More charges for Donny!!

[Counter-puncher]

nice article on the difference between perception and reality in the urban/rural divide in the US:

“Rural resentment has become a central fact of American politics — in particular, a pillar of support for the rise of right-wing extremism,” Krugman explains. “As the Republican Party has moved ever further into MAGAland, it has lost votes among educated suburban voters. But this has been offset by a drastic rightward shift in rural areas, which in some places, has gone so far that the Democrats who remain face intimidation and are afraid to reveal their party affiliation.”


Krugman goes on to lay out some reasons why the “perception” that rural areas are “ignored by policymakers” and “don’t get their fair share of resources” is “largely wrong.”


“I’m sure that my saying this will generate a tidal wave of hate mail, and lecturing rural Americans about policy reality isn’t going to move their votes,” Krugman argues. “Nonetheless, it’s important to get our facts straight. The truth is that ever since the New Deal, Rural America has received special treatment from policymakers. It’s not just farm subsidies, which ballooned under President Donald Trump to the point where they accounted for around 40 percent of total farm income. Rural America also benefits from special programs that support housing, utilities and business in general.”

Krugman points out that although rural areas of the United States have some legitimate complaints — poverty, job losses — those areas “disproportionally benefit” from “major federal programs” because they “have a disproportionate number of seniors receiving Social Security and Medicare.”

“Because rural America is poorer than urban America,” Krugman observes, “it pays much less per person in federal taxes. So, in practice, major metropolitan areas hugely subsidize the countryside. These subsidies don’t just support incomes, they support economies…. What about rural perceptions of being disrespected? Well, many people have negative views about people with different lifestyles; that’s human nature.”


Krugman notes a major double standard in U.S. politics: Republicans can get away with insulting urban areas, but Democrats won’t dare insult rural areas.

The New York Times columnist writes, “‘I have to go to New York City soon,’ tweeted J.D. Vance during his senatorial campaign. ‘I have heard it’s disgusting and violent there.’ Can you imagine, say, Chuck Schumer saying something similar about Rural Ohio, even as a joke?”



The New York Times columnist writes, “‘I have to go to New York City soon,’ tweeted J.D. Vance during his senatorial campaign. ‘I have heard it’s disgusting and violent there.’ Can you imagine, say, Chuck Schumer saying something similar about Rural Ohio, even as a joke?”

that is such a good point. Repubs literally make a sport of demonising Cities In General, imagine the reverse happening, and the outcry those filthy hypocrite liars would feign if it did.

[hhaehre]

The New York Times columnist writes, “‘I have to go to New York City soon,’ tweeted J.D. Vance during his senatorial campaign. ‘I have heard it’s disgusting and violent there.’

Romney on J.D. Vance: "I don't know that I can disrespect someone more than J.D. Vance"
J.D. Vance is a prime example of someone who is in government solely for himself.

[Counter-puncher]

oh, there was some really good news yesterday that i swear didn't get the airtime i would expect:

ANew York judge has ordered Donald Trump’s business entities in the state of New York, including The Trump Organization, dissolved, and his business certificates canceled, according to legal experts, after ruling that the ex-president for years committed fraud and deceived banks and insurers by inflating the value of his assets.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron “has ordered cancellation of all [NYS] business [certificates] of ‘any entity controlled or beneficially owned by Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr, Eric Trump, Alan Weisselberg, & Jeffrey McConney. An independent receiver will manage the dissolutions,” writes former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega.



In his ruling, Judge Engoron said "the documents here clearly contain fraudulent valuations that defendants used in business".

"That is a fantasy world, not the real world," he wrote.

The judge determined that Mr Trump:

Overvalued Mar-a-Lago by 2,300% in one financial statement
Overvalued his penthouse at Trump Tower in New York by claiming that it was three times its actual size
"Absurdly" argued that calculating the area of the penthouse was subjective, ruling "a discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud"
Judge Engoron also ordered the cancellation of business certificates that allow some of the former president's businesses, including the Trump Organization, to operate in New York.

That will not dissolve his company, but could end his control over signature New York properties like the Trump Tower and the Trump Building at 40 Wall Street.

The judge denied the Trump team's request to throw out the case, and separately fined five Trump attorneys $7,500 each for making "preposterous" arguments already rejected by the court and fuelling what he called their clients' "obstreperous" conduct.



