperial amnesty.

There can be no legal or moral justification for rewarding illegal entrants in this way. Not only is it unfair to strapped taxpayers, but it will encourage countless more to enter the U.S. illegally or to illegally overstay their visas.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — An appeals court has ruled that the birth control coverage required by federal health care reforms does not violate the rights of several religious groups because they can seek reasonable accommodations.

Two western Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses and a private Christian college had challenged the birth control coverage mandates and won lower-court decisions. However, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court ruling Wednesday said the reforms place "no substantial burden" on the religious groups and therefore don't violate their First Amendment rights.

All three groups — the college and the Pittsburgh and Erie dioceses — are mulling whether to appeal to the entire 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Such a ruling should cause deep concern for anyone who cares about any First Amendment rights, especially the right to teach and practice a religious faith," Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik said in a statement. "This decision says that the church is no longer free to practice what we preach."

At issue is an "accommodation" written into the Affordable Care Act that says religious organizations can opt out of directly providing and paying to cover medical services such groups would consider morally objectionable. In this case, that refers to all contraceptive and abortion services for the Catholic plaintiffs, and contraceptive services like the "week-after" pill and other medical coverage that Geneva College contends violate its anti-abortion teachings. The school in Beaver Falls is affiliated with the Reformed Presbyterian Church.

Justice Department lawyers have argued the accommodation solves the problem because it allows religious groups to opt out of directly providing such coverage. But the plaintiffs contend that merely filing the one-page form, which puts a religious group's objections on record with the government, violates their rights because it still "facilitates" or "triggers" a process that then enables third-party insurers to provide the kind of coverage to which they object.

The appellate opinion written by Judge Marjorie O. Rendell rejects that reasoning.

"Federal law, rather than any involvement by the appellees in filling out or submitting the self-certification form, creates the obligation" for third parties to offer the objected-to coverage, Rendell wrote.

The opinion says the form merely provides a way for the religious groups to avoid being penalized for opting not to directly provide the benefits. But the groups have argued the form does more than that if the third-party providers can't provide the services before the form is filed. That question is expected to be raised in future appeals.

On February 19 2015 10:13 Introvert wrote:
Huh? Academia has significantly more self-identified liberals than conservatives, though the size of the majority varies from department to department. I think the social sciences are the most lopsided, and that's what is most referred to, it seems.

On February 19 2015 12:33 Shiragaku wrote:

It's hard to identify as an American conservative and an intellectual at the same time. There is nothing idiotic about conservatism, Leo Strauss, Edmund Burke, Hayek, and Schumpeter are all respectable individuals, but the modern American conservatism is so insane, that you got conservatives such as Andrew Sullivan, Francis Fukuyama, and Christopher Buckley giving their support to the Democrats. That is really saying something about our "liberals"

On February 19 2015 12:36 Millitron wrote:

Really America has Liberal and Conservative backwards on most issues. Liberal used to mean libertarian.