Elizabeth Warren Is the Democratic Frontrunner. Everyone's Piling On.

Fellow Democratic candidates took aim over how Warren plans to pay for all the "free" stuff she's promising, her policy in the Middle East, and her thoughts on Trump's Twitter account.

Last night, some Democratic presidential candidates took aim at Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) over war, health care, and how she plans to pay for all of the "free" things she's been promising. Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.) also got huffy over Warren not joining Harris in demanding that Twitter cancel President Donald Trump's account.

(Andrew Yang still just wants to give everyone $1,000 and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker seems to just want everyone to get along.)

The three hour debate, put on by CNN and The New York Times, saw Warren facing tough questions and direct criticism from Harris, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (Texas), and even Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.).

The latter three mostly tried prompting or provoking Warren into saying how she would pay for all the programs she's proposing—Medicare for All, universal child care, and tuition-free college, to name a few—and admitting that taxes on most Americans would go up to cover the cost of her plans. But Warren repeatedly dodged direct questions and deflected their concerns.

Watching O'Rourke and Klobuchar (who, as per usual, reminded viewers that she's from the Midwest about 80,000 times) make Warren squirm was sort of fun, but both B-list candidates were plenty bad otherwise. O'Rourke doubled down on a pledge to seize guns. Klobuchar accused Russia of "actually invading our election" in 2016. (O'Rourke did have a good comment on tech companies, saying it's not "the role of a candidate for the presidency to call which companies should be broken up.")

Meanwhile, Harris (who, as usual, reminder viewers she's a former prosecutor about 80,000 times) badgered Warren for not joining her in calling on Twitter to ban Trump. (This has become a running Harris theme.)

Tulsi Gabbard (who remains great on foreign policy, bless her heart, but bizarre-to-bad on domestic issues) pressured Warren to join her "in calling for an end to this regime change war in Syria, finally." Warren, appearing flustered, responded "so, look, I think that we ought to get out of the Middle East. I don't think we should have troops in the Middle East."

Warren's campaign subsequently defined getting out of the Middle East to not really mean that.

https://twitter.com/AlexWardVox/status/1184287766290546688

Pete Buttigieg went after Warren over Medicare for All, saying that his plan—"Medicare for all who want it"—would see that all Americans got health care but still leave people with choice:

No plan has been laid out to explain how a multi-trillion-dollar hole in this Medicare for All plan that Senator Warren is putting forward is supposed to get filled in. And the thing is, we really can deliver health care for every American and move forward with the boldest, biggest transformation since the inception of Medicare itself.

But the way to do it without a giant multi-trillion-dollar hole and without having to avoid a yes-or-no question is Medicare for all who want it. We take a version of Medicare. We let you access it if you want to. And if you prefer to stay on your private plan, you can do that, too. That is what most Americans want, Medicare for all who want it, trusting you to make the right decision for your health care and for your family. And it can be delivered without an increase on the middle-class taxes.

Warren replied that "Medicare for all who want it" is really just "Medicare for all who can afford it." That's strange, since the only big difference in Buttigieg's plan is permitting private and health insurance plans to still exist. Any low-income person who wanted to could still opt in to the government-run program. But Warren's model is contingent on forcing everyone to sign up.

Best moments of the debate:

• Julian Castro turning a question on gun violence into a referendum on police brutality.

• Tulsi Gabbard condemning mainstream media's complicity in war-mongering and lazy smears of her.
• Andrew Yang challenging the value of Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I–Vt.) federal jobs guarantee.

Worst moments of the debate: everyone on "Big Tech," social media, data, and antitrust.

Once again, Democrats neatly sidestep the government-fueled problems with big tech: surveillance, cronyism.

— Lucy Steigerwald (@LucyStag) October 16, 2019

The Warren and Yang comments serve as a reminder that the ongoing "Techlash" is bipartisan.

Check out my colleague @MrRBourne's recent paper on tech and antitrust.

Warren is wrong. https://t.co/H0xwMeHoJn #Cato2020 #democraticdebate live

— Matthew Feeney (@M_feeney) October 16, 2019

Full transcript of last night's Democratic debate here.

---

QUICK HITS

• "A homeless man who pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine had his case dismissed after the substance turned out to be powdered milk." He said he pleaded guilty because it was the only way to get out of jail.
  
• Start here for a strange look at a bad study on bots and vaping and Wall Street Journal's peculiar coverage of it:

Over a week ago the Wall Street Journal asked me to comment on the report that occasioned this story. Sadly none of my comments made the cut. But that's ok, I'm happy to repeat what I told WSJ (and more!) on twitter in this thread you're gonna want to readhttps://t.co/B8E9WILc0o

— Amelia Howard (@Amelia_RH) October 15, 2019

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Fellow Democratic candidates took aim over how Warren plans to pay for all the "free" stuff she's promising...

