Buffarukus
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Posts posted by Buffarukus
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That was incredibly stupid thing to just blurt out.
The irony is that the same people who will be using this to fuel rage as "what they all really think" are the same ones that advocated for the decriminalization of hard drug markets to go along with open boarders policies ⁸for mass fentanyl distribution.
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7 hours ago, ChiGoose said:
This whole DC thing presents a good example of the intellectual bankruptcy of the MAGA movement.
The claim is that the Feds are moving into DC because the crime is so bad.
If one wanted to evaluate this plan, they would ask, "Is DC the most dangerous city in the US?" in order to determine if the action is justified. The answer is a clear no. Not only is DC not the most dangerous city, the violent crime rate has declined to a 30 year low.
If one was willing to give Trump the benefit of the doubt, they could say "well, the Feds can't deploy in other cities like they can in DC. Maybe this can prove to be the a model for supporting local law enforcement and other cities will see this and ask for assistance."
If that was the case, one would expect to see the Fed deployments to focus on the areas of DC with high crime rates, patrolling the streets in dangerous neighborhoods to deter crime, allowing the local police force to focus on bringing criminals to justice. The deployment would be focused on getting criminals into custody.
But the deployment has mostly ignored the dangerous areas in favor of wealthy and high profile areas like Georgetown and the Federal Mall. And they are arresting people without criminal records. Those they do arrest often face trumped up charges.
A guy who throws a sandwich at a cop is arrested and charged with several crimes (Say what you will about a cop being hurt by bread, you don't throw things at cop if you don't want to be arrested), but then the feds later bring in a camera crew to record themselves breaking into his home to charge him with additional crimes, something they could have done with paperwork. They wanted the theatrics.
So if they aren't going into the most dangerous cities, and they aren't focusing on people with criminal records, and they aren't patrolling high crime areas, and they are using their actions for theatrics, what the hell are they doing there?
You can break the MAGA understanding of this into three buckets:
- The Ignorant: Most people don't follow news closely. They see the Feds are coming in to combat crime and assume that is the truth
- The Stupid: People who follow politics closely, know the Feds are focusing more on high visibility spaces instead of the high crime areas and somehow believe this is effective
- The Authoritarian: People who know this isn't about stopping crime in the traditional sense, but punishing those who they view as equal to criminals simply for disagreeing or opposing their ideology. When they say they are fighting crime, they mean fighting libs.
You cannot support this action as fighting crime unless you believe not being MAGA is the equivalent to a crime.
So what happened during "Operation Legend"? Thats a pretty dangerous city goose of the chi. How about when he sent them into portland when they were trying to lock people in and burn them alive. How about california when people were tossing giant blocks of concrete off of highway over passes.
Let us know exactly what parts of a city and which crimes being committed its ok to have federal backup for. I know youve grown accustomed to wrist slapping but having a show of force and harsh federal penalties puts idiots on notice across ENTIRE cities that liberal touchy feely revolving door policies might not be the next punishment....thats called a deterrent.
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19 hours ago, Joe Ferguson forever said:
really? the interest on the debt is killing us. The dollar is down. Social security and medicare will be insolvent in 7 years. a house is iout of reach for most 1st time buyers. So is the American dream. But we're winning? Hate to think what losing looks like.
Its ok. The inflation reduction act will kick in any day now.
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On 7/21/2025 at 8:04 AM, ComradeKayAdams said:
It’s not that I normally have much free time; with coffee as my “upper” of choice, I’m quite capable of producing rapid-fire novellas! Since Bills training camp begins this week and since I don’t think anyone’s political views are changing, I suppose we should strive to wrap up this conversation? I’ll summarize my final thoughts and then you can choose a final rebuttal, if you’d like.
Your commentary on the law of unintended economic consequences is duly noted. The American political milieu needs to demand greater quality control over legislation, and that certainly doesn’t exclude progressive legislation.
We don’t need to analyze here the details of meaningful policies, but I would like to quickly revisit my 9-factor outline of the urban cost of living. The core message of the Mamdani campaign is mitigating urban unaffordability via downward redistribution of stolen wealth. To that effect, here are some of the main progressive policies I’d personally like to see implemented:
1. Wages: laws and regulations favoring unions, protectionism, and pretty much anything that helps reverse the deindustrialization and financialization of our national economy.
2. Health care: socialized healthcare (including eye, dental, maybe also pharmaceutical, maybe also biomed devices), systematic dismantlement of private health insurance companies, and full erasure of all personal/family medical debt.
3. Education: affordable childcare/pre-primary school programs, government stipend programs for colleges/trade schools, and laws limiting administrative expenses in public universities. Anything that could restrain the colossal market failure of spiraling college tuition costs (which is sort of a pseudo-Veblen/pseudo-Giffen good) should be on the table.
4. Housing: more public housing options, laws curtailing corporate housing ownership, targeted/conditional rent control policies, and just a general awareness of how other countries (example: Finland) address homelessness and housing anxiety.
