It is very gray here

jerseyhoya wrote:It is very gray here

a new dawn

CalvinBall wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:It is very gray here

a new dawn

it's always darkest before the dawn?

CalvinBall wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:It is very gray here

a new dawn

It's always darkest before the dawn!

Darn you and your fast replies, pacino!

drsmooth wrote:

Werthless wrote:I don't think we would be advocating that the US take $XX billion dollars and buy a bunch of land to hold.

You may have to roll back a couple of those X's. The Land and Water Conservation Fund's 2016 budget request was $900 million. Pretty sure land is also sold off, perhaps lowering the net.


That sum approaches rounding error territory in terms of, say, adequately subsidizing health treatment.

If the US had to buy the 28% of the US that they currently own, that would cost much more than the XX billion that I used. The reason I gave this hypothetical is that most people can understand why we wouldnt push for the US to buy another 28% of the land, yes, but the cost is symmetrical. If we would never buy more land, why do we hold the land that we do? We could sell off some of the public lands that we're holding, or whatever. Restrict use on strategic property.

This is not a hill that I'm dying on, no pun intended, but I don't understand why the US should be such a big landowner.

JFLNYC wrote:If they don't like being part of the USA and the rights and responsibilities that come with it, let them secede.

If you allowed states to secede, we wouldn't have Trump as our President. Think about it.

Youseff wrote:

slugsrbad wrote:

Youseff wrote:& how would Putin's friend become billionaires & get rich from buying public land where subsequently no industries would exist?

I assume the hypothetical would be that his friends would buy, or already own the land, and then the Russian government would pay outrageous sums to buy it for parks and preservation.

oh, so werthless was proposing a hypothetical that has nothing to do with our public parks situation. great.

I didnt think the words in my post were that hard to follow -- I wasn't intentionally doing a docsmooth imitation -- but my apologies that something was lost. My Putin hypothetical was about land-buying, as a follow-up to my argument that the decision to buy/sell is symmetrical, and holding a huge amount of land is not a neutral position; it's a position in favor of land-buying as a reasonable national policy.

At the risk of adding confusion, I'll attempt another analogy. If you personally own a bunch of Apple stock, and you think "I would never buy more at this price," perhaps that's an argument that you shouldn't be holding what you have at this price. if you wouldn't buy more, why hold?

Tying it all together, I brought up Russia because they are much more ok with nationalizing industries. Perhaps I could have used China as an example. It's a contrast with the US; while Americans tend to be generally predisposed to oppose the nationalization of most industries -- except in the auto industry, apparently -- a quarter of US lands are nationalized.

I know Radiohead used this title for GWB but it seems appropriate again.

pacino wrote:

pacino wrote:ho hum:

WASHINGTON
The FBI and five other law enforcement and intelligence agencies have collaborated for months in an investigation into Russian attempts to influence the November election, including whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided President-elect Donald Trump, two people familiar with the matter said.

The agencies involved in the inquiry are the FBI, the CIA, the National Security Agency, the Justice Department, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and representatives of the director of national intelligence, the sources said.

The BBC reported that the FBI had obtained a warrant on Oct. 15 from the highly secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court allowing investigators access to bank records and other documents about potential payments and money transfers related to Russia. One of McClatchy’s sources confirmed the report.

they intercepted Russian communications

Well thank god that Jim Comey felt morally obligated to publicly comment on the Clinton email server investigation. What a transparent, honorable individual.

pacino wrote:

Universal healthcare will one day become a permanent reality in this country as will many other socialist programs

I don't think this is a guarantee at all. We're about to actually go backwards on it and the party that advocates for it has no power on any level. A 2/3 step took 60 years and a rollback is going to take 1.

Not necessarily. They're going to face vocal opposition even from many Republican state legislatures on many of their proposed alternatives (esp. Medicaid block grants), and liberal groups have been doing a good job so far of scaring the shit out of people.

This process isn't nearly as simple as they thought it was going to be.

"Winning is easy, son, governing is harder."

President Obama ‏@POTUS 6m6 minutes ago
It's been the honor of my life to serve you. You made me a better leader and a better man.

I won't stop; I'll be right there with you as a citizen, inspired by your voices of truth and justice, good humor, and love.

As we look forward, I want our first steps to reflect what matters most to you. Share your thoughts with me at http://Obama.org .

I'm still asking you to believe - not in my ability to bring about change, but in yours. I believe in change because I believe in you.

pls dont go. pls

Metro
@wmata
Parking update: As of 7 a.m., parking is available at all Metro stations with lots/garages. No station more than 40% full. #wmata #inaug2017

Bwahahahahaa

WMATA throwing some serious shade there.

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

Metro
@wmata
Parking update: As of 7 a.m., parking is available at all Metro stations with lots/garages. No station more than 40% full. #wmata #inaug2017

Bwahahahahaa

WMATA throwing some serious shade there.

Don says it's because everyone is taking party busses. The turnout will be huge. One of the best turnouts.

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

pacino wrote:

Universal healthcare will one day become a permanent reality in this country as will many other socialist programs

I don't think this is a guarantee at all. We're about to actually go backwards on it and the party that advocates for it has no power on any level. A 2/3 step took 60 years and a rollback is going to take 1.

Not necessarily. They're going to face vocal opposition even from many Republican state legislatures on many of their proposed alternatives (esp. Medicaid block grants), and liberal groups have been doing a good job so far of scaring the #$!&@ out of people.

This process isn't nearly as simple as they thought it was going to be.

"Winning is easy, son, governing is harder."

I think their main reason for being the past 8 years has been opposition to expanding healthcare access. i don't think some republican governors are going to make them think twice. i hope i'm wrong.

even then, that's a long leap to then thinking universal healthcare will be enacted in the future.

appreciate the hamilton reference!

I decided to watch CNN's coverage of the inauguration, because whatever fake news they put on will be more optimistic than the actual event.

pacino wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

pacino wrote:

Universal healthcare will one day become a permanent reality in this country as will many other socialist programs

I don't think this is a guarantee at all. We're about to actually go backwards on it and the party that advocates for it has no power on any level. A 2/3 step took 60 years and a rollback is going to take 1.

Not necessarily. They're going to face vocal opposition even from many Republican state legislatures on many of their proposed alternatives (esp. Medicaid block grants), and liberal groups have been doing a good job so far of scaring the #$!&@ out of people.

This process isn't nearly as simple as they thought it was going to be.

"Winning is easy, son, governing is harder."

I think their main reason for being the past 8 years has been opposition to expanding healthcare access. i don't think some republican governors are going to make them think twice. i hope i'm wrong.

even then, that's a long leap to then thinking universal healthcare will be enacted in the future.

I disagree on the latter point. It's very possible that it won't be in our lifetime, but the simple fact of technological advancement makes it far more likely than you think.

But as to the former point, I'm not just talking about Republican governors. Even mainstream GOP state legislators are nervous about what's coming down the pipe. We can scare them more. It's a chain reaction--no different than what the Tea Party did in 2009.

And if the Republicans think that outright repeal of the ACA is going to work without a viable plan, then 2018 is going to turn out a lot differently than what we expected two months ago.

Surreal watching President Obama walking outside the White House, camerman yelled "Any last word for the American People" "Thank You."

Today is tough man.