1776

So again, Congress should work in a bipartisan way to balance the budget. Will it happen, in all likely hood, no.

I can’t speak for every state, but in NC there is more often than not a number of LP candidates on the ballot every two years. For years, and in some cases today, fringe parties have to spend time and resources on gathering X number of signatures to qualify as a certified party. That takes time and money. I think in NC the party does well in getting as many candidates on the ballot as they do. Having been a registered LP member years back, I will be the first to admit that the LP has lots of issues that are self inflicted. The LP does run candidates that are comedy acts and don’t give voters the impression that the party is serious. That’s unfortunate. At the same time there have been some really good candidates through the years. Bottom line, $$$ is always going to be an obstacle for third parties. In my opinion, the more anxious voters are in an election, the less likely they are to take a chance on an alternate choice. Last week is the perfect example.

If you have about 30 minutes to spare and are really interested in getting some good answers to the questions you posed, give this podcast a listen. The host is painful but Closky is very informative here. There are a lot of unknowns but as a local guy in the business he pretty much covers all the options and their chances of happening. Mark Topkin is another solid source for this topic.

DETROIT (AP) — A jury awarded more than $12 million Friday to a woman who lost her job at a Michigan insurance company after declining to get a COVID-19 vaccination. Much of the award — $10 million — is for punitive damages against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, according to the verdict form. Lisa Domski, who worked at Blue Cross for more than 30 years, said she was a victim of religious discrimination. The company in 2021 did not grant an exemption from its vaccine policy, despite her insistence that it clashed with her Catholic beliefs. Domski's attorney, Jon Marko, said she worked 100% remotely as an IT specialist during the pandemic; 75% before COVID-19 hit in 2020. Even without the vaccine, "she wasn't a danger to anybody,” Marko said in an interview after the trial. Besides punitive damages, the jury in Detroit federal court awarded Domski about $1.7 million in lost pay and $1 million in noneconomic damages. Blue Cross denied any discrimination. In a court filing earlier in the case, the insurer said Domski lacked a sincerely held religious belief. An appeal is possible. Blue Cross released a statement but didn't make anyone available for comment. “While Blue Cross respects the jury process and thanks the individual jurors for their service, we are disappointed in the verdict,” the health insurer said. “Blue Cross is reviewing its legal options and will determine its path forward in the coming days.”

There were numerous third party candidates that were on the ballots from every state last week. So the “nobody wants to run” isn’t true. The problem is that the system is so full of garbage now that voters are motivated to vote out of the fear that the worst of the two ****ty candidates will win. Think about that, being motivated by fear. And living in the United States no less. And again, it’s going to get worse and we didn't get here over night.

Third parties could absolutely influence the direction of the two major parties if the majority of the population would get beyond the fear of voting outside the weathered and worn path. As far as “wasting” a vote logic goes, I’ll never see it that way. You can’t expect real change by pulling the same lever every two years. SOS wash rinse repeat. Had Perot not gotten off message from his economic points and avoided the off again-on again side show, he could have drawn more votes and moved the needle on third party possibilities going forward. Additionally, if there is one thing the Democrats and Republican parties agree on, it’s the fact that they don’t want any competition. Avoid a middle ground at all costs, literally. This is the only objective the two parties work together on. Yet after Tuesday’s election we are as polarized a nation as ever. It’s going to get worse.

From the website: History “But Thomas Jefferson, who was serving a diplomatic post in France during the Constitutional Convention, believed it was a mistake not to provide for different political parties in the new government. “Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties,’’ he would write in 1824.” Jefferson was correct. It was inevitable this would be the path in time.

It will always be a puzzle to me why 50% of the country hates the other 50% politically and too often personally, but when a third or fourth party is on the ballot you’ll be lucky to see 2% of the electorate defect from the dumpster dive.

Clarify one thing for me if you will. Are you referring to the political environment or the environment literally?

No person ever demonstrated your point better than Monica Lewinsky.

In the past few days I’ve gotten three garbage texts soliciting for funds on her behalf. This is worth celebrating. She can’t be gone soon enough.

Blumenthal calling on Sotomayer to step down. https://theconversation.com/justice-sotomayors-health-isnt-the-real-problem-for-democrats-winning-elections-is-229327

Not all have come from the right wing media. Some time back, during the Biden term, there was some conversation on the left advocating for one of the liberal justices stepping down (I’m now assuming that may have been Sotomayer) while the executive and senate were still in the Democrats hands, for obvious reasons. That has been a while back so I can’t vouch for specifically when that was.