REPUBLICAN TALKING POINTS

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

And then Harris snapped.

"I'll arrest you. And you! I'll arrest all of you! Watch!"

[Hit and Run]

Oprah, s that you?

[Anomalous]

You get a warrant! You get a warrant! Everyone gets a warrant!

[Fist of Etiquette]

O'Rourke doubled down on a pledge to seize guns. Klobuchar accused Russia of "actually invading our election" in 2016.

Shouldn't these be universal Democrat givens?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Tulsi Gabbard (who remains great on foreign policy, bless her heart, but bizarre-to-bad on domestic issues)...

We can't have a candidate schooled in both. It's not allowed.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Police violence is also gun violence

Someone lost the police unions' endorsement.

[Don't look at me!]

It’s not even a true statement. Sometimes cops use batons.

[Earth Skeptic]

Or knees. Or choke holds. Or rides in the back of paddy wagons. Or...

[Juice]

How could you forget tasers?

[Conchfritters]

Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.) also got huffy over Warren not joining Harris in demanding that Twitter cancel President Donald Trump's account.

What a twit. I didn’t watch the shit show last night, but I can just imagine her nasally condescending prosecutor’s voice whining at Warren.

[Rich]

She is just horrible. Hypocritical, tyrannical, ....

[Earth Skeptic]

Which one?

[Rich]

Nice catch, but I was referring to KH.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Her giggles are frightening.

[Rich]

Warren campaign aide on the senator's "get out of the Middle East" comment: "it was a reference to combat troops since we have multiple non-combat bases, in UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, etc. and she did not mean those."

Yep, those bases are practically just diplomatic consulates.

[Fat Mike's Drug Habit]

Exactly, they aren't "combat" bases because miraculously we've decided not to bomb all those people on top of all the bombing we're already doing. That's just a pen and a phone away from changing at any given moment.

[Echospinner]

That is pretty funny. Yeah because an F-16 is not like, for combat or something.

[Longtobefree]

It doesn't really matter what any of these people running for the democratic nomination say. The eventual nominee, from this group or projected from the smoke and mirrors, will run on the democratic party platform. Which will wander between socialism and fascism.
Either way, we will be faced with the choice of government control, or individual freedom. Neither choice will actually be the complete package, just a step or two down the path.
Still waiting for the 'debate' where they are asked if they will accept the results of the election.

[Hit and Run]

Will the VP come from this group? Assuming a Biden-Warren ticket would be the best blend, but Warren-Beto might capture more outrage groups.

[NOYB2]

Assuming a Biden-Warren ticket would be the best blend

A corruption-ignorance ticket, with a bit of war mongering and socialism/fascism thrown in?

[Conchfritters]

Klobuchar accused Russia of "actually invading our election" in 2016.

In Soviet Russia gulag make you eat salad with fork too.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Topped with Guatemalan Kurds.

Fake-virtuous activist: Won't anyone think of the Guatamelons!
Rufus: What the fuck is a Guatemelon?
Neutral observer: Malan.
Rufus: What?
Neutral observer: GuateMALAN.
Rufus: What the fuck is a Guatemalan?
Fake anti-war protestor: Save the Kurds!
Rufus: What the fuck is a Kurd?
Neutral observer: A Kurd is a people no one gave a shit about until Trump.

[Zeb]

Kurds go on your poutine.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I thought Kurds were people who benefited from illegal US wars?

[De Oppresso Liber]

Kurds are people who have given everything they had to the u.s. and hoped for just a little in return. Kurds are people who sacrificed thousands of lives for us causes. Kurds are people who nothing but a punchline for small minded bigots who pretend to be libertarians.

[Nardz]

Yea, Kurds were totes fighting for the US and not to avoid being killed/raped/enslaved while their homes are looted and burned. And they were just taking control of land they previously didn't hold for the US...
Good call.
I like the Kurds, but you'd look like slightly less of a complete moron if you knew something about which you speak.
Anyway, you're "decorated for valor" - why don't you go help the Kurds out?

[De Oppresso Liber]

I have fought side by side with Kurds in Iraq. I have done my bit and then some. Why don't you do anything other than small minded xenophobia?

[Nardz]

LOL
I don't think you know what the term 'xenophobia' means.
And I'm damn sure you've never fought beside Kurds... or anybody.
Keep lying though, sqrlsy might still believe you

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

You tried this talking point already, Brockobot.