5-7. Food, Transportation, and Utilities: civil infrastructure upgrades should be the primary focus. Since energy-related supply shocks can drive much of the pricing with these three cost-of-living factors, progressives might nitpick over various energy taxes and subsidies. Health and environmental regulations raise costs (in the short term), but they are necessary far more often than not.
8. Taxes: I’d focus less on corporate taxes, property taxes, and the various types of sales taxes. The main focus should be income taxes and Wall Street speculation taxes. I’d make the income tax structure a lot more progressive, with more brackets and a marginal tax rate of at least 50% on the highest bracket. At the exclusively federal level, I’d chop off ~33% of the bloated military budget and most of Trump’s ICE budget to help fund my progressive goodies!
9. Inflation: Standard worker-friendly progressive boilerplate here...an anti-austerity fiscal policy based on Keynesian stimulus spending to promote the growth of good jobs, but within reason so to control demand-pull inflationary effects. An emphasis on combating price gouging, busting trusts, and employing limited price controls during extreme circumstances. No draconian monetary policy measures (namely interest rate hikes).
COMMIE KAY’S CONCLUSION: Neoliberal policies since the 1980’s have made cities unaffordable, not progressive policies. It’s practically canonical at this point to those who follow economics research literature instead of Fox News propaganda. Zohran’s policy platform is reasonable Euro-style social democracy with a 5-store flare of grocery socialism. Either accept our affable Muslim politicians, America, or deal with our HAWT Italian “activists” (note: obvious reference to Luigi Mangione)!!
I dont post much here anymore because i also feel its extremely rare that someones political ideology changes at all regardless what points are brought up. Ill have loooooong form conversations and try to stay away from the bickering and insults or popular twitter copy paste but i dont think it does much in any meaningful way. Minds are made up so what is the point.
I actually remember a conversation with you on abortion. I guess thats where the energy came to strap my rubber boots on and step back into the swamp of political posting. It was another marathon but i thought it was a bit more productive then the average back and forth.
I wouldnt say that your thoughts on how to address the problems are insane. Id say they come wrapped in what i fought against my entire life. Progressive leadership is connected to woke bs. Im not sure how old you are but if you were ever just a liberal like i was then im not sure how this progressive ideology would go on to supercede the core beliefs that you once had.
I always thought judging others on color of skin was racism. Progressives take that as the only thing that matters to people. I always fought for freedom of speech. Progressives want to silence and jail those they disagree with. Im for everyone paying there fair share but not in the same breath offering free rides void of any skepticism to the abuse of what is given out. Im for womens rights. they only exists in the mind according to them. Criminal justice, homelessness on and on, every topic i just see destruction and zero reflection on the damage they cause.
Im sure you feel the same about republicans being radical but if you are constantly forcing the pendulum far left it will inevitably swing just as hard to the right. Want abortion on demand well Rs are going to get just as radical. I dont think it would have been reversed if it stayed rational. Want unfettered illegals
? well your going to see americans cheering for ICE grabbing everyone that is in the country illegally in all walks of life as a reaction. Championing anti bully campaigns and classes might be a bit less divisive instead of indoctrinating children until it has to be outlawed in public schools. Book burning!! facism!! Back and forth but the progressive left seem to push it too far first and become confused by reactions of people who genuinely werent engaged until left hit the extreme. Back when i was younger it was the opposite. Strange days i tells ya.
I hear what your saying about neoliberal/ republican politics. I dont like the direction this country is going so trying new ideas and fresh leadership is not the issue. Bring em on! The issue is how much progressivism has caused extreme damage in a VERY short amount of time. As i said, experimenting on society and ignoring the results. They deserve no trust in their ability to yield only positive results. while neoliberals and republicans have certainly played their roles to get us to where we are i feel those were slow decents where as progressivism has had tastes of total power in small pockets, i named cities where it has overtaken and has done immense damage in a extremely short amount of time. I didnt hear a dispute on them, besides covid just wanted money to go elsewhere. Nothing about crime or the consequences that we all now pay for the soft policies. Nothing about the out of control homeless issues in progressive states. Nothing about how progressives want nothing more then to empower the largest corporation on the planet. Ect. its called a track record. They are used to judge future events from people.
So either you look past all this or somehow think progressivism hasnt played a major role in exaserbating them into major issues. As you bring up his "moderate" plans in your posts everyone else can see his radical history of walking in lock step with the same progressive ideas that i mentioned up to this point. There is no reason to trust he would keep any of his ideas moderate after a election win. 5 stores turns to 10. More closures makes 10 turn into 20. His history on police and definition of what "violence" is has already been in effect and is current in NY. It is a FAILURE. It causes more victims then one can count. His thoughts on taxing whites more just concludes to the racism all progressives are regardless how it was "meant".
