US Politics Mega-thread - Page 8692

On September 09 2017 01:11 Logo wrote:


I don't get why this isn't hyperbole? I'm sure plenty of Floridians still remember Andrew. I get that Irma is bigger and stronger at the moment, but wasn't Andrew stronger at landfall than Irma is predicted to be?

(Not that Irma isn't going to be devastating in its own right or anything, but like I remember Andrew even without having lived in Florida. Also Hyperbole tends to be prudent in these types of situations really so that's fine.)

House Republicans unleashed their fury over President Donald Trump's deal with the Democrats at Steve Mnuchin, with conservatives calling the treasury secretary's appeal to them to "vote for it for me" insulting and inappropriate.

Mnuchin, along with Trump's budget chief, Mick Mulvaney went up to Capitol Hill shortly before a vote on the package, which included money for hurricane aid, a continuing resolution to keep the government open and a three-month extension of the debt ceiling.

Multiple House Republicans emerged infuriated and dissatisfied that they addressed their concerns that the deal wasn't the right strategy to get some of the spending reforms they've been pushing.

In the closed-door meeting, Mnuchin appeared to exacerbate the anger of House Republicans who opposed clean debt limit extensions, as the treasury secretary appealed to members to do this "for me," according to two members in the meeting.

Florida Republican Ted Yoho told reporters one House Republican told the treasury secretary directly "you know what, unfortunately you don't get voted in or voted out and you can't vote for me."

Most rank-and-file House Republicans don't know Mnuchin and more than one said they believed he was a Democrat, based on his previous donations to political candidates.

A source in the room described Mnuchin's performance as one where the treasury secretary clearly did not understand the long-simmering frustrations among conservatives when it came to raising the debt ceiling without spending cuts.

Mnuchin further irritated conservatives when he left the meeting because of other commitments with roughly a dozen members still in line waiting for him to answer their questions.

Rep. David Brat added Mnuchin's arguments were "intellectually insulting." Brat said members asked Mnuchin and Mulvaney for reassurances that the GOP have a bigger fiscal plan and got nothing in return.

"Crickets," the Virginia Republican said, adding that House Speaker Paul Ryan could say nothing to assure them that Trump wouldn't repeat a deal like this in the future.

Mnuchin was not the only one who faced some tough questions.

Other House Republicans reminded Mulvaney, a former congressman from South Carolina and a strident conservative who once railed against clean debt ceilings, of his past votes and statements opposing debt hikes. However, one GOP member said it was mostly teasing.

Republican Rep. Jeff Duncan said he personally asked White House officials in the room for a plan on how they are going to tackle the debt ceiling in December and he said they didn't have a good answer.

On September 09 2017 01:06 xDaunt wrote:
You can hunker down for a hurricane as long as you're not in a flood zone. But generally speaking, only stupid people stick around and try to ride them out. Everyone in South Florida should have boogied already.

On September 09 2017 01:17 brian wrote:


while the severity is TBD, the sheer size the storm is 2x as big as andrew.

should the worst happen, and it stays as strong, it will be devastatingly worse.

of course there's always the possibility the worst doesn't happen, but always plan for it right? oh you edited that in. sorry.

On September 09 2017 01:30 brian wrote:

IANAL but i'm a little skeptical when the highlighted passage is within an arbitration clause. naturally if i brought a claim to arbitration i would forfeit my right to bring a lawsuit?

Martin Shkreli just can’t help himself. The notorious “pharma bro” who was recently convicted on three counts of fraud in connection with hedge funds, was released on $5 million bail, but his behavior since then has led to the Justice Department pushing for him to be locked up ASAP.

Earlier this week, Shkreli said in Facebook post (which he has since deleted), “On HRC’s book tour, try to grab a hair from her,” adding “Will pay $5,000 per hair obtained from Hillary Clinton.” He later claimed it was a form of satire, but it was enough for the DOJ to file a motion on Thursday arguing that Shkreli is a danger to society and his bail should be revoked.

“Shkreli’s latest threat is concerning not only because it has required a significant expenditure of resources by the United States Secret Service, which is charged with protecting Secretary Clinton,” the motion says, “but also because there is a significant risk that one of his many social media followers or others who learn of his offers through the media will take his statements seriously — as has happened previously — and act on them.”

Shkreli drew the ire of the nation in a separate matter, when as a pharmaceutical CEO he raised the price of the drug Daraprim from $13.50 per dose to $750.

Shkreli’s lawyers have until Tuesday to file a response, with a hearing to follow on Thursday.

Thursday night, after the motion was filed, Shkreli was back at it on Facebook, saying his initial post was “just a prank, bro!”

On September 09 2017 01:17 brian wrote:


while the severity is TBD, the sheer size the storm is 2x as big as andrew.

should the worst happen, and it stays as strong, it will be devastatingly worse.

of course there's always the possibility the worst doesn't happen, but always plan for it right? oh you edited that in. sorry.

also, the path is worse. andrew was small and cut straight across south florida. so most of the resident were unaffected. Irma's going right up the state, so everyone's going to get beaten with it.

On September 09 2017 01:36 brian wrote:
yea i get that, but not for arbitration. the entire point of arbitration is a legally binding settlement to avoid litigation.