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On February 12 2021 06:19 Zambrah wrote: I mean... it'd be nice if they could get the lead out on these stimulus checks, we're really approaching whats reasonable to consider "going out the door immediately." Last I'd heard it was in the house, not the senate, where the holdup currently is. They can take a break to vote on the bill whenever it's done, as long as not too much has gotten changed. Or hell, they could read it during the trial, as republicans are apparently doing.
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Yeah I had heard that the House had it, whats taking them so long? Are they still trying to negotiate it for some reason? I would imagine that'd basically be over by now but I keep seeing news indicating they might still be fighting over stuff like the minimum wage, and means testing.
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On February 12 2021 06:52 Zambrah wrote: Yeah I had heard that the House had it, whats taking them so long? Are they still trying to negotiate it for some reason? I would imagine that'd basically be over by now but I keep seeing news indicating they might still be fighting over stuff like the minimum wage, and means testing. It's a really long process to pass a bill. This is still basically lightning speed. First hundred days, as FDR's congress did, is the usual measurement for how much a congress will accomplish. Their big priorities and capital are done after that.
The exceptions are things like TARP or the first covid bill where it has to be passed ASAP or the economy dies (as a consequence of the speed these bills usually have loopholes and flaws. This is part of why the first covid relief bill had so much money vanish - the oversight part was too weak).
BTW, they're fighting over 15$ minimum wage.
Schumer has said that we aren't gonna see any delays from the senate due to impeachment.
The absolute latest they can pass it is by March 14th, which is when unemployment aid expires. Pelosi is aiming for end of February (so by the 26th, basically, 2 weeks from Friday).
The house wants 15$ minimum wage but the Senate has two issues : A) this won't pass through (honest) reconciliation and B)they need all 50 votes and aren't sure if their most conservative members (ie Manchin/Sinema) would be on board for it.
Now, A is being propped up as the reason but it's basically a lie, as the republican reconciliation plan exploited a very obvious loophole : you can just make up numbers and get it to meet reconciliation balanced budget thresholds, with no one fact checking the estimates. So add on 15$ minimum wage and say it'll turbocharge the economy by an extra 2% GDP growth. Is that true? Probably not. Does that matter? Nope. It's how republicans got their tax cuts through (their growth estimates were ones that left all economist asked about it totally baffled).
As for B, the issue is Sinema, not Manchin. Manchin will vote against every bill he can that he won't be the tiebreaker on so that he can keep his moderate credentials(it's how he operates. Similar to Susan Collins). He will put out a statement that he thinks it's the wrong move but that he won't hold it up since we need relief to badly. Sinema makes it so someone else shoulders the blame.
Also note, it's not an immediate hike to 15$/hr. It's a gradual increase over years.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democrats-clash-over-15-minimum-wage-covid-relief-package-n1257077
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I'd like to see them try and pass some of the incredibly popular stuff like stimulus checks on their own to be honest, I mean this budget reconciliation is going to be their one big shot this year if I recall correctly, they can't budget reconcile everything every time they want to pass something, I get the complexity of this mega-Covid bill, but I find it irksome that the stimulus checks are tied up in all of the negotiating when realistically you might be able to have a standalone bill that does the stimulus check thing that passes the Senate alone without the web of additional Covid measures.
I know thats not really how the Congress does its legislation, but I find that to be very sad. Pass something simple and clean in the people's time of need, if people want to publicly vote against it thats so much easier to pin on them then these megabills where there are innumerable small things they can point at and go, "look I wanted the stimulus checks but [insert inane thing they dont actually give a crap about] was in the bill so I couldn't vote for."
And yeah, I know its a gradual increase which, while I understand, I also dislike given that 15 an hour is already still low for a lot of places in the US. At least it'll incentivize moving to the cheap shitty states though, lol. I'd like to see them build in an automatic inflation thing into the minimum wage increase though, keep from this happening again where inflation inflates and wage stagnate for decades. I'll still happily count the 15 an hour minimum wage as an overall win though should it happen (I think it will, since Bernie seems quite adamant about it.)
Also Democrats need to get their big boot and prepare to shove it up the asses of any of these moderate Democrats, Sinema, Manchin, Feinstein, whoever. Get 'em in line, this is not the time for them to fuck around and try to short people in order to try and preserve their weird moderate street cred. Do big things, be effective, etc. I hear that there were billboards put up around WV that showed Manchin's issues with the stimulus checks when that was a thing, and I hear that helped change his tune. We need more of that energy, shame the spoilers into submission!