[NOYB2]

Kurds are people who sacrificed thousands of lives for us causes.

The US has no causes in the Middle East. The entire region could be wiped out by a meteor tomorrow and the effect on the US would be next to nothing.

Kurds are people who nothing but a punchline for small minded bigots who pretend to be libertarians.

It's precisely the fact that we are libertarians that makes us "small minded bigots" who couldn't care less about the Kurds. We don't owe the Kurds anything. We didn't want to be involved in their wars, and we don't want our money or our children to support foreign wars.

It is superior intellects and benevolent progressives like you who think it's the jobs of Americans to stick our noses into every dirty revolution and ethnic conflict around the world. No excuse is too small for you, and the time is never right to pull out for you to spend other people's money and sacrifice other people's lives. That's how good and moral you are!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Tulsi Gabbard condemning mainstream media's complicity in war-mongering and lazy smears of her.

They're treating her like a Republican. And she's treating them as though she was a Republican.

[Earth Skeptic]

Of course they are. In the simple-minded political landscape of media (reflecting, of course, the simple minds of American media consumers) there can be only two sides. Therefore anyone who challenges the left-veering Democratic Party orthodoxy must be a Republican. And bad. Very, very bad.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Andrew Yang challenging the value of Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I–Vt.) federal jobs guarantee.

If it ain't a grand a month, take a hike, old man.

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

Economic disaster!!!!!

Our billionaire benefactor Charles Koch is in danger of falling out of the top 10 richest people on the planet!

After an absolutely brutal day in which he lost over $400 million, Mr. Koch is now only the 9th richest person in the world. I blame Drumpf's tariffs and immigration restrictions.

#DrumpfRecession
#VoteDemocratToHelpCharlesKoch

[Fist of Etiquette]

He said he pleaded guilty because it was the only way to get out of jail.

HE SHOULD BE ARRESTED FOR LYING TO THE COURT.

[Rufus The Monocled]

By the time Yang's $1000 gets put into place, it'll be worth under $500.

THEN WHAT?

[Rich]

Nuevo dollar!

[Pod]

You know we do this already it's just that the money is handed to banks and the rich few who control them.

[JesseAz]

You really are ignorant.

[Pod]

Wow you got me.

[JesseAz]

It needs to be repeated until you're so sick of being called ignorant you choose to open a book and change your ways.

[Square = Circle]

Wow you got me.

He did. You may have heard the phrase "quantitative easing," but it's clear you have no idea how it works.

[Pod]

Think of money today as if it were frontier land of 18th and 19th century. The govt would give away the land to put it use by individuals because they understood that individuals could turn that land into something more useful.

[JesseAz]

Your high school level understanding of economics is breathtaking. You do realize that UBI has been attempted and studied and is batting zero right? Giving free shit to people doesnt generate economic growth. The mythical Keynesian factor you are attempting to claim, but doubt you k ow your actual argument, has often been stated to be greater than 1 but in any actual study has shown to top put at .7 at best. This is from multiple UChicago, Harvard, and Stanford studies.

[De Oppresso Liber]

You really are shameless in the amount of bullshit you make up. UBI is not at all a settled issue. From an MIT meta-study:

To our knowledge, the first significant pilot of universal basic income in a developing country was
conducted in the Otjivero-Omitara area of Namibia between January 2008 and December 2009.
All residents younger than 60 and registered as living in the area as of July 2007 received monthly,
unconditional transfers. A before-and-after analysis by program advocates suggested that rates of
poverty and child malnutrition fell while rates of income-generating activity and children’s school
attendance rose, among other positive changes, in spite of significant in-migration (Haarmann et
al., 2009)

https://economics.mit.edu/files/16000

[soldiermedic76]

Now do all the European countries that have tried it.

[Don't look at me!]

Once all the land is “given away”, it’s gone. You can’t print more, thereby making it worthless.

[TripK2]

Pod's statement is stupid, but so is this one.

[Don't look at me!]

Hey, I was just trying to fit in!

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

You're sounding even dumber now that the Brockoturf trolls have vanished.

[soldiermedic76]

Under the homestead act you did have to pay for the land in most cases, it was just very cheap. Additionally, you had to prove the land, i.e. you had to work the land and meet government regulations to what was considered proper work and industry on it. Timber and mining claims had similar restrictions. Nothing was given away and it wasn't free or easy. The vast majority of mining claims, timber claims and homesteads failed, often fatally. The fact that you consider this at all equivalent to UBI shows your lack of understanding of history and economics.

[NOYB2]

Good analogy, but you got it backwards.