I particularly liked this bit:

separately fined five Trump attorneys $7,500 each for making "preposterous" arguments already rejected by the court and fuelling what he called their clients' "obstreperous" conduct

like 'I fucken hate you, I really hate you all, you're such fucken idiots just GTFOH the whole bunch of you'

[giacomino]

oh, there was some really good news yesterday that i swear didn't get the airtime i would expect:

ANew York judge has ordered Donald Trump’s business entities in the state of New York, including The Trump Organization, dissolved, and his business certificates canceled, according to legal experts, after ruling that the ex-president for years committed fraud and deceived banks and insurers by inflating the value of his assets.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron “has ordered cancellation of all [NYS] business [certificates] of ‘any entity controlled or beneficially owned by Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr, Eric Trump, Alan Weisselberg, & Jeffrey McConney. An independent receiver will manage the dissolutions,” writes former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega.



In his ruling, Judge Engoron said "the documents here clearly contain fraudulent valuations that defendants used in business".

"That is a fantasy world, not the real world," he wrote.

The judge determined that Mr Trump:

Overvalued Mar-a-Lago by 2,300% in one financial statement
Overvalued his penthouse at Trump Tower in New York by claiming that it was three times its actual size
"Absurdly" argued that calculating the area of the penthouse was subjective, ruling "a discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud"
Judge Engoron also ordered the cancellation of business certificates that allow some of the former president's businesses, including the Trump Organization, to operate in New York.

That will not dissolve his company, but could end his control over signature New York properties like the Trump Tower and the Trump Building at 40 Wall Street.

The judge denied the Trump team's request to throw out the case, and separately fined five Trump attorneys $7,500 each for making "preposterous" arguments already rejected by the court and fuelling what he called their clients' "obstreperous" conduct.



I particularly liked this bit:

separately fined five Trump attorneys $7,500 each for making "preposterous" arguments already rejected by the court and fuelling what he called their clients' "obstreperous" conduct

like 'I fucken hate you, I really hate you all, you're such fucken idiots just GTFOH the whole bunch of you'

$7,500 is probably a few hours of billing for these lawyers, but god only knows if Trump will pay them since they lost the case. Average Americans would be facing serious prison time for this kind of fraud. Always amazed at how many people just accept the double standard in America's criminal/civil justice "system." I guess until they are the ones being effed. I still remember how many of my white friends - almost all college educated - were shocked when a rich black killer (O.J. Simpson) got off. If he had been a black guy named Bob Simpson from the 'hood, he would have been convicted in a three-day trial and still be in prison

[Counter-puncher]

#TWOTIEREDJUSTICESYSTEM!!!

[giacomino]

oh, there was some really good news yesterday that i swear didn't get the airtime i would expect:

ANew York judge has ordered Donald Trump’s business entities in the state of New York, including The Trump Organization, dissolved, and his business certificates canceled, according to legal experts, after ruling that the ex-president for years committed fraud and deceived banks and insurers by inflating the value of his assets.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron “has ordered cancellation of all [NYS] business [certificates] of ‘any entity controlled or beneficially owned by Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr, Eric Trump, Alan Weisselberg, & Jeffrey McConney. An independent receiver will manage the dissolutions,” writes former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega.



In his ruling, Judge Engoron said "the documents here clearly contain fraudulent valuations that defendants used in business".

"That is a fantasy world, not the real world," he wrote.

The judge determined that Mr Trump:

Overvalued Mar-a-Lago by 2,300% in one financial statement
Overvalued his penthouse at Trump Tower in New York by claiming that it was three times its actual size
"Absurdly" argued that calculating the area of the penthouse was subjective, ruling "a discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud"
Judge Engoron also ordered the cancellation of business certificates that allow some of the former president's businesses, including the Trump Organization, to operate in New York.

That will not dissolve his company, but could end his control over signature New York properties like the Trump Tower and the Trump Building at 40 Wall Street.

The judge denied the Trump team's request to throw out the case, and separately fined five Trump attorneys $7,500 each for making "preposterous" arguments already rejected by the court and fuelling what he called their clients' "obstreperous" conduct.



I particularly liked this bit:

separately fined five Trump attorneys $7,500 each for making "preposterous" arguments already rejected by the court and fuelling what he called their clients' "obstreperous" conduct

like 'I fucken hate you, I really hate you all, you're such fucken idiots just GTFOH the whole bunch of you'

A lot of rural folk in the US have long thought they were put upon ..... while waiting at their mailbox for checks from a federal government mostly funded by city/suburban corporations and city dwellers. Same with "red state" vs "blue state." Many of the big Republican states get far more from the federal government than their citizens pay in, and many Democratic states pay in far more than they get back. And yet Republican leadership in many of those states complain endlessly about taxes being too high (taxes many of their constitutents don't pay). At least in my former state (Georgia), I get it a little about rural voting. A lot of those folks in big, rural states, didn't until recently have good internet service, were pretty much opposed to cultural changes (gay marriage, for instance), and have a distrust of people who live in the cities, regardless of whether the urbanites paid their bills. Their businesses survive with the help of illegal immigrants but they oppose changes to immigration laws to legalize the border crossers. The economy in many areas have passed them by and they are taken in by Trump's right-wing populism. A more liberal populism was huge in rural America in 1890s-1940s. William Jennings Bryan and senators like "Fighting" Bob LaFollette were wildly popular in rural America (Bryan was also a religious nut, which is interesting but symbolic of his time)

[Counter-puncher]

WJB is a very interesting figure

[Seamus]

Bryan was a good man. He was for staying out of globalist wars, and wanted us on the silver standard, because he said a working man could not afford gold, but he could afford silver.

