US Politics Mega-thread - Page 1784

On April 01 2015 01:13 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
Except Cruz is already having an affect on the GOP primary race. Look at Rand Paul who now says Religion is needed in government and that gay marriage is a result of lost morality in the country, and Bush supporting Pence in Indiana.

WASHINGTON – The United States officially submitted its emissions-cutting target to the United Nations on Tuesday morning, formalizing its commitment to reducing emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

The Obama administration had previously announced the goal in its work with China on a bilateral climate agreement. The Tuesday submission makes the pledge official.

"With today’s submission of the U.S. target, countries accounting for more than half of total carbon pollution from the energy sector have submitted or announced what they will do in the post-2020 period to combat climate change," wrote Brian Deese, senior adviser to the president, in a blog post Tuesday morning.

Under a system established through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, individual countries are putting forward their own emissions commitments, referred to as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, or INDCs. Countries are supposed to submit their INDCs to the U.N. by March 31. The submissions will be the basis for an international climate agreement, which leaders expect to reach at the upcoming negotiation session in Paris at the end of 2015.

The U.S. described its target as "fair and ambitious" in the U.N. document, and said that the country has already undertaken "substantial policy action to reduce its emissions." The submission says that the U.S. is already on a path to reach its previously submitted goal of cutting emissions 17 percent by 2020, and the new commitment will require the country to speed up its rate of emissions reduction.

The European Union, Norway and Mexico submitted their commitments last week.

On April 01 2015 01:13 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
Except Cruz is already having an affect on the GOP primary race. Look at Rand Paul who now says Religion is needed in government and that gay marriage is a result of lost morality in the country, and Bush supporting Pence in Indiana.

On April 01 2015 04:03 puerk wrote:
http://cbn.com/tv/embedplayernews.aspx?bcid=4136727089001

He is doing the full dance with the dog whistle, and in my mind utterly failing.. portraying gay couples as amoral in the face of american politics is ridiculous beyond belief.

On April 01 2015 04:24 Nyxisto wrote:
This isn't because he's pandering to the far-right, but because the "libertarian-base" actually is very right-wing.

+ Show Spoiler +

On April 01 2015 04:06 dAPhREAk wrote:
something i have been pondering for awhile. are the foreigners in this thread (i.e., people who list countries other than U.S.), expats? if not, i am genuinely curious why foreigners know and care so much about U.S. politics.

I assume, based on his initial remarks, that this was in front of a fervently-religious far-right audience, and he was likely pandering to his audience, but it doesn't excuse the remark in the slightest.

“Can demonic spirits attach themselves to inanimate objects, the answer is yes,”

And you know Kristi, something happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French, uh you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said we will serve you if you'll get us free from the French. True Story. And so the Devil said "OK, it's a deal." And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other, desperately poor.

On Walt Disney World's "Gay Days"

"I would warn Orlando that you're right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don't think I'd be waving those flags in God's face if I were you ... It'll bring about terrorist bombs; it'll bring earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor."

The U.S. says enough progress has been made in talks with Iran on its nuclear program to warrant an extension of today's 6 p.m. ET deadline by a day.

"We've made enough progress in the last days to merit staying until Wednesday," spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement. "There are several difficult issues still remaining."

She said Secretary of State John Kerry, who was scheduled to leave the talks Tuesday, will remain until Wednesday.

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said talks in Lausanne, Switzerland, "continue to be productive," but if there is no political agreement by the June 30 deadline for an agreement, "we would walk away from the negotiating table."

WASHINGTON -- Arkansas passed a religious freedom bill on Tuesday that is similar to an Indiana law that has faced national backlash for legalizing discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The bill cleared the Arkansas Legislature and now heads to the governor's desk, where it is expected to be signed. Like the Indiana law, the Arkansas legislation allows a person who feels his or her exercise of religion has been “substantially burdened” to cite that argument as a claim or defense in a private lawsuit. The legislation also grants corporations the right to religious freedom. This language is not in the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), and critics say it could be used to override existing anti-discrimination protections.

"The Arkansas and Indiana bills are virtually identical in terms of language and intent,” said Sarah Warbelow, legal director at the Human Rights Campaign. “They place LGBT people, people of color, religious minorities, women and many more people at risk of discrimination.”

On March 31 2015 23:08 Jormundr wrote:

It's like conservatives didn't start shouting out "free market" when they found out Libertarianism was this cool new thing the young folks were doing after they lost the '08 election.

I am convinced that the historic function of Ronald Reagan was to co-opt, eviscerate and ultimately destroy the substantial wave of anti-governmental, and quasi-libertarian, sentiment that erupted in the U.S. during the 1970s. Did he perform this task consciously? Surely too difficult a feat for a man barely compos. No, Reagan was wheeled into performing this task by his Establishment handlers.

On April 01 2015 07:15 Mindcrime wrote:


I think you're a few years off. Rothbard noted that phenomenon long ago:

On April 01 2015 04:06 dAPhREAk wrote:
something i have been pondering for awhile. are the foreigners in this thread (i.e., people who list countries other than U.S.), expats? if not, i am genuinely curious why foreigners know and care so much about U.S. politics.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 22 individuals on Tuesday, more than doubling the number of commutations he has issued in the six-plus years he's been in office.

The men and women granted the reprieves had been imprisoned under an "outdated sentencing regime," the administration concluded. Eight of the 22 inmates had been sentenced to life imprisonment and would have died behind bars.

Leading up to Tuesday's announcement, the president has tried to revamp his administration's approach to clemency, telling The Huffington Post in a recent interview that he felt recipients should more broadly reflect the entire applicant pool and not lean toward well-connected white-collar criminals. Those granted clemency on Tuesday were all sentenced to jail for intent to distribute an illegal drug, with 14 of those cases involving possession or distribution of cocaine.

"Had they been sentenced under current laws and policies, many of these individuals would have already served their time and paid their debt to society," White House counsel Neil Eggleston said in a statement shared in advance with The Huffington Post. "Because many were convicted under an outdated sentencing regime, they served years -- in some cases more than a decade -- longer than individuals convicted today of the same crime."

The president sent a letter to each of the commutation recipients encouraging them to take advantage of their post-prison opportunity. An administration official said that this was the first time Obama has sent such letters during his presidency.