Ive ranted long enough on my thoughts. Your right the season is starting and i have a horrable addicition to eating whole coffee beans now. Bags a day. Hopefully the withdrawls subside before the opening kickoff and i can live my life free of all this. All i can really say at this point is GO BILLS.
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On 7/14/2025 at 3:31 PM, ComradeKayAdams said:
OH MY GOD. Your post length…we are the Spider-Man meme, except my Spider-Man is wearing a blue “Hot Girls for Zohran” t-shirt! I’ll try to address as much as I can:
1. Real world examples: You need to specify the progressive legislation if you want to assign blame. Whenever you vaguely point to the failings of dark blue cities, you’re actually attributing a lot of problems to a lot of different factors and politicians that have little to do with progressivism. Also, keep in mind that cost of living data is meaningless without the associated wage data for that geographic area. I’m definitely not arguing that progressive policies always turn out to be good, but most are worthwhile attempts to address blatant market failures like oligopolies (example: corporate housing ownership) and negative externalities (example: environmental pollution).
2. Bodega viability: It’s perfectly reasonable to be concerned that public grocery stores would economically endanger bodegas. I’ll remind everyone, though, that “food deserts” are a thing because many types of food products are otherwise simply unavailable to the consumers and, therefore, are not even in competition with what the bodega businesses are offering. Furthermore, Zohran is well aware of the bodega food products that would be in direct competition with the public grocery stores. This is a big reason why he's proposing to trim many of the city’s red tape regulations that hinder small businesses like bodegas, which already operate at super-slim profit margins. Finally, I want to remind everyone that nutritious and affordable food is a human right. The primary objective of capitalism should be to serve society and not capitalists.
3. COVID response: To clarify, actual progressives were unanimous in their condemnation of the stimulus packages that heavily favored large corporations and that led to further upward transfers of wealth. I think most progressives favored the lockdown policies of Western and Northern Europe. In all honesty, I’m completely fatigued with pandemic politics. Lockdowns too late? Too long? Stimulus checks too much? Too little? Whatever. Mistakes were made, and I still don’t see why progressives are to be uniquely blamed for policies that liberals and centrists also supported. The right-wing arguments are mostly incoherent and amount to little more than whining that we had a pandemic and had to do things that weren’t fun.
4. Illegal immigration: This turns out to be a highly nuanced topic and one that I don’t think any American political faction handles well. On the economic perspective, there is a balance between the demand-side boost to economic growth versus the societal drain on health, education, and transportation services. Illegal immigrants fulfill valuable roles in some occupations (example: agriculture industry) and suppress domestic labor force wages in others (example: construction). The human rights perspective of the debate is more cut and dried to a progressive. Undocumented workers are committing civil offenses, not criminal ones. Paths to citizenship should be made easier, while deportation procedures should be carried out humanely and with many of our Constitutionally protected rights considered universal (free speech, due process, no cruel/unusual punishment, etc.). Obtainment of documented worker visas should be encouraged simply because it helps prevent labor exploitation, and all forms of labor exploitation (domestic or international) are unethical.
5. Paid family and medical leave: The bottom line is that capitalists need to respect the regulations society has collectively deemed necessary for protecting human rights. If capitalists feel certain laws are unreasonable and overly punitive to business operations, then they need to present their cases to the public and change policy by way of our system of democracy. As always, I recommend comparing and contrasting international policies when formulating opinions.
6. Ambitious far-left ideas: The main reason why I’m to the political right of my market socialist comrades is because I generally don’t think bottom-up organizational structures can operate quite as optimally as top-down private ones currently do. For the time being, I’m fine with implementing progressive taxation policies (as supported by data-driven macroeconomics) to restore the stolen wealth from workers that socialism claims to obviate. For the time being, you may be surprised to know that Zohran’s rather anodyne platform is already considered mainstream and centrist at the national level (latest source: 6/26-6/30 Yahoo/YouGov survey of 1,597 American adults). The “socialism” label still scares people, but individual social democratic policies no longer do. This is the argument I believe Zohran will ultimately use to persuade Hochul and the neoliberals in Albany.
<< spills coffee, collapses to the floor from typing >>
<<Puts eyedrops in. Throws back a handful of raw coffee beans. Cracks knuckles. Twists head back and forth 180 degrees.>>
Lets do this.
Why? Judging by our novels we both have free time but do i have to go through legislation and say item 141 b that was passed and that had this negative effect. You asked for examples. I gave them. I gave you the most progressive places in America. Places that lean heavily progressive in all segments of its leadership. Being so controlled by a particular ideology should yield the results to convince me and every city in america that this is a tremendous way to legislate.Obviously particular bills will have positive and negative outcomes but that does nothing to suggest voting in a self identified socialist or going any further left is this factor that is going to change things for the better. If it did then San Fran and Portland would be beaming examples in a republican/ neoliberal cesspool of a country everyone would be clammoring for. Its not and presents ALOT of unique issues to add to the ones already existing in every other major city. Instead we have these same progressive places reversing some of the policies because they have been so destructive. Hmm maybe homeless encampments next to kids jungle gyms is a societal problem...This is where im at. Pick anyone else just to avoid going down deeper on the same path of lunacy with progressive experiments.