[Baby Face Finster]

The Republicans should just rename themselves The Fascist Party of the U.S.A. because that is what they have become.

[Counter-puncher]

The Republicans should just rename themselves The Fascist Party of the U.S.A. because that is what they have become.

'both sides tho'

[giacomino]

Bryan was a good man. He was for staying out of globalist wars, and wanted us on the silver standard, because he said a working man could not afford gold, but he could afford silver.

He had the heart of a rural populist but as a Democrat, he couldn't win the presidency in an era when the North and Midwest were still voting based on post-Civil War trends and the GOP was the party of the Union (The South overwhelmingly supported him because he was a Democrat). Bryan lost big in the Midwest. LaFollette was a Republican but far too liberal to win either his party's presidential nomination or to win a national election, so he ran for president as the Progressive Party's candidate in 1924.

[Tony1244]

The Republicans should just rename themselves The Fascist Party of the U.S.A. because that is what they have become.

'both sides tho'

Can't agree. The Dems are simply naive but not fascist.

[Counter-puncher]

{sarcasm}

sorry, I'll remember to make it clearer in future.

seriously mate- the amount of times i went fucken ballistic at buzz for equivocating between the two, and you don't get that I'm going the exact opposite, actually mocking the idea of their equivalence?

was I stuttering, the whole last 4 years or more posting non-stop anti-Republican invective and vitriol?

[Teddy's Toupee]

WJB is a very interesting figure

Henry George, who never tried to become president but did stand for Mayor of New York, is another American with an interesting economic outlook.

[Counter-puncher]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs

"While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free"

[Teddy's Toupee]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs

"While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free"

The only thing, hopefully, he and Trump will have in common is running for president from a prison cell.

[Counter-puncher]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs

"While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free"

The only thing, hopefully, he and Trump will have in common is running for president from a prison cell.

you don't see any more similarities?

[Teddy's Toupee]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs

"While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free"

The only thing, hopefully, he and Trump will have in common is running for president from a prison cell.

you don't see any more similarities?

Did he pay for sex with porn stars?

[Counter-puncher]

Hilariously, the Repubs are so fvcking corrupt that when a Dem gets caught for being a corrupt filthy fvcking scumbag, guess who is calling for him to resign? and guess who isn't?

Fetterman and an increasing roll of Democrats may see it as a close call. But Republicans have been less forthright. Not a single Republican has called for Menendez’s resignation, and several of them have defended him. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, for example, said that Menendez shouldn’t resign because “in America guilt is decided by a jury, not politicians in fear of their party losing a Senate seat.” Senator Tom Cotton of Alabama defended Menendez on the grounds that “the Department of Justice has a troubling record of failure and corruption in cases around public figures.” Cotton singled out former President Donald Trump as someone who DOJ had unfairly prosecuted.

they know they can't go hard on corruption as they don't want it applied to themselves

'both sides' tho

[Counter-puncher]

maybe even GOP voters have some kind of red lines for their Presidential candidates:

According to a recent CBS News/YouGov survey conducted in Iowa and New Hampshire between September 15-24, it appears that the former President's position in the Republican presidential primary is not as secure as previously thought.

In Iowa, only 20% of voters are considering voting exclusively for Trump, while a significant 48% are weighing their options between him and other candidates.

Shockingly, 31% of voters in Iowa have already ruled out voting for the former commander-in-chief altogether. This means that a staggering 79% of the electorate is either open to other candidates or committed to voting for someone other than Trump.

According to Mediaite, a similar pattern emerged in New Hampshire, where 23% of voters are fully committed to backing Trump, 43% are undecided or keeping their options open, and 34% are only considering candidates other than the 77-year-old New York businessman turned politician.


Despite the lack of absolute support in these early states, Trump still maintains a substantial lead over his competitors.

In Iowa, 51% of Republicans would vote for him if the election were held today. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis trails behind at 21%, while former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley comes in third with 8% support.
In New Hampshire, Trump's lead is even more pronounced due to the dispersed support for other candidates. He currently holds 50% of the vote, with DeSantis at 13% and Haley at 11%. However, longshots Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie also have notable followings in the Granite State, each with 8% support.