When the US government gave land to settlers, they turned something that wasn't used productively into something that was used productively.

When the US government taxes businesses, income, capital gains, and wealth, it is taking resources that are used productively and giving them to people who will waste the money on more consumer goods.

[Rich]

Warren repeatedly dodged direct questions and deflected their concerns.

Because she has a *workable* plan for *that*.

[Hit and Run]

You know who else had a "workable plan"?

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

John "Hannibal" Smith?

[soldiermedic76]

Duhn-duhn-duuuh.

[JesseAz]

You cannot unseen this pic of biden.

https://mobile.twitter.com/jtLOL/status/1184264068183609344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1184264068183609344&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fblog%2Fliveblogevent%2Fdrunkblogging-the-october-democratic-debate%2F

[Ray McKigney]

Mr. Sardonicus, I presume?

[Idle Hands]

Warren is such a fraud and will definitely sell out, but let's be honest every single one of these people is better than Hillary Clinton with the possible exception of Harris.

[Don't look at me!]

Yes, but you set a very low bar.

[Idle Hands]

I didn't set it, that would be the DNC. I also remain unconvinced Hillary isn't the nominee til the convention is over. She's desperatley trying to stay in the news for a reason. And like Michael Meyers, Jason and Freddie Kruger I'm conditioned to expect a sequel or reboot from the Clintons regardless of how badly they were dispatched and how generally awful the previous film was.

[Overt]

Nah they are just remaining relevant so that Chelsey gets her turn.

[Hit and Run]

Alien... I see her chasing her way out of Yang's chest with a big fake smile and gooey pantsuit.

[soldiermedic76]

Get away from her you bitch!

[American Mongrel]

It'll be m'obama if anyone. The media is already crafting.

https://thepoliticalinsider.com/poll-shows-michelle-obama-as-front-runner-if-she-entered-2020-presidential-race/

[Idle Hands]

Don't see it she has shown exactly zero interest in politics.

[Nardz]

So?
Progressives crave royalty

[JesseAz]

Warren has less personality than hillary and is more authoritarian.

[Idle Hands]

Um this is wrong. Clinton is a far more entitled, vindictive and authoritarian than Warren. Warren may be smarter but I'm not convinced of that in fact Warren is just a less entitled/sloppy version of Hillary as she's not had the press coverup and kiss her ass for the last two decades.

[JesseAz]

CFPB alone is more authoritarian than anything Hillary has actually proposed.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I would laugh my ass off if Hillary jumps in last moment and gets the nomination.

[Idle Hands]

Warren's a Facist but she's more Franco to Hillary's Mussolini. And believe me Warren is only progressive as it suits her goals if Hillary hadn't positioned herself as a moderate or had come on the scene later it she would be as facist if not more so than Warren.

[NOYB2]

Clinton is entitled, vindictive, and authoritarian. Clinton is also very smart and well connected.

Warren is dumb as a rock, politically incompetent, and not particularly well connected.

Given the choice between two authoritarians, the dumb one is probably the better choice.

[icannotread]

Yang is the only one I would consider doing sex things with. That's how I vote.
Begrudgingly, but I would.
If he's going to give me 1K a month for life it's like I won a lottery scratch off.

[JesseAz]

Happy birthday to Warren's dna test!

https://pjmedia.com/trending/happy-anniversary-to-elizabeth-warrens-dna-test/

Although she seems to prefer her other lies more.

[TripK2]

Prosecutor Harris cut off a really good back-and-forth about Medicare-for-All vs. Public option with stuff about "women's access to healthcare" (i.e. abortion).

As a regular American wondering "wtf are these Democrats going to take away my doctor again?" I was fucking PISSED that Harris interrupted that conversation. I think the point she brought up is one to be talked about, but fuck her for getting in the way of another really big conversation about everyone's healthcare. I suspect a lot of my fellow Americans felt the same way.

Also, does she really think calling for Trump to be banned on Twitter is really that popular or inspiring? I believe a poll was just released showing that a supermajority of Americans don't even read Trump's tweets (even in articles), so how is this a winning strategy? She's calling for something to happen that the massive majority of us don't give a shit about. Prosecutor Harris, I am WAY more concerned about whether you are going to stop me from seeing my doctor than I am about Trump's dumbass tweets.

I hope Democrat primary voters feel the same way.

[Zeb]

What amazes me is that people still act like Trump's public personality is a surprise. Should have figured out how the dude operates by now.

[Rich]

What I keep waiting for is someone to respond to "A person has the right to control their own body" with "So you're in favor of drug legalization?"