We talk about different food availability in the exact same time progressive policies force entire stores to place items under lock and key. Some NY stores wont let you ENTER without swiping a credit card first. This is now normalized because of progressive legislation. Their hand in criminal justice, covid, blm, gentrification have all effected availability of stores but another one, a extremely radical one, to give gov more power will fix it. If he is trying to cut the red tape to start a new buisness that alone is a valid platform. Unfortunately its negated with socialism when you want them to compete with gov owned ones.
Im very sure people on a certain side are tired of arguing about covid. The funny part is people hand wave that the richest country with hundreds of BILLIONS that go into scientific research, have access to the best minds on the PLANET, could make the "mistakes" it did repeatedly? Really? All our research and we have no clue if glovebox masks are a necessity? top medical professionals claim with full certainty that a vaccine will stop transmission when it did not. Years of the bat soup theory? I dont think its a conspiracy to say that alot of this was intentional but naiveté certainly plays a role in denying it as a series of whoopsies. Anyone involved on that side needs to own that as its a big example of their lack of critical thinking, judgments and leadership. The other side was not flaunting virology degrees, just common sense.
Whatever direction progressives wanted more free cash to move into was the driver of too many dollars not enough products. Demanding longer lockdowns as they asked for it. they were on the front lines of it. They took a problem of urban affordability and made it now completely unattainable standard of living for millions. Lets place more trust into the same people who made the issue to get us out of it. Sounds logical.
Your right. it is nuanced but i made it extremely straight forward. Millions of people now fighting for limited resources will make things harder to attain and more expensive. Thats all. Long term effects if they pay into the system, work hard ect may change things but progressives champion unimpeded boarder crossing, sanctuary, tax funded living expenses, housing, medical care and schooling all while americans were already suffering from the largest spike in inflation and supply limitations in modern history. Now they are interested in affordability? creating problems just to run on saving us next voter cycle? He is for blocking ICE so i guess its a good problem to have.
I see where progressives think these ideas are good. Its fundamentally based on empathy and that is a very good trait as long as its not out of control. Who wants to watch the baby zebra get snatched by a lion? We need to stop this! But you have to keep watching and not overreact because if you demand lions are a threat then what about the part where the lion cubs starve to death. Over and over i see progressives make these decisions and not care to reevaluate outcomes and add standards to prevent abuse or consequences.
Who doesnt want to see a person get paid time off to care for a sick member of a family. Keep watching and you will see another person forced to cover doubles and never see THEIR family. Abuse is rampant as with alot of these policies. I know from where i work. Every friday in the summer issues. So people are put in a position where they abuse the system or they are the fools that only get punished. Capitalist dont need to feel anything about the laws progressives make. Over regulate them they close down and open elsewhere. We pay. Give workers time off and they mandatory overtime on the rest. We pay. Raise their wages and they raise prices on us to maintain profit while reducing the wage of everyone not getting minimum. We pay. The theme is unintended outcomes on the same people progressives are "saving" over and over.
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On 7/10/2025 at 7:23 AM, ComradeKayAdams said:
I blame neoliberalism because decades of macroeconomics research papers point to neoliberalism as the culprit for urban unaffordability. It has absolutely nothing to do with my perceived political tribalism. The economics research literature has been unambiguous in its revelation that we have been mired on the left side of Laffer’s curve all this time.
How deep into the academic weeds are you willing to go on a pro football message board?? Look again at the nine cost-of-living factors I brought up in my previous post. By far the most consequential factor is wage growth, as a function of inflation and worker productivity. The next biggest factor has got to be health care costs, the leading cause of family bankruptcy in America. In what ways have progressive policies negatively impacted these two factors?!
I used real world examples that represent progressive policies in our nation. Not curves or textbooks. You think neoliberal/republican policies are a big function of urban unaffordability, which is true. Im not denying it. Thats different then needing to go farther left with progressive policies to alleviate some of these problems in mythical ways. Is San Fransico more progressive then NY city? I think so. Are there any results showing this is making a difference. Lets google.
*Housing costs are 161% higher than the national average.
*Utilities are 58% higher than the national average.
*Transportation costs (including gas and public transit) are 43% higher than the national average.
*Grocery prices are 21% higher than the national average.
Urban affordability.
So when will we see the results at least tip in the other direction or is the area just neoprogressive and needs MORE left policies on top of the ones they have? Are we just adding a sidestep of human waste everyday and buying a car window once a month?