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They have 3 reconciliation usages, actually. They're using last years for this and they get two per year. (One for debt and one for revenue, something like that).
(This is why I've been saying that the GOP already effectively killed the filibuster by their misuse of reconciliation in 2017. The only major goal democrats can't pass with it is Marijuana legalization or making something legal/illegal. Medicare for all is a reach but not impossible with a larger majority. It would distort the purpose of reconciliation into a pretzel, but it's no more a leap than a 2 trillion dollar tax cut for billionaires).
Billboards in WV are a good way to persuade Manchin. He has a small enough state that he actually takes constituent input.
Feinstein, from all rumors and news, appears to be literally going senile. No one knows what Sinema is doing or why she's doing it (she's way too conservative for her seat. As is Feinstein). Schumer has greatly improved since taking over as majority leader and has been a pleasant surprise.
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Yeah I'm actually pleasantly surprised by Schumer too, I think he's been doing a solid job so far. Maybe he's afraid of a primary or something, but tbh I think he's doing well enough that even Im not interested in primarying him and I'm interested in primarying almost everyone. 
Feinsteins senility is being pretty actively commented on and it's kind of an indictment of American leadership that one of our most powerful people barely knows what's going on around her, lol. I pray someone stops her from running again. Assuming she even lives through her current term. Her aides do not make her sound like someone in their right mind...
I also didn't know they were rolling over budget reconciliation from last year, that's a nice perk. So we have three possible stimulus checks that Republicans probably can't fuck up right? Tbh, while we're ok the subject, could they pass a recurring monthly checks til the pandemic is over with one reconciliation? I'd imagine so give the scale of the tax bullshit. Id like to see that, right now I'm definitely afraid this will be the last we see of any stimulus to Americans.
And good to know they get two a year, I had heard one but two for two separate budgety things makes some sense. As much sense as American government can make anyway.
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This feels like a death knell for MTG. Even democrats aren't this accepting (see Katie Hill, though there were additional ethical issues there). Personally, I would think it really fucking stupid if a mutually agreed upon poly-relationship kills her political career but not jewish space lasers but I'll settle for what I can get to remove her from influence.
Basically she had some sort of open marriage arrangement and had an affair with a tantric sex guru and after that ended, with the manager of hey gym.
The guru also seems to dress so bizarrely that you can't look away. (That Zangief cosplay...)
It's Daily Mail so it's honestly a pretty shitty source, but no one involved is denying it right now.
edit: spoilered tweet as some of the pics seem a little nsfw. + Show Spoiler +https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1359946977790685186
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When is the impeachment vote? tomorrow?
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On February 12 2021 08:43 HelpMeGetBetter wrote: When is the impeachment vote? tomorrow?
Sometime this weekend. Tomorrow Trumps defense team goes, then I believe questions can be asked, then they will schedule a vote
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On February 12 2021 07:59 Zambrah wrote:Yeah I'm actually pleasantly surprised by Schumer too, I think he's been doing a solid job so far. Maybe he's afraid of a primary or something, but tbh I think he's doing well enough that even Im not interested in primarying him and I'm interested in primarying almost everyone.  :
Anyone who tries to primary Chuck is going to get curbstomped like Flash curbstomps average players. He might lose New York City but he’s got so many roots in the rest of New York that he isn’t losing his seat until he dies.
I think the change in tone so far has been a result of him actually having power. The unfortunate thing about our current senate, thanks to Mitch, is that there is absolutely no reason to have the other party on the negotiation table.
Is there something wrong about Senators colliding with the defence? Sure seems impossible to have an impartial jury if Ted Cruz and Friends are fucking around like this.
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On February 12 2021 08:43 HelpMeGetBetter wrote: When is the impeachment vote? tomorrow? Not yet known. This weekend they are going to vote on whether or not to hear witnesses. If they choose to expect another couple weeks to hear from them, otherwise it'll be done Saturday or Sunday.
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On February 12 2021 09:22 Nevuk wrote:Show nested quote +On February 12 2021 08:43 HelpMeGetBetter wrote: When is the impeachment vote? tomorrow? Not yet known. This weekend they are going to vote on whether or not to hear witnesses. If they choose to expect another couple weeks to hear from them, otherwise it'll be done Saturday or Sunday.
