US Politics Mega-thread - Page 2703

On December 31 2015 05:01 Deathstar wrote:
That fact that people can't even admit that the US is the greatest country thus far in history shows that we can't even agree on fairly obvious truths.

But sure, some country has more gdp per capita than us therefore they're in the same league as us lmao.

Puerto Rico has run out of time and money and will default on $37m of its debt repayments on 1 January, Governor Alejandro Padilla confirmed on Wednesday.

The troubled commonwealth is at loggerheads with investors over plans to restructure $70bn in debts that have triggered a financial crisis on the island leading to mass migration, school closures and escalating unemployment and poverty.

The island began defaulting on payments in August and faces close to $1bn in interest payments in 2016. Padilla said Puerto Rico would pay $354m of its obligations but will default on $35.9m of Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority debt and $1.4m of Public Finance Corp bonds, Padilla said. He also warned that the island did not have the cash to pay $400m due in May in Government Development Bank bonds.

Padilla said the island’s government would do “all [it] can to avoid” the shutdown of vital government services.

Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate is 12.5%, more than twice the US national average, and 45% of its population now lives below the poverty line. Padilla has warned its crushing debts have sent the commonwealth into a “death spiral”.

Unlike mainland municipalities, notably Detroit, the commonwealth is legally barred from declaring bankruptcy. Padilla has pushed, unsuccessfully, for Congress to change the law and allow Puerto Rico to declare bankruptcy.

On December 31 2015 03:43 Stratos_speAr wrote:


Economic freedom is a nice ideological concept, but what has it turned into? The U.S. is behind a lot of "socialist" countries when it comes to things like quality of life, health outcomes, levels of political corruption, safety, etc.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on Wednesday that Chicago police must be better trained to distinguish between when they can use a gun and when they should use a gun, after a series of shootings by officers sparked protests and complaints that police are too quick to fire their weapons.

Emanuel announced changes in police training and department policies on use of force during a news conference. He also said the police department will double the number of Tasers available to officers – from 700 to 1,400 – as he works to restore public trust in the police force and his administration.

“Our police officers have a very difficult and dangerous job. They put their lives on the line so the rest of us can be safe. And like all of us, they are human and they make mistakes,” the mayor said. “Our job is to reduce the chances of mistakes.

“That requires us to give them the right guidance, the right training, and the right culture, to prevent abuses,” he said. “Willful misconduct and abuse cannot and will not be tolerated.”

Emanuel pledged training to make police encounters with citizens “less confrontational and more conversational”. He said “force should be the last option and not the first choice”.

Every police patrol car will be equipped with a Taser by 1 June 2016, he said.
Interim police superintendent John Escalante said the city looked at 15 police departments, including New York, Seattle, Cincinnati and Cleveland, as it developed its policy changes.

Emanuel and Chicago police have been under heavy scrutiny since the city, under court order, released a squad car video last month showing white officer Jason Van Dyke shooting black 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times in 2014. McDonald, armed with a knife, is seen veering away from Van Dyke in the video before the veteran officer starts firing.

On December 31 2015 12:00 Nyxisto wrote:
America's cultural attitude towards immigration is probably something Europe could need a good dose of at the moment. If you could give us that and we give you some social policies that would be a good idea I think.

When Congress effectively lifted the federal ban on medical marijuana a year ago, Californians drove the landmark change, which was tucked into a sprawling spending package by a liberal lawmaker from the Monterey peninsula and his conservative colleague from Orange County.

A year later, marijuana legalization advocates are conflicted over how big a victory the congressional vote, which was repeated this month, has turned out to be.

“The number of raids has dropped substantially, though not completely,” across the country, said Mike Liszewski, government affairs director for Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group. A federal court ruling this fall, if it is upheld, would limit federal agents from targeting all but operations that are clearly flouting state law, he noted.

But in California, in particular, federal prosecutors continue to pursue cases, in large part because of flaws in the existing state medical marijuana law, which all sides agree is long overdue for an overhaul. Gov. Jerry Brown has signed three measures to clarify the state law, but those won’t take effect until 2018.

So for now, the state that was America’s birthplace for legal medical pot remains at the center of legal disputes as federal prosecutors struggle to navigate a murky landscape in which the line between healers and drug dealers is not always clear.

The two members of Congress who championed the new approach say prosecutors are not following Congress’ intent.

“The will of the people is clear: The majority of the states have enacted medical marijuana laws, Congress has voted twice now to protect those patients, and a federal judge has upheld” the measure, Rep. Sam Farr (D-Carmel) wrote in an email. “How many times does the Justice Department need to be told to back off before it finally sinks in?”

On December 31 2015 12:00 Nyxisto wrote:
America's cultural attitude towards immigration is probably something Europe could need a good dose of at the moment. If you could give us that and we give you some social policies that would be a good idea I think.