On 7/10/2025 at 7:23 AM, ComradeKayAdams said:The issues of urban affordability and food deserts, here in NYC and elsewhere in America, predate and extend well beyond the era of COVID lockdowns and BLM riots. Once again, I’ll just reiterate here that I formulate economic opinions from economic data and not from political axioms. Also, I take umbrage with the notion that “free money” and “closing down businesses” were distinctly progressive policies at that time. It was conventional economic wisdom to provide financial stimulus so to prevent a far more dangerous DEFLATIONARY cycle, as a result of the collapse in consumer demand. It was conventional epidemiological wisdom to shut down NYC, in the face of an emergent pandemic, because NYC is a major transmission nexus and one of the most densely populated areas of the world.
" I take umbrage with the notion that “free money” and “closing down businesses” were distinctly progressive policies at that time."
states were given their own choice of how to handle the pandemic and to suggest the progressive response was anything other then to advocate exactly what happened in democrat cities for years is disingenuous. Id suggest the effects would have been greater and more prolonged if progressives had their way. Thats what i see in progressives, a policy action that sounds good superficially and then shimmy all accountability on the negative effects. Shift to the next virtue signal fight to bask in. I wonder how long until small bodegas and corner stores are closed down around these gov controlled ones. Labled "for profit markets" and then get a rinse and repeat of the other damages done to examples i made in my last post. Next is the demand for more gov stores because there arent enough around for the urban people to go to. Just 5 more stores. "This problem predates and is not specific to progressive policy" coming soon to the problems it creates.
"It was conventional epidemiological wisdom to shut down NYC"
Yeah i was in the covid thread trying to have common sense discussions on what others saw as conventional wisdom from EXPERTS. Read some of them and the date they were written and then check out how long after dems and progressives alike were calling for extending lockdowns. Checkpoints for vax passposts erected kay! The epidemiological wisdom became the main factor in why all families including urban expenses became unaffordable to this day. The rest of us were busy killing grandmas.
Consumer demand would have been normalised if real wisdom would have been the reaction. Instead it was funneled to huge corporations while progressives neos alike where chearing for the cops closing (radical) mom and pop shops in cities across the country and demanding more stimulus after catching their leaders break every new covid rule and forgiving them.
I didnt even touch progressive views and measures on mass immigration that are now mainstream "neoliberal" that effect every point you say. Unless somewhere in a textbook millions of extra people fighting over limited resources lowers prices.
On 7/10/2025 at 7:23 AM, ComradeKayAdams said:You’re asking me to consider the employer side of the employer-employee relationship. I do, on occasion, when the situation warrants it. Those situations in this era of neoliberalism, however, are few and far between. I can’t help but laugh at the capitalists whining about their own incompetence navigating paid family/medical leaves in the year 2025…
Thats great that you got a chuckle for how capitalist have to "navigate" paid/family time. Guess how they do it. The same way they do everything. Pass the brunt of it on to everyone else or close shop. By close shop i mean open it where they dont have to navigate aggressively and stay rich. Be that in a new state or nation. People who dont abuse it are subject to carry the workload. Joe just used pfl for his wifes "anxiety" problem again. We need you to do another double tonight or we wont make quota. We dont make quota enough times we are moving the company. We move the company and progressives fight for gov to "support" the newly unemployed. A cycle that starts with a well intentioned progressive mandate that they give little care if abused. Then we talk about urban affordability in the area with no employment prospects.
Im not for capitalist profits and low taxes at all but taxing them alot more or abuse of something like pfl has one of those trickle down effects that you speak of like reaganomics. Its not as easy a solution as its suggested repeatedly for a quick fix. Then demand more to address new problems created. On and on.On 7/10/2025 at 7:23 AM, ComradeKayAdams said:Your last paragraph is interesting to me because I actually find the strength of Zohran’s platform to be proposing simple things that have been done before, elsewhere across the world, with proven levels of success. But if novel and ambitious ideas are what you seek from the far left, contact your local DSA and tell them to advocate for market socialism: have some goods and services nationalized and government-run, but have most others commodified by worker cooperatives. We can start small and expand with time. Extant private businesses, in their traditional form, can be grandfathered into the new economy so that no “seizure” of the means of production is necessary! Yay!
I agree with this but I see the far lefts novel ambitious ideas. This thread has them. I live in NY. I named some of them. Im not seeing them resulting in much more then alot more empowerment to the largest corporation in the world. which is still ironic.
Why dont progressives fund the things they claim to fight for? Give a couple bucks to bus fair united for free bus rides? Give a couple more to urban families so they have affordability. Keep giving it all away to all the great things politicians promise will be tax funded and we will fund whatever we want to. Cut out the US corpratist middlemen who squander it on corruption. is worker cooperation progression? Why doesnt someone run on that? You choose off a list of where YOUR taxes go every year and see what gets funded and what dries up in the country. Want to throw in more? Go ahead, there will be no need to go into weeds on a football message board ever again.
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On 7/6/2025 at 12:00 PM, ComradeKayAdams said:
Your attacks are all over the place. First, clarify the problem. We are discussing urban affordability for lower and middle classes, which comes down to a discussion of wages versus cost of living (food, housing, transportation, utilities, education, health care) and other economic subtractions (various forms of taxation, inflationary effects).