[Longtobefree]

Not to mention asking if the right to choose includes sex work, or just killing babies.

[Earth Skeptic]

Perhaps like all politicians and wanna-be Great Leaders, they have a reflexive impulse to control information, especially through banning undesirable sources.

[Brian]

“Warren's campaign subsequently defined getting out of the Middle East to not really mean that.”

Ah, so she pulled a Trump.

#UnfitForOffice

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug]

Last night, some Democratic presidential candidates took aim at Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) over war, health care, and how she plans to pay for all of the "free" things she's been promising.

God she is an awful candidate. Worse than the Con Man even.

I know you Peanuts are binary thinkers (GOP good, Dems all bad) but Obama cut the deficit in half, paid for the ACA, cut taxes and promoted free trade and tariff cuts.

The Squaw is just awful in every way. The anti Obama.

[lap83]

"paid for the ACA"

/dies laughing

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug]

I know you're an idiot but the ACA was paid for with a capital gains tax on profits over $250,00/yr. It was deficit neutral.

Meanwhile the Con Man has run the $450 billion deficit to over $1 trillion while UE is 3%.

[JesseAz]

Not even Democrats are trying to push this lie anymore.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug]

Meanwhile the Con Man has run the $450 billion deficit to over $1 trillion while UE is 3%.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""but the ACA was paid for with a capital gains tax on profits over $250,00/yr.""

Hilarious.
Not even remotely true.

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

You're being too critical. Obama was the best President ever — Nobel Peace Prize, strongest economy ever, etc. If you measure other Democrats against him, of course they'll fall short.

And don't forget, Warren will be better than Drumpf on protecting access to abortion care. Plus she'll abolish the concentration camps.

[Earth Skeptic]

Well, except for the "re-education camps" for those who speak out against abortion.

[JesseAz]

God. All you do is post lies even after they have been pointed put. The deficit was because of the house and the expiration of TARP and stimulus funds. Remove those two one time out programs and Obama grew the deficit. But you have to lie. ACA is not paid for. It was 10 years of pay in against 6 years if pay outs. The medicaid expansion alone dwarfs the pay in to the system. He didnt cut taxes, he I creased them especially on corporations. And if you believe tariffs are taxes passed to consumers youd have to be pretty dishonest to claim corporate taxes arent passed on. ACA taxes and requirements alone prove be didnt cut taxes.

Obama isn't a child. Get his dick out of your mouth.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug]

Bullshit. Bank TARP didn't count against the deficit according to the CBO and the deficit was $1.2 trillion before Obama was sworn in. Despite the full implementaion of the ACA the deficit has gone down to $450 billion while Obama was in his second term. He cut taxes twice including a bigger tax cut than the Dotard. There was no income tax increase on corporations, You are full of shit.

[JesseAz]

Cbo doesnt consider the time phasing of a program you fucking dumbshit. Tarps payouts were included on 09 and 10 and paybacks reduced the deficits in 11-14. You dishonest shit.

[JesseAz]

Your false correlation of deficit and aca shows you're fucking retarded. Again. Medicaid growth alone dwarfs the taxes in the aca bill shit for brains. It is why dishonest economists remove the medicaid expansion from their analysis. You're fucking retarded.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug]

Medicaid expansion is included in the overall deficit, you dumb shit. And the deficit still went down to $450 billion.

[JesseAz]

The overall deficit isnt solely based on aca you fucking moron.

[Nardz]

Simple calculations ($9t debt increase over 8 years in office) show that Obama averaged a deficit of $1.125t/year

[JesseAz]

And since you bring up the CBO... what were their 2020 deficit projections from 2016? The projection showed a 1 trillion dollar deficit due to entitlement expansion such as medicaid you dumbfuck.

[JesseAz]

Probably should have added the 100 billion a year in regulatory costs obama added to the economy. Again, if tariffs are taxes...

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

"Dems all bad."

Not at all, you hicklib pederast. I'd be just fine with Tulsi in the Oval Office.

[JesseAz]

Only of she supports the topless movement and protests while president.

[Longtobefree]

"(GOP good, Dems all bad)"

More like (GOP bad, Dems much worse)

[Conchfritters]

Congress Probes Bot-Generated Social-Media Messages About E-Cigarettes

They should probe how the CDC has conspired with a bunch of nanny’s who want to be all up in everyone’s business to shut down legitimate e-cigs and vapes because the Chinese flooded our markets with shitty fake weed cartridges filled with vitamin E and cyanide. It should be like chum in the water to some tobacco lawyers.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""But Warren's model is contingent on forcing everyone to sign up.""