I really hope for witnesses! It would be important for the world to let some officials from the police, national guard, the WH and maybe some rioters go up there under oath and debunk some myths.
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On February 12 2021 08:21 Nevuk wrote:This feels like a death knell for MTG. Even democrats aren't this accepting (see Katie Hill, though there were additional ethical issues there). Personally, I would think it really fucking stupid if a mutually agreed upon poly-relationship kills her political career but not jewish space lasers but I'll settle for what I can get to remove her from influence. Basically she had some sort of open marriage arrangement and had an affair with a tantric sex guru and after that ended, with the manager of hey gym. The guru also seems to dress so bizarrely that you can't look away. (That Zangief cosplay...) It's Daily Mail so it's honestly a pretty shitty source, but no one involved is denying it right now. edit: spoilered tweet as some of the pics seem a little nsfw. + Show Spoiler +https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1359946977790685186
Honestly, i think we shouldn't worry about who has sex with whom as much. This shit is distraction tactics at its worst. Talk about her crazy instead. If she wants to have sex with Zangief, and her husband is okay with it, there is no problem.
Also, i was really confused as to how this is any problem for Magic The Gathering. I don't think you can get MTG as an abbreviation for that person to stick in any nerdy cycles.
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I think people are speculating Kaldheim's poor financials are a problem for Magic: the Gathering at the moment, but given the past history of box prices its likely that Kaldheim winds up an Amonkhet sort of product where the price will rebound to healthier levels in a few years at the latest.
Also I don't think this will be Marjorie Taylor Greene's deathknell, I think she'll be deathknelled by the myriad other controversies alongside this one, but that'll be when her next election rolls around and I dont think playing Twister under the sheets with Zangief is going to be the biggest career killer, I think the increased publicity and Jewish Space Laser stuff will hit her harder.
Typing out that last part really gave me one of those, "christ US politics, what" moments.
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On February 12 2021 09:05 StalkerTL wrote:Show nested quote +On February 12 2021 07:59 Zambrah wrote:Yeah I'm actually pleasantly surprised by Schumer too, I think he's been doing a solid job so far. Maybe he's afraid of a primary or something, but tbh I think he's doing well enough that even Im not interested in primarying him and I'm interested in primarying almost everyone.  : Anyone who tries to primary Chuck is going to get curbstomped like Flash curbstomps average players. He might lose New York City but he’s got so many roots in the rest of New York that he isn’t losing his seat until he dies. I think the change in tone so far has been a result of him actually having power. The unfortunate thing about our current senate, thanks to Mitch, is that there is absolutely no reason to have the other party on the negotiation table. Is there something wrong about Senators colliding with the defence? Sure seems impossible to have an impartial jury if Ted Cruz and Friends are fucking around like this. https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1360001476588953601 For me, this feels as dumb as if the jury in a legal trial was discussing legal tactics with the defense during a case. Any pretense of neutrality or for letting the evidence matter has been thrown out the window. This just underlines the pointlessness and impotence of an impeachment system, or any system where organisations are left to self-regulate.
As it is, if Kim Jong-Un was on impeachment trial as a republican president, be would still be aquitted due to vested political interest from those voting.
Would it be as bad with a democrat impeachment? I dont think so. Democrats seem a lot more able to hold people responsible for their failings, as has been seen through #metoo-consequenses.
As long as the no consequence mentality exists in american politics, impeachment as a tool to moderate extreme transgressions in public offices is impotent, and needs to be reformed. I bet theres some constitutional anchoring causing it to never (realistically) changeable, however. Constitutional amendments suffers from the same problem the impeachment is showing - the failure of self-regulation.
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On February 12 2021 09:05 StalkerTL wrote:Is there something wrong about Senators colliding with the defence? Sure seems impossible to have an impartial jury if Ted Cruz and Friends are fucking around like this. + Show Spoiler +https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1360001476588953601 Rioters that breached the senate chamber and were rummaging through it called Ted Cruz their inspiration so he was never inpartial to this whole thing in the first place.