Attacks? I thought you were a semi regular here and you construed what I said as attacks? We can talk about urban affordability if you like. My main point was that humans are tribal. Right now there is a red and blue tribe. When someone looks at issues, such as urban affordability, the first reaction is to try to find out how the "others" are to blame. In this particular instance the blue team has had a major hand for DECADES in what shaped these issues. while some red team was sprinkled on top ( you go back to reaganomics and reactions) it seems pretty distant from causation. We need a sub group. lets call them neoliberal. it makes more sense to say the neoliberals are to blame as they control all levers of power. So now more progressive policies are the way to go. AKA they just haven't gone left enough. I'd like to be convinced but something tells me all the progressive laws passed in San Fransico, Portland ect ect since they are the prime examples when looking for evidence of its successful implementation. Im just not seeing the platform out performing the two other groups and are realistically causing major issues on their own. Homelessness, drug addiction, buisness abandonment, high crime and urban affordability all exist and are thriving in the most progressive areas of the country.
On 7/6/2025 at 12:00 PM, ComradeKayAdams said:Next, figure out the approximate allocation of responsibility and blame. Surely you understand how local politicians are limited in the extent that they can affect the aforementioned economic factors, compared to state and national politicians? Do you also understand how little political power the actual far left has and has historically had, relative to the establishment left and to right-wingers? Recall one of the most basic definitions of the far left: no acceptance of corporate/big-money campaign donations. NYC hasn’t had a far-left mayor in the ideological vicinity of Zohran since La Guardia (though de Blasio admittedly did a few good things that were progressive).
Sure, lets look at the most recent one. Covid response. Close down buisnesses, don't leave and we will pay you with free money. Thats was a pretty progressive response. I'd say it was the exact way a progressive would like to handle the situation and clear distant from what the fed decided for a decent timeframe. Did this policy do anything to determine urban affordability? Create food deserts from small buisness that had to close for good while the wallmarts stayed open? We could go into the progressive voter base and how gentrification has effected "affordability" when corner family owned turn into starbucks and high end boutiques. The BLM riot response was another recent factor that effected small buisnesses/workers who could not rebuild, but large insurance premiums dont effect big scale much. What was AOC progressive stance on these things? Are these adequate in how they effected the variety, competition and inflation for New York city shoppers that had nothing to do with federal policy?
On 7/6/2025 at 12:00 PM, ComradeKayAdams said:Okay, so NOW you can begin to fairly assess the culpability of local far-left politicians with regard to the aforementioned economic factors. I’m a reasonable person and could concede frivolous far-left regulations and wasteful far-left spending here and there, but it would be absolutely LAUGHABLE to blame the big-ticket items (especially wage growth and health care expenditures) on far-left politicians and not neoliberal ones! It’s genuinely shocking to see the lengths you PPP’ers go to defend corporate oligarchical empowerment. You’re okay with your tax dollars going to low-wage workers when they have to subsist on food stamps, yet you scream “Communism!” at the thought of raising taxes proportionately on the billionaires who won’t pay these low-wage workers higher wages…
From my perspective, being in NY, I see alot of big ticket progressive policies. PFL/ FMLA has taken over industries. My company calculates over 40% of our workforce will be off on it this year. Believe it or not it's not easy filling orders and keeping doors open when you don't know who will be coming to work on a day to day basis. I know its evil to look at things from the capitalist perspective but they play half the role in employment.
I dont defend "corporate origarchial empowerment". I am just a realist that has a understanding that taxing people and giving it away isn't the big solution that progressives think it is. NY taxes EVERYTHING already. They have raised min wage numerous times. They also have A TON of corruption from regular people abusing and siphoning that same system that progessives want to expand. That portion will never be addressed as it is not in line with the ideology. Anything that accuses that side as unempathetic will never be touched because ( insert example of someone who truley needs it as poster for everyone who gets it ). We can't even DOGE some clearly corrupt organizations without the left losing there minds and turning to a good old firebombing. but take MORE in and give MORE away will eventually work.
I'd hope being a true progressive would mean more progress then just doing what's already being done to a level where our politicians are now flat out admitting to socialism. Its funny how giving the largest corporation in the world ( speaking of who is truley for their empowerment ) new exciting percentages to take from people and sees seizure of private buisnesses as a act progress.
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3 hours ago, ComradeKayAdams said:
Reagan conservatism is not yet dead, unfortunately. It merely metamorphosized and MAGA metastasized to other American demographics. I do believe, however, that the meteoric rise of Zohran Mamdani’s campaign is a harbinger of Reaganism’s ultimate fate: an expiration date inextricably linked with the physical health of the Boomery MAGA crowd obstinately peddling it.