Or you pay a penaltax?

[Longtobefree]

"forcing everyone to sign up"?
I will bet your next paycheck that the President and the legislature will be exempt, and get special access to real doctors.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

and get special access to real doctors.

Seriously, they have already built the hospitals just across the border in Mexico. I actually know people who have gone to super-snazzy clinics outside Tijuana for procedures that are unavailable in the US.

What a surprise it will be when you suddenly need a diplomatic visa to get into Mexico.

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

Ha, President Warren will yell "build that wall!" to stop people from going to Mexico.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Or you pay a penaltax?

Like they can't take it right out of your paycheck?

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

Did any of the Democrats explicitly call for open borders? The party is clearly moving toward the immigration position favored by billionaires, although they might not be confident the expression "open borders" polls well enough to say it out loud yet.

At any rate, I remain confident the eventual nominee will formally endorse open borders in time for the 2020 election.

#BillionairesKnowBest
#VoteDemocratForOpenBorders
#ImmigrationAboveAll

[Don't look at me!]

It’s the pressing issue of our time!

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

Nick Gillespie says more Americans than ever agree with the statement "Immigration is a good thing." That proves the Koch / Reason open borders agenda is going mainstream.

[Uncle Jay]

Right again, OBL.
America needs to import more violent criminals, terrorists and people with infectious diseases.
Our quotas on all three are down in record numbers.

[Jerryskids]

Gregg had been in Oklahoma County jail since his arrest 15 months ago. He was released Friday, according to jail records.

He also told the judge he got the powered milk from a food pantry. Attempts to reach Gregg's attorney Monday were not successful.

Attempts to reach his attorney better have been unsuccessful because the fucker hung himself this morning. I can understand that somebody might sit in jail for 15 months and plead guilty just to get out, as infuriating as that is*, but not if they've got a lawyer and such an open-and-shut bullshit case.

*We need a rule that the public defender's office gets the same funding and resources as the prosecutor's office.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

*We need a rule that the public defender’s office gets the same funding and resources as the prosecutor’s office.

That runs completely counter to current policy which is using civil forfeiture to make sure every defendant is indigent.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug]

Oh, and if I had to choose between the Squaw and the Con Man I would vote LP no matter how nutty the fucker is.

[Don't look at me!]

Nobody cares.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug]

Yeah, I forgot. You can't pitch the LP here because Trump Trash has taken over this message board.

[Don't look at me!]

No I meant nobody cares what you do.

[JesseAz]

You'll support whoever legalizes KP.

[Brian]

They’re almost as bad as the Bush Trash.

One of these 8-16 years, I’m just going to get fed up!

[soldiermedic76]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tVFp8KTEw-k
I'll let Quagmire respond for me.

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

What?! You'd pass up the best opportunity to dethrone a President who has destroyed the economy so thoroughly that Sam's Club closed a bunch of stores?

The President whose economic record is so dismal that your hero Warren Buffett has actually lost over a billion this year?

Say it ain't so, Buttplug!

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Say it ain’t so, Buttplug!

You are slipping. It used to be Mr. Buttplug.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You're throwing your vote away.

[I, Woodchipper]

you understand that the libertarian party is even more diametrically opposed to your values and policy goals than Trump is right?

[MP]

So, so many LOL moments last night. My favorite was Beto's AK-47 call out. Those AK's...they're everywhere! Millions of 'em. And all of our gun control is failing in regards to AK's.

What a fucking tool. Just another person who's entire exposure to guns is what they see on TV.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Robert O'Rourke was a long shot to begin with, but he effectively nuked his candidacy with his gun-grabbing autism. He literally has nothing else to offer but bog-standard Gen-X shitlibbery.

[Charles Easterly]

So, so many LOL moments last night.

MP,

Do you have a link to the entire "debate"? I would like to watch it and I am having a difficult time finding a proper link.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

What a fucking tool.

This is the rifle he should be worried about.

Do you think they will rename us Eastern China or Western China when the Democrats open the gates? We are technically East of the mainland, but historically considered the West. Or will they go with Oceania?

[mad.casual]

When does the current season of America's Got Goverment end?

[Mike Laursen]

Dunno. It's not as fun to watch since Bernie got voted off the show.

[Ken Shultz]

Has anyone else noticed that the push for impeachment seems to have slowed to a crawl?

I've read coverage of Matt Gaetz being excluded from the secret House impeachment proceedings--because he sits on the judiciary committee and the Judiciary committee isn't invited--and it really drives the point home.

