2024 Presidential Election thread

[Tiger337]

He does have an unhealthy alliance with Putin, but there are conservatives in this country that are driving him as well.  There are multiple forces which are using him as a conduit. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

[Tiger337]

Apparently Sanders and Trump agree on somethng.  MTB will love that!

They both want to save stupid people from themselves.  

https://www.indiatoday.in/world/us-news/story/bernie-sanders-open-to-teaming-with-trump-on-curbing-credit-card-interests-2634568-2024-11-16

[Mr.TaterSalad]

6 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Apparently Sanders and Trump agree on somethng.  MTB will love that!

They both want to save stupid people from themselves.  

https://www.indiatoday.in/world/us-news/story/bernie-sanders-open-to-teaming-with-trump-on-curbing-credit-card-interests-2634568-2024-11-16

I think this is a good idea in theory. I do think absorbent credit card fees need to be curtailed and interest rate increases need to be more transparent. I guess I do fear that people with limited, no, or poor credit will be increasingly denied credit. But I do support what Bernie is trying to do hear. We'll see if it's a campaign promise Trump actually intends to deliver on. 

[Tiger337]

1 minute ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

I think this is a good idea in theory. I do think absorbent credit card fees need to be curtailed and interest rate increases need to be more transparent. I guess I do fear that people with limited, no, or poor credit will be increasingly denied credit. But I do support what Bernie is trying to do hear. We'll see if it's a campaign promise Trump actually intends to deliver on. 

I also think it's good in theory, even though I am very much against running up any credit card debt.  The Republican Congress will never go for it.  

[Mr.TaterSalad]

4 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I also think it's good in theory, even though I am very much against running up any credit card debt.  The Republican Congress will never go for it.  

Not with Bernie as the lead sponsor anyways. 

[gehringer_2]

5 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Not with Bernie as the lead sponsor anyways. 

actually this is another one you can blame on SCOTUS, but it was the Burger court. Ruled in 1978 that states could not prevent nationally chartered banks from charging higher rates than a state allowed by its own regs. Before that a lot of states had pretty reasonable caps. The problem in that era was that inflation was taking off, making the locally legislated caps a loser for the banks. And of course in 1978 credit cards didn't have nearly the market penetration they do now.

This is why if they do something it should be more nuanced than a simple caps on rates. If you cap them at say 10% and inflation goes about 7% no bank is going to offer you credit at that low a return and suddenly you have a big drag on the economy, If you cap the rate so high that the business/inflation cycle is never a problem, it's probably too high to give consumers any serious relief.

[Edman85]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/16/pete-hegseth-sexual-assault-accuser-paid/
 

[Deleterious]

Maybe they wouldn't need to lower CC interest rates if they educated the populace about the negative results of CC debt.  

[Mr.TaterSalad]

43 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

Maybe they wouldn't need to lower CC interest rates if they educated the populace about the negative results of CC debt.  

Good luck with that. They've created a consumer based economy and have marketed to people for decades that the ticket to having a good life is to buy more and save less. You can only keep up with the Jones' if you have the most and latest stuff. 

[Tiger337]

27 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Good luck with that. They've created a consumer based economy and have marketed to people for decades that the ticket to having a good life is to buy more and save less. You can only keep up with the Jones' if you have the most and latest stuff. 

That's what it's all about.  Selling stuff that people don't need to people who can't afford it.  

[Screwball]

On the Sanders/Trump thing on interest rates. So much to pick over in that article, but I'll go with this one.

FTA:

Quote

"We cannot continue to allow big banks to make record profits by ripping off Americans by charging them 25 to 30% interest rates. That is usury." - Bernie Sanders

They have been saying that **** since these very banks blew up our financial system back in 2008, which ruined lives of millions, while the bankers got richer. They must think we are still that stupid. Maybe they have a point.

If they wanted to fix it, they would have done it a long time ago. I wonder if Bernie thought he was being clever by using the word usury.

[Screwball]

2 hours ago, Deleterious said:

Maybe they wouldn't need to lower CC interest rates if they educated the populace about the negative results of CC debt.  

Exponents are a bitch

[oblong]

Thinking some more after having a couple of old fashioneds, too much beer the last month, and was considering lame ducks.  
 

Disclaimer, I know with Trump traditional rules don’t apply.  But presidents entering a 2nd term are not as powerful as they are the first time.  House members are thinking of their election in 2 years.  Many senators are thinking about the future too. Trump is old, could die anytime. He can’t run in 2028.  Politicians begin thinking about the next term immediately. The days of hanging on to Trumps every word and tweet are over.  We’ve seen this movie before. I’m beginning to think all the crap they talked about doing will not happen. We will see from congress what we saw in the house the last 2 years. I’ve got a small hope brewing that we will have a **** show in terms of entertainment but nothing will really change. Barking but no bite.  
but maybe it’s the bourbon talking.  Who knows.  

[chasfh]

11 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Apparently Sanders and Trump agree on somethng.  MTB will love that!

They both want to save stupid people from themselves.  

https://www.indiatoday.in/world/us-news/story/bernie-sanders-open-to-teaming-with-trump-on-curbing-credit-card-interests-2634568-2024-11-16

The difference is that Sanders wants to curb interest rates permanently to help the people, while Trump wants to curb rates temporarily until "working Americans catch up", which I assume means until the working American banks catch up to the new way of doing things and pony up the big bucks to Trump to remove the cap he's using to hold them hostage.

