US Politics Mega-thread - Page 2712

On January 05 2016 00:16 zeo wrote:
Donald Trumps first tv ad: http://www.donaldjtrump.com/media/great-again-tv-spot

On January 05 2016 00:55 Mohdoo wrote:


Make America Afraid again? Good lord, so much fear mongering and chest beating.

On January 05 2016 01:15 Plansix wrote:
The armed occupation in Oregon is taking place on Sacred Native America Land and the Federal Government is one of the largest employers in that state. My irony cup overflows.

On January 05 2016 02:43 oneofthem wrote:
lmao that trump ad is like a parody. he'll just drop dead if he runs a campaign on this issue

On January 05 2016 02:44 Slaughter wrote:


My thoughts about that ad was "ok hes just straight up trolling now".

On January 05 2016 02:49 ticklishmusic wrote:


can't stump the trump tho

i'm going to assume he's running a real campaign despite the seeming idiocy until his polls tank or he fails in the caucuses.

On January 05 2016 03:03 CannonsNCarriers wrote:


He is running a real campaign for high school educated suburban whites with declining employment prospects and insufficient retirement funds. He is throwing any chance he has to the wind with any other demographic.

The founder of the Oath Keepers, a loosely organized anti-government militia group, criticized Ammon Bundy for protesting the arson convictions of a pair of Oregon ranchers shortly before Bundy led the takeover of an empty national wildlife refuge on Saturday.

Stewart Rhodes, president and founder of the Oath Keepers, posted a video statement on the ranchers' situation in which he criticized the son of infamous Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy for taking up the cause of Dwight and Stewart Hammond. Rhodes branded those involved with Ammon Bundy's protest as “potheads.”

“The Oath Keepers will not be involved in an armed stand off that’s being manufactured by potheads who want a fight because this is going to be a bad fight, not a righteous moral high ground fight,” Rhodes said in the video, which was posted Thursday.

On Saturday, Bundy led group of armed militia members who splintered off from a peaceful protest march in support of the Hammonds and occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

A lawyer for the Hammonds has said Bundy doesn’t speak for the father-son duo. Rhodes pointed to that as a reason why Bundy should call off his protest.

“If they don’t want their family in the middle of an armed stand off, I don’t think it’s right for us to go in there and try to force that on them,” Rhodes said. “I think that’s the wrong way to go.”

The Hammonds, who were convicted of arson in 2012, have already served time in jail for setting a fire that spread to federal land. But an appellate judge recently ruled that the two men needed to serve additional time in keeping with the federal mandatory minimum sentence for the crime.

On January 05 2016 02:43 oneofthem wrote:
lmao that trump ad is like a parody. he'll just drop dead if he runs a campaign on this issue

The US government has sued Volkswagen over allegations that the German company illegally installed special software to cheat emission tests.

The lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice in federal court in Detroit on Monday claims that VW violated the Clean Air Act by installing “defeat devices” in almost 600,000 diesel vehicles in the US.

After being caught by the regulator in September, VW admitted installing the software, which was designed to trick regulators into believing its cars are less polluting than they really are by producing low emissions only when undergoing official tests, in more than 11m vehicles across the world.

The allegations in the lawsuit, brought on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) carry penalties that could cost Volkswagen more than $30,000 per vehicle, which could total as much as $18bn.

The emissions scandal has already wiped tens of billions of euros off VW’s share price, and analysts have warned that the total cost of the scandal could be as high as €78bn ($84.4bn, £57.4bn), which would be 60% more than the Deepwater Horizon disaster cost BP. VW has so far set aside €6.7bn to cover the cost of the scandal.

John Cruden, assistant attorney general and head of the justice department’s environment and natural resources division, said: “Car manufacturers that fail to properly certify their cars and that defeat emission control systems breach the public trust, endanger public health, and disadvantage competitors.”

Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the EPA’s office of enforcement and compliance assurance, said: “With today’s filing, we take an important step to protect public health by seeking to hold Volkswagen accountable for any unlawful air pollution, setting us on a path to resolution.

“So far, recall discussions with the company have not produced an acceptable way forward. These discussions will continue in parallel with the federal court action.”

The civil lawsuit, which is being filed in the eastern district of Michigan before being transferred to California where class action lawsuits against the company are pending, does not preclude prosecutors from bringing criminal charges against VW executives, a justice department official said.