Pelosi still doesn't have the votes for impeachment--and she doesn't appear to be trying to convince her fellow Democrats to vote for impeachment either. Otherwise, she wouldn't be conducting her impeachment inquiry in secret from other representatives in the House. She says the investigation needs to be held in secret so that future witnesses won't be able to change their story to agree with what past witnesses have said, but no one, in or outside the House, is about to change their minds on impeachment vote because of testimony no one has heard.

Two observations:

1) The most reasonable explanation for why Pelosi is holding this impeachment hearing in secret is because she wants to keep boht her fellow politicians in the House and the American people in the dark about what's happening.

2) The most reasonable explanation for why Pelosi hasn't held a vote for impeachment is because she doesn't have the votes.

Conclusion: Pelosi doesn't have the votes for her witch hunt of an impeachment, so she's launched a secret fishing expedition. Every day she doesn't produce a fish, the impeachment vote she wants becomes less and less likely. As the pressure to produce or drop the secret impeachment inquiry continues to mount, the most likely reason Pelosi doesn't share the evidence they've gathered in the secret impeachment proceeding--is because they haven't gathered any evidence of misconduct.

Prediction: This probably ends with the House requesting the appointment of a special counsel. That's Pelosi's escape hatch if she comes up with nothing. Of course, that isn't what Trump wants, and he may resist the appointment of a special counsel. Congress doesn't get one just because they request it. That being said, the House is not a venue for secret investigations. The House is a place where public politicians make public decisions so the voters can decide whether to keep them for another term or throw them out on the asses. There is a proper venue for an investigation to held without the public knowing about every piece of evidence that comes forward--and that's called a special counsel.

Pelosi probably doesn't have enough support in Congress to get one appointed, but fighting to get one appointed may be the best play she's got--given that fishing expedition hasn't produced anything and she, apparently, doesn't have the votes for impeachment.

[Colossal Douchebag]

She may well have the votes, but she also remembers firsthand what went down in '98, and how the elections went after that. Those voting for an impeachment that seems like a reach will get a thorough beatdown at the polls, and she knows it.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""Has anyone else noticed that the push for impeachment seems to have slowed to a crawl?""

I've noticed that they want to do things in secret. And that is pretty friggin anti-American / anti-democracy.

It's what communists do.

[Square = Circle]

Pelosi probably doesn’t have enough support in Congress to get one appointed

They have a little "Boy Who Cried Wolf" problem at this point, too.

[Geraje Guzba]

You are correct to note that the impeachment stunt has slowed to a crawl, but that is precisely because, in my opinion, it has been nothing more than a stunt since its inception. There was never an intention to follow through. Further, without any real enforcement power to put the bite into their subpoenas (at least as far as the Executive branch is concerned), the Democrats in the House seem poised to do nothing more than hold secret "hearings" to elicit largely meaningless testimony from irrelevant "whistle-blowers."

Additionally, the prospects of William Barr acceding to a House request to appoint a special counsel in connection with the Ukraine "scandal" are basically non-existent. However, I agree that this will likely be a bridge the Democrats will attempt to cross sooner or later. Without any compelling evidence to sustain a substantive vote on articles of impeachment, the Democrats will shift their focus to a litany of imagined process "crimes" and argue that Trump's failure to jump in the trunk of their runaway clown car is itself an offense warranting his removal from office. And, once Barr tells the House Democrats to shove it, and refuses to appoint a special counsel, some sort of half-baked "obstruction" charge will undergird the next phase of the impeachment circus (which will proceed, naturally, without any vote or formal commencement proceeding).

My prediction is that the entire impeachment fracas concerning Ukraine will propel Trump to a second term and, left with little else, the Democrats will push the special counsel issue until SCOTUS finally concludes (once Ginsberg has been replaced) that the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 is unconstitutional.

[Geraje Guzba]

Correction: *Ethics in Government Act of 1978 and subsequent regulatory progeny* are unconstitutional.

[TripK2]

I also want to mention that Mayor Pete actually killed it on the stage yesterday. He looked and sounded Presidential, check his more ideologically-insane opponents and made a strong appeal to moderate voters. If he gets the nomination, he has a real shot.

[wreckinball]

He’ll top it off by forcing a Christian band to play his inauguration because you must “play the song” or something because he’s gay and we can’t have anyone saying no to gay people come on!

[Uncle Jay]

I don't know why everyone is getting so excited about Lieawatha Warren.
She won't get the democratic nomination for the POTUS.
That will go to Hitlery.

[Uncle Jay]

Lieawatha Warren won't get the nomination.
Hitlery will.

