US Politics Mega-thread - Page 96

On February 08 2013 02:10 Grettin wrote:
I gotta ask, i hope this belongs here after all. I'm watching Gen. Dempsey and Sec. Panetta's hearing at Senate about Benghazi attack. Is it normal that these kind of people are being heard and questioned when something like this happens or is this case just special of its kind?

I haven't followed politics or US politics much, so excuse me if this is a stupid question.

On February 08 2013 03:26 aksfjh wrote:

The Banghazi attack was unique in the damage it dealt, and an uncharacteristic mistake for what has been relatively successful foreign policy for the past 4 years. Republicans are seizing the opportunity.

On February 08 2013 05:31 HunterX11 wrote:


It was obviously an awful mistake, but I'm not even really sure if it counts as a foreign policy mistake at all since it had positive consequences, galvanizing Libyans against anti-American Islamists, at the cost of just four lives.

On February 07 2013 02:44 JonnyBNoHo wrote:

It's just accounting. From what I've read it was an attempt at resolving* the USPS's financial woes, though it was an imperfect attempt - and a, largely, inflexible one at that.

Something boring from the CBO here.

A nice Bloomberg article here.

Edit: As stated in both links about 25% of private companies voluntarily use this accounting treatment because they deem it appropriate - not because they are trying to destroy themselves!

*Edit 2: By resolve I do not mean fix. The underlying economic issues facing the USPS mean that pain must be felt. The legislation passed by Republicans was aimed at answering the question "who will will bear the pain and by what means?" and not aimed at reducing the pain - that's a task for the USPS itself.

On February 08 2013 22:12 paralleluniverse wrote:

This is very puzzling to me.

How is it that a monopoly, such as the USPS, goes broke?

Is it because they are required to fund the health care costs of retired employees as the article says? Clearly, FedEx isn't broke, is that because they don't have to? Or is the USPS broke because of legislation that demands they provide more service than they can profitably afford, such as requiring mail to be delivered everyday, at a certain speed, everywhere in the country, etc? And couldn't the USPS pass the cost onto customers so that they are profitable, or does the government cap the amount USPS is allowed to charge?

Anyway, mail is old fashioned. People should use email. Government agencies seem to send everything my mail, they should stop this. Letters should be emailed and the postal service should be exclusively for parcels, or other things that cannot be emailed.

President Barack Obama nominated openly gay Justice Department attorney Todd Hughes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday, a move that drew praise from LGBT groups. Hughes would be the first openly gay judge to sit on the federal appeals court bench if confirmed by the Senate.

Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Institute, issued a statement applauding Obama for the nomination.

"If confirmed, Todd Hughes would become the first openly gay federal appeals court judge in U.S. history. His nomination is a testament to the expanding opportunities for openly LGBT Americans who want to serve their country, and to the president's respect for the depth of talent and experience within the LGBT community. We look forward to his confirmation by the U.S. Senate," Wolfe said.

It's not the first time the president has nominated an openly gay man to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. In April 2010, Obama nominated Deward DuMont. After waiting more than 18 months for a confirmation hearing, however, he withdrew his nomination.

Obama also nominated Raymond Chen, a lawyer in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, for the Court of Appeals, on Thursday.

On February 08 2013 22:12 paralleluniverse wrote:

This is very puzzling to me.

How is it that a monopoly, such as the USPS, goes broke?

Is it because they are required to fund the health care costs of retired employees as the article says? Clearly, FedEx isn't broke, is that because they don't have to? Or is the USPS broke because of legislation that demands they provide more service than they can profitably afford, such as requiring mail to be delivered everyday, at a certain speed, everywhere in the country, etc? And couldn't the USPS pass the cost onto customers so that they are profitable, or does the government cap the amount USPS is allowed to charge?

Anyway, mail is old fashioned. People should use email. Government agencies seem to send everything my mail, they should stop this. Letters should be emailed and the postal service should be exclusively for parcels, or other things that cannot be emailed.

On February 09 2013 04:47 JonnyBNoHo wrote:

The accounting issue is a bit of a red herring. The retirement costs are real - they exist and therefore they must be accounted and paid for somehow. FedEx may not be required to pre-pay the benefits, but they are required to account for them. The core issue at USPS is that revenues are falling faster than expenses: even if the pre-pay requirement is removed this remains true:
Link

So even if we ignore the expense (or assume the USPS will default on that obligation) the USPS is still running at a loss. USPS does have regulatory requirements that hobble their ability to restructure but I'm unsure how big a deal that is. The USPS is capped on raising postage rates by inflation. The USPS has been raising rates and revenue has fallen slower than mail volume, but there's a tradeoff there - as rates rise volume should fall faster as more customers move to electronic alternatives. The USPS is also required to deliver mail everywhere but that comes with the territory. If they shed that requirement than they lose a lot of public support for their monopoly.

The situation reminds me of the baby bell telecoms. As cell phones became more popular the landlines business went into decline and painful restructuring ensued and in many cases is still ongoing.

Edit: Comparing to FedEx is OK, but FedEx mainly delivers parcels while USPS is mainly letter delivery. Parcel delivery is growing along with e-commerce, while letter delivery is declining. Parcel and letter delivery also have different underlying cost / revenue characteristics. It's a useful comparison to make but its not apples to apples.

On February 12 2013 08:39 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
If Ted Nugent actually shouts during the SotU it will be an amazing gift to Democrats. John Boehner must be terrified that he can't control his own caucus.

On February 12 2013 23:24 Grettin wrote:
So what is SotU, when is it and where can i watch/listen? Thanks in advance.

ah. State of the Union address i presume.

On February 12 2013 23:07 paralleluniverse wrote:
SotU tonight. The media buzz seems to suggest that Obama will focus on jobs, instead of the counterproductive obsession with deficits. Hopefully, he really will focus on jobs, ask for more spending on infrastructure, education, etc. It's doubtful that he will get it, but reshaping the public debate is a important step now.

I don't think he can completely ignore talking about deficits, given that the sequester is imminent. He should clearly reject Republicans saying that there will be no tax hikes as the deal averting the fiscal cliff contained entirely tax hikes. This ignores the fact that the deficit reduction deal of 2011 contained entirely spending cuts, much more so than recent tax hikes. In fact, and I know this will never happen, he should ask for the sequester to be delayed until 1 year after the unemployment rate hits 6.5%.

Obama should continue to assert that the best way to achieve fiscal sustainability is not through cuts and suffering but through growth and jobs. It would also be good, if he outlines some debt relief for underwater homeowners, and ways to make it easier for them to refinance, or otherwise fix the drag caused by the slow housing recovery.

However, SotUs usually seem to achieve nothing substantial. So one should not expect much.