The essence of Zohran’s campaign is convincing NYC’s working class that almost half a century of policies promoting upward wealth redistribution is not in their own best interests. A longstanding economic climate of trickle-down economics, dangerous deregulatory practices, anti-union laws, dismantlement of the social safety net, and the like has created the miasma of urban unaffordability. A democratic socialist would (rightly) call this “wealth theft.” Zohran’s plans to help reverse that redistributive trend (fare-free city buses, 5 government-run grocery stores, $30 by ’30 minimum wage increases, public assistance for childcare, circumstantial rent freezes and public housing options, etc.) are incredibly mild and not remotely commensurate with the national outrage.
Not even 11 full days following the decisive primary victory, the collective oppositional response to Zohran’s very modest intrusions into laissez-faire economics has been both pathetic and predictable. Oh, let’s review the myriad ways in which this flustered cohort of right-wingers and establishments lefties are flailing…
1. 1950’s McCarthyism redux: Raising the marginal tax rate a couple percentage points for the highest income bracket, apparently, is some sort of clarion call to the resurrected corpses of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin.
2. 2000’s Islamophobia redux: Jihad! Intifada! Scary Arabic words are scary and Arabic!
3. Anti-Zionism = anti-Semitism conflations: The desperation of discourse has so degraded to the point that Zionists are now using “anti-colonialists” as a slur LOL…
4. Anti-immigrant rhetoric: This is where the white MAGA nationalists really expose themselves. The bulk of Zohran’s support is actually coming from white people, and the “dangerously high” percentage of foreign-born NYC’ers isn’t any different than it was a century ago when immigrants were predominantly European (~35-40%).
5. Freeloader accusations: Voters in support of Zohran are mostly found among the higher economic brackets, minus the sociopathic corporate CEO’s and the downtown Gordon Gekko degenerates. Nevertheless, market-based counters to all the “whining” about costs of living and stagnant socioeconomic mobility have so far come in the form of recommendations to stop being so lazy and instead add on night shifts at Walmart and what not…because nothing screams “effective campaigning” quite like trivializing the concerns of the voters…
6. Reverse ageism: The relative youth of Zohran’s voters is being held against his campaign. This means nothing to me, personally, because I value wisdom and not necessarily age. In fact, I have seen little evidence supporting the adage that wisdom accompanies age. See: middle-aged and Boomery MAGA denizens of this forum.
7. Character assassination: Any attempts at questioning Zohran’s integrity are laughable, really, when you juxtapose his with that of his opponent, Eric Adams.
8. Economic illiteracy accusations: Whatever. I scoff at right-wingers and neoliberal dullards who slavishly follow axiomatic economics to the exclusion of data-driven economics. Kay Adams Fun Fact: understanding the practical importance of saving and investing in life has ZERO relevance to understanding the academic field of macroeconomics.
9. Random misogyny: Oh noes!! The childless yuppy cat lady Zohrandinistas are destroying the city and the country! Eeek!!! El. Oh. El. Not. A. F*ck. We. Have. To. Give. In the spirit of EmRata, I shall order my “Hot Girls for Zohran” t-shirt, wear it in the form of a crop top to show off my flat summer tummy, and post it on Instagram so that all the Strong Island finance bros can respond and cry about the downfall of Western civilization.
It's kinda strange how you frame some things in terms of Reaganism’s, Maga yet the laws and regulations that have led to the issues you outline about the city have been in dominate democrat control since the late 80's and are probably already more in line with what you want to see then a moderate city/state
Either way we got to blame someone because it definitely can't be the policies that were put into place from each administration that were more left then the last, its because they just didn't go far enough. Im sure when these policies don't work it's because you can't tippy toe with free bus rides and gov stores. Vote for me so I can implement socialism properly. I mean the more left you go the more successful the city. It is why all Americans are demanding to model their policies off the great liberal successes shown by San Francisco ect.
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On 11/27/2023 at 12:14 PM, The Frankish Reich said:
There is nothing "concerning" about this ChatGPT response. It takes a ridiculous hypothetical and then spits out how any Philosophy 101 student should begin his or her essay answer. And then doesn't reach a conclusion other than "think outside the box." It reveals just one thing: Elon Musk is worried about losing the AI race.
If this requires a essay to answer the conclusion reveals why Philosophy majors are losing the employment race.
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12 minutes ago, daz28 said:
Are you referring to his personal tattoos, or are you referring to the dictator's draconian tattoo laws? He was 16 when he left. He left because gangs threatened his family. His family ran a business in El Salvador. That is "his past". The only thing that makes sense is that he's their citizen, BUT he was not legally allowed to be deported there anyways. It's great that they're eliminating gangs, but they're not doing it through any system I'd like to live in. You can't sacrifice your freedom for safety. That's not how it works, especially in the USA. We have a long history of defending that, and we need to be vigilant, because the Patriot Act IS EXACTLY what everyone said Covid restrictions were going to end up being.