[I'm Not Sure]

I don't watch presidential debates, but if I did, the the format I'd prefer would include a moderator who put questions to the candidates in turn. At any point where the candidate steers off-topic, the moderator pulls a lever and that candidate is dropped into a tank of sharks. If the candidate won't answer the question, the moderator employs the lever to the shark tank. If, based on internet voting, the moderator is being too generous with the candidates, lever-tank. For both the moderator and the candidate. This continues until there's just one candidate left standing, who would be promptly dropped into the tank.

After enough repeats, this might eventually cut down on the number of people eager to publicly announce their interest in running other peoples' lives for them.

[soldiermedic76]

Can the sharks have laser beams in their heads?

[soldiermedic76]

Laser beams on their heads

[newshutz]

we couldn't get sharks just sea bass, but they are angry sea bass.

[Fat Mike's Drug Habit]

I'm intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

Earlier today, Block Insane Yomomma decided to emerge from his Deep State command center bunker headquarters in Kalorama in order to beg the good people of Canada to re-elect Trudeau in the upcoming election. The fact that he feels like he has to do this tells me that he and his fellow left-liberal globalist elites are worried that pretty boy could possibly lose.

I wonder how Canadians feel about such a blatant attempt at foreign influence over their elections by the way.

[Zeb]

Hey, what's happening? We've missed your special brand of insane idiocy.

[Echospinner]

The mayor of Idelwild California is a Golden Retriever named Max. The people there are very happy with the arrangement. Squirrels have not been polled.

I see no reason why we could not do the same for president.

Really the president has way too much power. The way I see it the president should just act as the “Chief Host” of the country. Have dinner parties with other presidents, give a few rousing speeches, smile a lot, that sort of thing. Kinda like Reagan toward the end there.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Everybody knows the VP has all the real power. Trump may talk about it, but Dick Cheney actually shot someone while VP and got away with it.

Biden is more touchy-feely, he probably stabbed someone.

[wreckinball]

Phew yea Biden is a Boy Scout
I mean Russian Oligarchs always just pay know nothing Americans millions just for shits and grins

[wreckinball]

Yeah sure Fake Squaw is in the lead. What is she going to make up next.

All of these people are fucking crazy

[Matrimonial07]

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[JesseAz]

Hillary was a corrupt piece of shit but she was fine with free markets for the most part. Warren's policy position papers are a roadmap to fascism where she wants to essentially control how private business operates.

[NOYB2]

Hillary had to sleep with Bill at least once, and put up with him decade after decade. That's a lot more than Warren has ever accomplished.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

The Jacket is a jealous God.

[JesseAz]

The irony he doesnt get is the settlers were given land in exchange for development of the land. Basically growing a tax base. The opposite of just giving tax money away.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

But that happened after the dems controlling Congress in the last few years of the Bush admin increased the deficits.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

What is the libertarian super-power that the symbiote grants to the host?

[Fat Mike's Drug Habit]

Was expecting Benny Hill on loop but this will suffice.

[Charles Easterly]

I expected a response like yours, and can appreciate the humor. Regardless, my request for a link to the actual CNN/New York Times Democratic Debate stands.

[Hit and Run]

"she was fine with free markets for ..." as long as she could profit from them...

[Hit and Run]

Isn't the ACA back-loaded, like A-Rod's contract (part for it for the next 15 years after he stops playing?)

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Obama got into a bit of hot water because he was taking funds from somewhere else to cover ACA. IIRC, a judge ruled it illegal.

[Square = Circle]

The irony he doesnt get is the settlers were given land in exchange for development of the land.

And in the reverse order from what he's claiming - the government didn't say "hey, you - have some land, do something nice with it." They said "there's a bunch of open land. You can have what you improve."

[Aloysious]

Somebody once said, "We believe truth over facts", or something like that.

[Dturtleman]

Being insufferable?

[Echospinner]

Me too.

[Echospinner]

I haven’t seen it. Can’t help you out.

There isn’t enough bourbon in the house to get me through 3 hours of that. I watched the new Spider-Man far from Home on Amazon. Not bad.

[Echospinner]

I kinda feel bad for her. There is that. And nobody likes her.

Can’t imagine it is much fun for her at home these days.

She should get a hobby. Maybe volunteer at the local shelter dishing out lunches twice a week. She might make some friends there. Or take a pottery class at the community center.

Dogs are good too. She should get a dog. They like you no matter what. I think they had a dog and cat when Bill was President.

I think Warren has the same problem. She just has no charisma. Some people can just say anything and you like them anyway, Reagan, Oprah, even Bill Clinton had this aww shucks kind of charm when he was on his game. She doesn’t have it.