As I pointed out here a while back, both parties have done their fair share to increase the national debt and neither seems at all concerned about the consequences. This is where every discussion about the deficit ends up-finger pointing and increased deficits. Neither party dared use the two words, ‘balanced budget,’ during the campaign. Yes, I am very concerned about Trump’s agenda, particularly regarding the growing deficit.

Don’t know if the attached link will include a paywall but the gist of my point in posting this is below, primarily the second paragraph. https://www.morningstar.com/bonds/post-election-deficit-concerns-add-fuel-jump-bond-yields?utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=linkshare&utm_source=link Fed Chair Jerome Powell was asked about the recent runup in bond yields at his press conference following the rate announcement Thursday afternoon. “We’ve watched the runup in bond rates, and it’s nowhere near where it was, of course, a year ago,” Powell said. “I guess the long run rates are well below that level, so we’re watching that. Things have been moving around, and we’ll see where they settle.” To some degree, the rise in long-term yields could even tie back to the Fed’s rate cuts, says Michael Plage, portfolio manager for several bond funds at Fidelity, including the $38.9 billion Fidelity Advisor Total Bond FEPIX. “It is not unusual for the 10-year Treasury yield to rise as the Fed is cutting rates, as easier monetary policy is generally welcomed by the economy and typically leads to higher growth, possibly higher inflation, and therefore higher future interest rates,” Plage says.

There was a delay on the bond issuance to pay for the stadium recently among the commissioners in St. Pete. The unanswered questions regarding the teams home for the next three years gave the commissioners pause and they are waiting for clarity on this. Additionally, it appears the election is going to alter the commission’s members. I have no idea what this means for the immediate future. If I understand correctly, if the commission doesn’t vote to approve the bond issuance by the end of March the new park deal is off. So who knows where they’ll play, now or in the future.

I would NEVER wish bad on any person. But I would be very open to an alternative to a Trump or Harris. The media spent four years being obsessed with Trump’s every move and every word. It feels like he never went away. So now we’re going into yet another four year grind of non stop partisan rancor, 24/7.

From the secession convention to the end of the war North Carolina had three different governors. History is very interesting. Years ago I stumbled into a history class on the Civil War. It more than piqued my interest in history, particularly in North Carolina. Through years of family research I discovered that numerous ancestors of mine fought for NC in the war and several for the Union. So to answer your question, yes, the three NC Governors through that period were our governors. Just like Trump is your president. 😉

😉 …when the real news breaks.

The answer is, no. I have read extensively on this war and unless there is something outside of my readings or otherwise, I never have seen anything that suggests the south had designs on expanding their boundaries. There was no plan to conquer states in the Union, at the outset. In defense of the southern states the armies did enter Union states. Jefferson Davis made a plea for peace with Lincoln prior to physical hostilities, likely not long after resigning the U.S. Senate. If someone knows of something I am interesting in hearing it.

One of Lee’s motives for going into Maryland was that Maryland wasn’t overly hostile to the south’s position. Lincoln had several of the states political officials jailed for criticizing Lincoln’s orders to invade the south. Lee entered Maryland for a couple of reasons, one being to recruit sympathizers to fight for the south’s cause. Again, the south was outmanned and under equipped from the outset. Lots of stories surrounding this particular battle that make for interesting reading. Circumstances led to The Battle of Sharpsburg on September 17, 1862, to this day the bloodiest one day battle on US ground. It’s also referred to as The Battle of Antietam, named for a creek that ran through the battleground.

Each state that joined the CSA held a secession convention to allow the state’s political bodies to vote to either stay or leave. Only two states were unanimous in their votes to leave the union. The first was South Carolina on December 20, 1860. The last state to leave the union was North Carolina and it was by unanimous vote on May 20, 1861. North Carolina’s entry into the war is an interesting piece of history. SC and VA were already committed to the CSA. Geographically this made things uncomfortable as you can guess for N.C. However, NC was committed to staying in the union until Lincoln demanded 75,000 troops from the southern states to be a part of putting down “the southern insurrection.” Our governor, John Willis Ellis called for the convention and the rest is history.

Grant suspending the prisoner exchanges was a big hit for the south. Outmanned as the south was to begin with, this was a big blow.

Yeah, that kind of jumps out at you doesn’t it.

A bit dated but case in point: https://insidesources.com/when-it-comes-to-charitable-giving-warren-and-sanders-are-millionaires-who-dont-pay-their-fair-share-2/