Unofficial Apolyton Predicts

[Ben Kenobi]

Either they get on board with the new economy or be left behind.

Welcome to the Republican party, Gian.

[Ben Kenobi]

Wow, Giancarlo, you think poor people are choosing to remain poor, that it's their fault they're poor? Frankly, that's racist.

Nono. Giancarlo believes that only poor white people are going to be left behind.

[Ben Kenobi]

The welfare migrants who want a free ride will simply swamp the system unless you make it impossible for them to get access to the qelfare banaza.

This. You don't want to give people an incentive not to work, and whatever you set as the 'basic income' will fuel inflation and have the effect of never being quite enough. Many places to rent will deliberately price themselves out of this market, which will raise rents for everyone, including those who are working. The major loser here would be savers.

[-Jrabbit]

If it wasn't for Hillary, Bill's fees, I agree are no different. But I think Hillary's past post and current run do make it different.
GWB doesn't really have the influence he did before.
I'm not even going to compare Trump's because I agree with you on the sleazy aspect, but it was started before any of his political aspirations where acted on.
So no I don't see a double standard.

A out-of-office politician giving speeches for big bucks is very common. As well you know.

And how is that different from a fundraiser hosted by big-bucks conservatives or limousine liberals?

To suggest that paid speeches are a tool for influence peddling in this post-Citizens United period of massive dark money via superPACs is laughable.

Also, when was Hillary's most recent $200K speech? I'm willing to bet they stopped as soon as she declared her POTUS candidacy.

[Ben Kenobi]

Also, when was Hillary's most recent $200K speech? I'm willing to bet they stopped as soon as she declared her POTUS candidacy.

Your argument is that Hillary is going to voluntarily turn down 200k because she's a kind and generous soul?

[-Jrabbit]

No. Learn to read.

I'm arguing that there was no discernible quid quo pro for her speeches, and that the mere making of said speeches does not comprise a smoking gun.

[Ben Kenobi]

I'm arguing that there was no discernible quid quo pro for her speeches, and that the mere making of said speeches does not comprise a smoking gun.

I hear that Bill de Blasio is selling some public properties to raise money. Something about a bridge...

[C0ckney]

The democrats and Obama have done a fine job bringing this nation back from the brink of depression. And the job growth has been quite substantial.

I can't just snap my fingers and bring back these outmoded and obsolete jobs. If people won't get retraining and adapt to newer jobs, then what else is there to do?

The angry white male demographic is increasingly irrelevant. Even in Texas. My concern is about winning and getting future generations. Not about placating to some who have deep rooted hatred of anything different. Most Trump supporters are more concerned about who uses the bathroom than actual issues. They also hate people who are brown. Many immigrants are becoming citizens. You see this everywhere. California is an example. Texas is coming up next as the next big example.

you produce this mixture of incoherent babble and contempt and then in the next breath ask why people are voting for trump. you have zero self-awareness.

i hope you don't come crying for sympathy if by some miracle trump wins and life suddenly gets tougher for brown urban homosexuals.

[rah]

Also, when was Hillary's most recent $200K speech? I'm willing to bet they stopped as soon as she declared her POTUS candidacy.

Since she has had plans to run well before she declared, it doesn't matter to me that she stopped at that point.
She's always known she would run after Obama was done.
But just my opinion.

[Aeson]

I would suspect it matters legally.

[rah]

Agreed, but I don't really care about legality here.
It was legal that Trump talked about puddy cat grabbing, but it speaks about character.

And to be clear, I think Trump has less character than Hillary, but only because Trump sets the bar so low.

[Dinner]

The leaked speech she did to Goldman Sacks executives really clarifies just how toxic and two faced she is (but we already knew that). Saying she will need to have a "public position and a private position"; meaning she is going to tell the suckers, I mean voters, one thing but make sure she double crosses them and still does what the special interests pay her to do. Yes, most politicians do that and Trump is a turd sandwich but that is not a reason to vote for a liar like Hillary.

Since Bernie got cheated by the DNC (Which is another thing the wikileaks made clear) I will be voting third party and hope there is a plague on both their houses.

[rah]

...

Interesting opinion piece in the Chicago Tribune today. Illinois will go for Hillary so they recommend that Repubs vote for the green candidate.
The Trib already has endorsed the Libertarian candidate. Their logic is that the endorsement will probably get the Libs 5% of the vote. And now they want to get the greens to 5%.

This way, both parties will be given full party status in future Illinois' elections. They will be able to run a full slate of candidates without jumping through all the hoops they have had to in the past.

I like it.

I saw this and immediately agreed and decided I was voting for finally. Go with Jill despite all her shortcomings. If it helps in the future good enough for me.

But then this morning I read another editorial letter in the trib.

Philip R. O'Connor urged Tribune readers to vote for the Green Party's presidential candidate, Dr. Jill Stein, in “How a vote for Jill Stein in 2016 could help Gov. Rauner in 2018.” O'Connor's premise seems to be that, by helping Stein to over 5 percent of the vote in Illinois, conservative voters would be aiding a competitor to whatever nominee the Democratic Party runs against Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018.

Setting aside the tactical merits of his advice, O'Connor — a former member of the Illinois State Board of Elections — is simply wrong on the fundamentals. Illinois allows so-called new parties to become statewide established parties only when they receive 5 percent of the vote in a gubernatorial election. Stein could carry the state with a majority of votes on Nov. 8, and Green Party candidates in 2017 and 2018 would still have to petition to be allowed onto Illinois ballots.

So much for that strat. So I glanced down and looked to see who I could thank for the clarification and it was
— Geoffrey Cubbage, Green Party of Chicago

And I'm thinking, that's pretty dumb for someone who supports the Green party to say.
I wonder how many votes that will cost the party. DOH.

[Elok]

I can't just snap my fingers and bring back these outmoded and obsolete jobs. If people won't get retraining and adapt to newer jobs, then what else is there to do?

Fortunately, food stamps will pay for cake.

[Sir Og]

The most severe losses occurred in the nineties and oughts, but fair enough. What exactly are they supposed to do about it, either way? The typical answer is some talk about continuing education and jumping aboard the new economy. In practice, that simply doesn't work. John the millworker is not going to become an IT specialist or what-have-you. The problem isn't just that the jobs went away, but that nothing replaced them, and that nobody (apparently) cared.

I get this. I agree the people without jobs probably don't care if the problem is technology or globalization. But I think the distinction is important. Policy implications are very different. Not that anybody cares about policy. Politics obviously isn't about policy.

I personally think some sort of universal income redistribution scheme will be a good solution to the problem.

I think UBI schemes will pick up political support when current high status people start getting replaced by computers. My guess is that then it will become more obvious that it's all about luck and not high moral character.