 

Edited November 17, 2024 by chasfh

[CMRivdogs]

7 hours ago, oblong said:

Thinking some more after having a couple of old fashioneds, too much beer the last month, and was considering lame ducks.  
 

Disclaimer, I know with Trump traditional rules don’t apply.  But presidents entering a 2nd term are not as powerful as they are the first time.  House members are thinking of their election in 2 years.  Many senators are thinking about the future too. Trump is old, could die anytime. He can’t run in 2028.  Politicians begin thinking about the next term immediately. The days of hanging on to Trumps every word and tweet are over.  We’ve seen this movie before. I’m beginning to think all the crap they talked about doing will not happen. We will see from congress what we saw in the house the last 2 years. I’ve got a small hope brewing that we will have a **** show in terms of entertainment but nothing will really change. Barking but no bite.  
but maybe it’s the bourbon talking.  Who knows.  

My fear is the way a lot of the House Districts are gerrymandered most legislatures have less fear of not being elected. That may embolden them more in some areas. If things go to hell quickly and the voters start to feel real pain then we may see a realignment in Congress in 2026. 
 

Let's hope America comes to its senses in time for the 250 celebration of the Declaration of Independence. I tend to be a bit pessimistic.

[Tiger337]

20 minutes ago, chasfh said:

The difference is that Sanders wants to curb interest rates permanently to help the people, while Trump wants to curb rates temporarily until "working Americans catch up", which I assume means until the working American banks catch up to the new way of doing things and pony up the big bucks to Trump to remove the cap he's using to hold them hostage.

 

Right, I was just amused that Sanders and Trump are suggesting the same thing.  My suggestion that Trump wants to help anyone was not serious.  They also both like tarrifs.

[chasfh]

30 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Right, I was just amused that Sanders and Trump are suggesting the same thing.  My suggestion that Trump wants to help anyone was not serious.  They also both like tarrifs.

I am borderline offended whenever I read anyone in the non-RW media seriously suggesting that Trump wants to do anything with the intention of helping everyday people. It's just so insulting to the intelligence that they think people who are at least decently-informed would take that seriously.

I get why red hats want to believe that—they've committed to the bit and they can't go back on it in any way, so they bull**** themselves into honestly believing the nonsense and hoping or even expecting it will come true, like a wish upon a star. But the MSM, especially, are supposed to be decently-informed and at least cast an arched eyebrow toward the proclamations of any politician promising anything they have no track record of delivering on.

[Tiger337]

28 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I am borderline offended whenever I read anyone in the non-RW media seriously suggesting that Trump wants to do anything with the intention of helping everyday people. It's just so insulting to the intelligence that they think people who are at least decently-informed would take that seriously.

 

I understand.  The country is in an odd situation.  A very large percentage of Americans (It was a majority earlier in the year) believe that Trump attempted a coup against the United States.  They might not call it a coup, because "that can't happen here", but they know that he attacked democracy.  But, he still won the election easily which is the most important thing in a democracy.  It's impossible for me to support him in any way, but Americans have decided that he's OK.  Everything is so broken.  

[Motown Bombers]

13 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Apparently Sanders and Trump agree on somethng.  MTB will love that!

They both want to save stupid people from themselves.  

https://www.indiatoday.in/world/us-news/story/bernie-sanders-open-to-teaming-with-trump-on-curbing-credit-card-interests-2634568-2024-11-16

Sanders is calling Trump’s bluff. I like it. 

[Motown Bombers]

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Nothing says Make America Healthy Again like eating Big Macs at McDonald's. They are one of the companies that's directly responsible for making Americans obese, diabetic, and living with high blood pressure as a result of the menu of food they serve people. 

[LaceyLou]

2 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Nothing says Make America Healthy Again like eating Big Macs at McDonald's. They are one of the companies that's directly responsible for making Americans obese, diabetic, and living with high blood pressure as a result of the menu of food they serve people. 

Yikes. And have you ever seen Fast Food Nation, where they do an experiment including McD's French fries where they leave them out for weeks and they do not go bad? OK, IIRC the guy in that film ended up being a jerk, but what chemicals are in those things to make them not rot like normal food?

[LaceyLou]

On 11/16/2024 at 3:13 PM, Sports_Freak said:

There's another side to this that many people really don't understand. Many of these people, whether legal or not, pay into social security and aren't eligible to ever collect. Throwing them out of the country will bankrupt social security very quickly. And...many of them also pay local taxes that keeps cities solvent. I really hope Donald's talk of rounding them up and deporting them is just more of his lies. People <think> inflation was/is bad while America recovered from Trumps pandemic? They haven't seen what his policies will do, the damage to our country is unimaginable. Between the tariffs and deporting workers, his plans will destroy our economy.

And... it's interesting that somebody who's so concerned with people not breaking the laws, is most likely perfectly okay with the list of things Drumpf and company have done. So it's okay to be a convicted felon if you're on the 'right side?' of politics?

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Nothing says Make America Healthy Again like eating Big Macs at McDonald's. They are one of the companies that's directly responsible for making Americans obese, diabetic, and living with high blood pressure as a result of the menu of food they serve people. 

I say, "Let them eat", what could go wrong?