There's also a sort of inherent jury intimidation going on given that they are voting to convict Trump for inciting a riot that chanted ' hang Mike Pence' because Mike Pence didn't want to break rules for Trump. Yes it's cowardice if senators let their vote be influenced by it but there is a case to be made that they don't want to be the next 'hang X'
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Northern Ireland25498 Posts
On February 12 2021 18:34 Simberto wrote:Show nested quote +On February 12 2021 08:21 Nevuk wrote:This feels like a death knell for MTG. Even democrats aren't this accepting (see Katie Hill, though there were additional ethical issues there). Personally, I would think it really fucking stupid if a mutually agreed upon poly-relationship kills her political career but not jewish space lasers but I'll settle for what I can get to remove her from influence. Basically she had some sort of open marriage arrangement and had an affair with a tantric sex guru and after that ended, with the manager of hey gym. The guru also seems to dress so bizarrely that you can't look away. (That Zangief cosplay...) It's Daily Mail so it's honestly a pretty shitty source, but no one involved is denying it right now. edit: spoilered tweet as some of the pics seem a little nsfw. + Show Spoiler +https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1359946977790685186 Honestly, i think we shouldn't worry about who has sex with whom as much. This shit is distraction tactics at its worst. Talk about her crazy instead. If she wants to have sex with Zangief, and her husband is okay with it, there is no problem. Also, i was really confused as to how this is any problem for Magic The Gathering. I don't think you can get MTG as an abbreviation for that person to stick in any nerdy cycles. People don’t seem to care about crazy, be it her cohort of support or those adjacent to it. At least historically this kind of thing wouldn’t have flied in conservative circles but it doesn’t seem to really have the force it would have had before, I mean Trump’s indiscretions didn’t seem to matter a jot.
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On February 12 2021 18:34 Simberto wrote:Show nested quote +On February 12 2021 08:21 Nevuk wrote:This feels like a death knell for MTG. Even democrats aren't this accepting (see Katie Hill, though there were additional ethical issues there). Personally, I would think it really fucking stupid if a mutually agreed upon poly-relationship kills her political career but not jewish space lasers but I'll settle for what I can get to remove her from influence. Basically she had some sort of open marriage arrangement and had an affair with a tantric sex guru and after that ended, with the manager of hey gym. The guru also seems to dress so bizarrely that you can't look away. (That Zangief cosplay...) It's Daily Mail so it's honestly a pretty shitty source, but no one involved is denying it right now. edit: spoilered tweet as some of the pics seem a little nsfw. + Show Spoiler +https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1359946977790685186 Honestly, i think we shouldn't worry about who has sex with whom as much. This shit is distraction tactics at its worst. Talk about her crazy instead. If she wants to have sex with Zangief, and her husband is okay with it, there is no problem. Also, i was really confused as to how this is any problem for Magic The Gathering. I don't think you can get MTG as an abbreviation for that person to stick in any nerdy cycles.
Yeah, I was very confused by "MTG".
Back on topic, that was a sick Zangief cosplay.
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That was a nicely done Zangief cosplay.
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On February 12 2021 22:36 WombaT wrote:Show nested quote +On February 12 2021 18:34 Simberto wrote:On February 12 2021 08:21 Nevuk wrote:This feels like a death knell for MTG. Even democrats aren't this accepting (see Katie Hill, though there were additional ethical issues there). Personally, I would think it really fucking stupid if a mutually agreed upon poly-relationship kills her political career but not jewish space lasers but I'll settle for what I can get to remove her from influence. Basically she had some sort of open marriage arrangement and had an affair with a tantric sex guru and after that ended, with the manager of hey gym. The guru also seems to dress so bizarrely that you can't look away. (That Zangief cosplay...) It's Daily Mail so it's honestly a pretty shitty source, but no one involved is denying it right now. edit: spoilered tweet as some of the pics seem a little nsfw. + Show Spoiler +https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1359946977790685186 Honestly, i think we shouldn't worry about who has sex with whom as much. This shit is distraction tactics at its worst. Talk about her crazy instead. If she wants to have sex with Zangief, and her husband is okay with it, there is no problem. Also, i was really confused as to how this is any problem for Magic The Gathering. I don't think you can get MTG as an abbreviation for that person to stick in any nerdy cycles. People don’t seem to care about crazy, be it her cohort of support or those adjacent to it. At least historically this kind of thing wouldn’t have flied in conservative circles but it doesn’t seem to really have the force it would have had before, I mean Trump’s indiscretions didn’t seem to matter a jot. Trump's male. Male sexual indiscretions are not nearly as controversial as female ones within the socially conservative groups that are largely what back Q.
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