American Politics Discussion Thread

[Charriu]

Good examples, but those all stayed in the first-past-the-post voting system. Is there a good example where first-past-the-post was replaced with a more representative system?

[Mjmd]

With Republicans in control of the house again, we get insight into what they care about

Heh look republicans undermined an already weak ethics body.          

The House of Representatives on Monday passed a new set of rules to govern the chamber that will severely weaken the ability of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) to investigate members of Congress for potential wrongdoing.

Just for some contrast look at this good governance going under the radar that is helping multiple sectors including rural voters who don't vote Democrat.

President Biden signed an executive order in 2021 calling on the Federal Trade Commission to draw up a countrywide policy allowing customers to repair their own products, particularly in the technology and agriculture sectors.

[Tarkeel]

With Republicans in control of the house again, we get insight into what they care about

You missed the kicker:

There are some eye-opening provisions in the text of the GOP’s proposed “select subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government” that will get a vote next week.

One explicitly authorizes the review of “ongoing criminal investigations.”

The most important issue is to be able to interfere in the ongoing criminal investigations of the sitting house members.

[Mjmd]

I did not know about that....... but I'm not shocked.

[Boro]

i will say a part of the reason i dont vote IS the "ignore political brainrot" part of things, but one side being slightly/more than slightly terrible doesnt mean i should automatically vote for the other one. When one side is a giant douche and the other a turd sandwich, why choose a side? Id rather it all either burn, or an independent gets in office.

nowadays I just enjoy the show with the mental equivalent of popcorn. Whether it helps or not, from the outside world there is no difference between the "two" parties.

To others, think of this question: would it help your politics if you were all collectively held responsible for the actions of your leadership? e.g. you'd get hit by sanctions, have product shortages that make the PS5 shortage look tame by comparison, etc.

I'm sure people would put in more effort if the politics affected them more directly.

Also good on your leadership to let farmers repair their farm equipment. The DRM shit has gone way too far.

[suboptimal]

Good examples, but those all stayed in the first-past-the-post voting system. Is there a good example where first-past-the-post was replaced with a more representative system?

Can't think of any off-hand.  Maine and Alaska have switched to ranked choice voting for federal elections but that also illustrates the issue with changing voting rules in the US - all elections are run at the state level so the federal government doesn't have much say in the process.

[Mjmd]

Ah the classic saying the quiet part out loud when you think you are only talking to your side.

A Democratic member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission is calling on his Republican colleague to resign for praising lower voter turnout in Milwaukee during the 2022 general election that he attributed to targeting Black voters with negative ads, lawsuits filed by Republicans that added voting restrictions, and GOP campaigning that pushed Democratic voters to stay home instead of voting for candidates in their party.

In the memo, Spindell claimed Democratic candidates did not receive "the votes they needed" from Black voters because of Republican campaigning targeting Black communities. He touted smaller voter turnout in Milwaukee aldermanic districts with high percentages of Black residents.

I thought this was especially relevant with what SD was saying, here is part of Spindells email that got out:

"We must remember, in the strategy of things, it is often extremely difficult & hard to convert a hard core, long term generation type Democrat to all of a sudden, bring himself or herself around to vote for a Republican. However, by our Republican efforts, pointing out strongly, how the Democrat Candidates are worse than or certainly no better than their perception of the Republican Candidates, at all levels, they hopefully cannot bring themselves to vote for either one," Spindell wrote.

Just quick history lesson the margin of victory for Johnson was 27K votes. Basically the decrease in Milwaukee votes alone (let alone if more people had voted elsewhere) meant that we still have a traitor and overall vile senator in our government.

[Jowy]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_supp...ted_States

Not much of a secret anyway. Though it is kinda crazy how the fifteenth amendment was made in 1870 and after 153 years the issue still remains. There is no justification you could make for it. Stopping people from voting is anti-democratic, unconstitutional, white supremacist, and against the working class.

[darrelljs]

"We must remember, in the strategy of things, it is often extremely difficult & hard to convert a hard core, long term generation type Democrat to all of a sudden, bring himself or herself around to vote for a Republican. However, by our Republican efforts, pointing out strongly, how the Democrat Candidates are worse than or certainly no better than their perception of the Republican Candidates, at all levels, they hopefully cannot bring themselves to vote for either one," Spindell wrote.

That's the most poorly constructed sentence I've ever read. Evil aside, I wouldn't vote for this dude for grammatical reasons.

Darrell

[Jowy]

Just to update on those mass shooting statistics. In the year 2022, there were 735 mass shootings in the USA. 5 of them were school shootings, 2 in places of worship.

I saw the headline of an article about Gavin Newsom, stating "Second Amendment is becoming a suicide pact". For a second I thought I found the first sane American, but later in that article I find out he is still pro-gun for "responsible owners".

Oh right, Europe had 10 mass shootings. 3 of them in Russia.