Despite the importance of the debates in helping voters make their decisions, Trump has chosen to skip both the first debate last month and the upcoming forum in California.

This decision comes as a surprise, especially considering that 62% of Republicans in Iowa and 53% of GOP voters in New Hampshire reportedly view the debates as a major factor in determining whom to support.


i really hope this bit is true:

"Despite the importance of the debates in helping voters make their decisions, Trump has chosen to skip both the first debate last month and the upcoming forum in California.

This decision comes as a surprise, especially considering that 62% of Republicans in Iowa and 53% of GOP voters in New Hampshire reportedly view the debates as a major factor in determining whom to support"

Like, he has to skip the debate because he is a senile incompetent with zero intelligence and he didn't want his obvious impairments to be displayed for all to see, fucken pussy snowflake

[giacomino]

maybe even GOP voters have some kind of red lines for their Presidential candidates:

According to a recent CBS News/YouGov survey conducted in Iowa and New Hampshire between September 15-24, it appears that the former President's position in the Republican presidential primary is not as secure as previously thought.

In Iowa, only 20% of voters are considering voting exclusively for Trump, while a significant 48% are weighing their options between him and other candidates.

Shockingly, 31% of voters in Iowa have already ruled out voting for the former commander-in-chief altogether. This means that a staggering 79% of the electorate is either open to other candidates or committed to voting for someone other than Trump.

According to Mediaite, a similar pattern emerged in New Hampshire, where 23% of voters are fully committed to backing Trump, 43% are undecided or keeping their options open, and 34% are only considering candidates other than the 77-year-old New York businessman turned politician.


Despite the lack of absolute support in these early states, Trump still maintains a substantial lead over his competitors.

In Iowa, 51% of Republicans would vote for him if the election were held today. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis trails behind at 21%, while former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley comes in third with 8% support.
In New Hampshire, Trump's lead is even more pronounced due to the dispersed support for other candidates. He currently holds 50% of the vote, with DeSantis at 13% and Haley at 11%. However, longshots Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie also have notable followings in the Granite State, each with 8% support.

Despite the importance of the debates in helping voters make their decisions, Trump has chosen to skip both the first debate last month and the upcoming forum in California.

This decision comes as a surprise, especially considering that 62% of Republicans in Iowa and 53% of GOP voters in New Hampshire reportedly view the debates as a major factor in determining whom to support.


i really hope this bit is true:

"Despite the importance of the debates in helping voters make their decisions, Trump has chosen to skip both the first debate last month and the upcoming forum in California.

This decision comes as a surprise, especially considering that 62% of Republicans in Iowa and 53% of GOP voters in New Hampshire reportedly view the debates as a major factor in determining whom to support"

Like, he has to skip the debate because he is a senile incompetent with zero intelligence and he didn't want his obvious impairments to be displayed for all to see, fucken pussy snowflake

Trumpy is playing it like he's an incumbent president, which in his fantasy mind he is. Biden wouldn't debate another Democrat, so Trumpy, as the "true" incumbent, won't either. I think he rolls over his GOP opposition

[hhaehre]

Like, he has to skip the debate because he is a senile incompetent with zero intelligence and he didn't want his obvious impairments to be displayed for all to see, fucken pussy snowflake

Yeah, but it doesn't matter either way. He could do the debate and soil himself on stage and it wouldn't matter to the cult. They would just say "that's what a real man does" and vote for the clown anyway.

[giacomino]

Like, he has to skip the debate because he is a senile incompetent with zero intelligence and he didn't want his obvious impairments to be displayed for all to see, fucken pussy snowflake

Yeah, but it doesn't matter either way. He could do the debate and soil himself on stage and it wouldn't matter to the cult. They would just say "that's what a real man does" and vote for the clown anyway.

If he shyte himself on national TV, toilet paper sales would go down dramatically in some GOP states because millions of his loyal followers would see it as a sign that true MAGAs poop their pants.

[hhaehre]

Meanwhile in Congress, the Biden impeachment is coming along nicely. Next question please!!

[Counter-puncher]

Some reason it won’t show for me, is it the dude in the cheap pale blue suit sh1tting the bed when asked how TF he’s saying stuff that happened when Biden wasn’t even a candidate is evidence of his corruption?

They’re imbeciles. I saw that IRS ‘whistle blower’ talking about how the Hunter investigation was slow walked, ‘in the lead up to the election’, and how that’s obvious Hunter got preferential treatment

‘So what year was this, then?’

‘Uh so that was summer and fall to winter of 2020 I guess’

‘Who was in the White House at the time?’

‘ ’