US Politics Mega-thread - Page 1768

On March 26 2015 13:18 Sermokala wrote:

The problem with that is there is a HUGE difference between the inner city and outer city. inner city cops are often paid barly above minimum wage and are told to risk their lives with a gun and a bullet proof vest in a city filled with people who don't like them and that they don't understand. Outer city cops are paid middle class wages can measure the last murder in decades and can actually give a crap about them.

If you want more information about it I would suggest that people watch the documentary "cocaine cowboys" and then something about the Hollywood shootout. cops with handguns and shirts were being slaughtered by guys with automatic drum fed ak-47's bullet proof vests. Both are good information on the militarization of cops in america.

On March 27 2015 01:36 Mohdoo wrote:
Interesting to see how each party is managing 2016.

Democrats are slowly leaking Clinton baggage, bit by bit so that it's all exhausted by the time of the election and republicans look petty for bringing it up when it's "old news that's already been addressed".

Republicans are using Ted Cruz as their typical "anti science to the point of crazy and just generally crazy" to make everyone else look more moderate. They did the same thing in 2012 to help Romney, but I think it accidentally went too far when Romney had to speak out against planned parenthood. I'm curious to see how the GOP manages Cruz going forward.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) did it. On Thursday, he signed a controversial religious freedom bill into law that protects business owners from being required to serve same-sex couples if they have religious objections.

Pence said signing the bill into law makes sure that "religious liberty" is completely protected in the state.

"The Constitution of the United States and the Indiana Constitution both provide strong recognition of the freedom of religion, but today, many people of faith feel their religious liberty is under attack by government action," Pence said in a statement.

A number of businesses strongly voiced opposition to the law. The large tabletop gaming convention Gen Con threatened to leave the state if Pence the bill, but is locked into a contract until 2020. Star Trek actor George Takei also warned that the law could result in a damaging boycott of the state.

On Wednesday, leaders from the Disciples of Christ church said that if the bill was signed into law the church could possibly move its planned 6,000 person General Assembly meeting in Indianapolis to another location.

Just a week before the NCAA's March Madness Final Four games in downtown Indianapolis, the NCAA released a statement saying it was "examining the details" of the bill." The statement did not condemn the legislation but it did say that it was for "an inclusive environment where all individuals enjoy equal access to events."

On March 27 2015 02:18 wei2coolman wrote:

I don't know why they don't just frame it as freedom of business to choose whether or not they want to accommodate guests? Without having to put a 'religious' spin on it, targeting specifically same-sex couple...

Make it an issue of freedom of business owners to choose who they want to provide services to, rather than one targeted at a subgroup of people like lgbt community...

On March 27 2015 02:22 dAPhREAk wrote:

legally, it wouldnt make much of a difference. instead of a facial challenge (i.e., the language of the statute is unconstitutional), it would face an as applied challenge (i.e., the language is fine, but how it is intended to and actually applied is unconstitutional).

Sen. Ted Cruz hasn’t made a final decision on whether he will sign up for Obamacare but will make up his mind “in the coming days,” a spokesman said Wednesday.

Rick Tyler, national spokesman for the Texas Republican senator’s newly launched presidential campaign, also defended Cruz against charges of hypocrisy for suggesting that he might enroll in Affordable Care Act health exchanges.

“Senator Cruz and his wife are still weighing options for their family,” Tyler wrote in an email to POLITICO when asked about the senator’s current thinking on enrolling in an ACA health insurance exchange, adding that the senator would make a decision shortly.

Tyler said that Cruz — who has vigorously opposed and vowed to repeal Obamacare — was subject to a law with which he disagrees. “That’s like saying he’s not going to pay the taxes he voted against,” he wrote.

Cruz, meanwhile, slammed the media coverage of his family’s health care dilemma, saying the mainstream media is playing “gotcha games.”

On March 27 2015 02:28 wei2coolman wrote:

I don't understand how the intention is unconstitutional though?
Why shouldn't businesses or people have the right to refuse service? Someone shouldn't be able to force another person for their service just because they waved money at them.

The US coal sector is in a “structural decline” which has sent 26 companies bust in the last three years, according to financial analysts.

A report by the Carbon Tracker Initiative found that in the past five years the US coal industry lost 76% of its value. At least 264 mines were closed between 2011 and 2013. The world’s largest private coal company, Peabody Energy, lost 80% of its share price.

These declines were in spite of the Dow Jones industrial average increasing by 69% during the same period. Authors said this indicated a decoupling of US economic growth from coal.

Co-author Luke Sussams said the coal industry had been pummelled by cheap shale gas and a series of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations.

“It was something of a one-two punch. Gas took the legs out from the sector and the EPA really held it down,” he said.

The US shale gas price fell 80% since 2008. Meanwhile, renewable energy has become increasingly competitive. From 2005 to 2013 the amount of US electricity generated by burning coal dropped by 10.5%. This was picked up by gas (8.7%) and renewables (4.1%).

But Chiza Vitta, a credit analyst from Standard and Poor’s, said he did not believe coal was in a terminal decline, although its share of the US electricity market would diminish somewhat in the coming years.

Vitta said the drop in share prices noted by Carbon Tracker was due to a complex series of factors, including a cyclical dip in metallurgical coal demand. He said despite the slowdown “coal will continue to be an integral part of the energy portfolio. It’s going to get a little smaller so the share price is going to fall. But there is always going to be a place for coal”.

On March 27 2015 02:28 wei2coolman wrote:

I don't understand how the intention is unconstitutional though?
Why shouldn't businesses or people have the right to refuse service? Someone shouldn't be able to force another person for their service just because they waved money at them.

On March 27 2015 02:33 Millitron wrote:

Not sure how following the law is hypocrisy. If anything, taking advantage of the fact that he's a senator and is thus exempt from having to enroll seems more hypocritical to me.

It really does seem like the media is playing gotcha games.

On March 27 2015 03:25 CannonsNCarriers wrote:


Cruz describes ACA as the worst policy mistake in America since slavery. If he signs up for private health insurance on the ACA exchange, and he doesn't burst into flames, then all that bad stuff he said about ACA would be undone by his own relatively positive experience. Do you not understand how a smooth enrollment for private insurance through the ACA exchange website would undercut all of his doom and gloom exaggerations about ACA?

On March 27 2015 03:30 Millitron wrote:

Like I said though, wouldn't it be worse to take advantage of his senator status to avoid the exchange? This way he goes through the exact same stuff the common man does.

Even if he doesn't have a bad time of it, that doesn't invalidate his statement that the ACA is horrible. Not all bad decisions have immediate negative consequences.

On March 27 2015 03:38 CannonsNCarriers wrote:


What? Of course it invalidates (maybe just undercuts) his arguments that ACA is horrible. Presuming he signs up, ACA then would have provided him with the ability to pick up insurance when his wife left work (without having to worry about pre-existing conditions) from a marketplace of private insurance options.

News: "Senator, how was it signing up for private insurance through the ACA exchange website?"

Cruz: "It went fine"

News: "If it went fine for you, and millions like you, why is it so bad?"

Cruz: "..."

On March 27 2015 01:13 puerk wrote:
As it seems to not have been posted in this thread: http://ric-zai-inc.com/Publications/cops-w0753-pub.pdf
It is only Philadelphia, but it expands and explains the points GreenHorizons was already making, and it is from a law enforcement perspective.