Did he not get numerous cases of due process while he was here? All of which determined the facts that are now being disputed by the left that he was at the least a MS13 gang affiliate. a person that required his wife to get a restraining order? So now he requires more process on top of what he has been given when the order is given?
Serious question. If i enter japan illegally then get caught dealing with a american mafia ring and also beat my wife to the point of needing a order of protection from japans system should i be deported? Seems like alot of resources were used already.
If they return me to america and i am imprisoned why is that a issue for japan to determine how my country of origin desides to deal with me. If anyone feels he should be freed from the prison then by all means fight to petition the gov he is under control of...not ours.
I see the issue but unfortunately a comatosed fool decided to ignore laws to flood our country. Suddenly everyone on one side has found a duty to abide by them and are extremely diligent and orderly ONLY when it comes to a clean up effort on the mess they cheered for. Its a bit ironic to say the least.
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19 minutes ago, Homelander said:
When the system doesn’t go your way, why not just burn it all down.
should probably just pack the court and pay the student loans off anyways.
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I cant follow the story. Gender is fluid and the OP is defining everyone into social constructs.
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I find it pretty hard to listen to people talking about the upcoming economic fallout of decisions a instant after they got finished cheering on the closing of the american economy.
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Are we ignoring the community note?
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3 hours ago, Joe Ferguson forever said:
tariffs only increase the cost of goods to us. we can't compete with slave labor so we must compete in other ways. perhaps that's why trump is all about stealing land with valuable resources. when that fails, we need to invest heavily in cutting edge tech and services while preparing a unsurpassed work force. Not easy, but a lot less unsettling than the current approach. which, btw, has an ending no one can predict.
Well i exampled how this is the exact same as other countries who tariff us. This is a tax on their people that conviently results in our industries having a hard time selling over their domestic industries. How is being reciprocal in action considered such a detrement over what they already do besides just polical bias and nervousness of markets? That nervousness comes from ANY changes introduced and if noone can pridict the outcome then we also cant predict the impact being positive or negative. My position is any change is worth it as we are obviously loosing anyways. So why so much resistance to attempt to turn things around. Hope for the best and try your best to buy american just like foriegn markets are reacting and lets see where the dust settles. Deals can evolve so this stern stance isnt as detrimental as some would convey.
As for your solution. Seems extremely short term and standard to what has always been. New tech is great and will give us a boost but will end up becoming watered down and stolen or companies will just outsource labor after using our innovation same as always. Our "unsurpassed" workers will do specialized work here and the rest will be done dirt cheap outside to maximize profits and slap a false "made" in america badge. If i had a idea on how to prevent this long term it would be exactly the same. Major surcharge to be in our huge spend happy american market that would cut or eliminate profits from slave labor making companies rethink the workforce and corporate operation options they have.
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11 hours ago, Joe Ferguson forever said:
It’s a global economy with manufacturing competitors paying subsistence wages. In many countries workers make 5k per year. It’s tough if not impossible to make up for a 10 fold difference in labor costs with tariffs. It’s not gonna work.
the market is heavily influenced by confidence. There’s not much of that surrounding trump. I hope that changes.
So if tariff is too volatile whats the solution? Why do we just accept things like Chinese slave labor and censorship as a normalized "tariff" companies must abide by or other countries protecting their domestic industry against outside markets but we are just suppose to offer free trade to all as is? The only difference is the normalization. Any change results in uncertainty, so i just hope any waves settle over time. People will always scream doom and gloom about them as they sway the boat but they are required to turn it around if you have been gently floating towards a waterfall.
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Im not thrilled with the tariff plan. If it was going after particular sectors and hostile countries i think it would be different but going after everyone simultaneously while also creating major uncertainty doesnt sound like a sound strategy, especially in the short term.
At the same time we have heard for decades how US industries must grovel on their knees under Chinese censorship. How in covid we were incapable of supplying basic needs internally and destroyed under lockdowns. Seeing high percentage of foreign industries this country founded driving in our streets while other nations strictly have their own. We are nothing but service sectors and buying other counties garbage on our overbloated credit cards. Not to mention biden kept many of the original tariffs from trump and back then they were screaming doom and gloom over them as they are now.
So what part of the economy mentioned are we pleased with? It doesn't seem sustainable and industries that many here were certain would revolutionize it have crashed and burned our tax money. Should we throw a few more trillion at the charging station industry and green dream sectors that havent given return after a full throttle backing of the last administration?
All i can hope is they know what they are doing. Anyone who thinks this country isnt going to need some drastic changes to make a difference isnt paying attention. Sit back as more companies announce closers and major investments outside our country. Just demand that we just need "them" to pay their fair share to pour more funds into social programs as our debt swallows us whole. the stock market will be nice and steady in the meantime. Sorry kids.
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$100? Peanuts.
I spit on that
everyone knows the price for votes was set at student loan payoffs and green cards.
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5 hours ago, BringMetheHeadofLeonLett said:
Machines will need mechanics- some.
Office workers??? What office?Electricians- some
Quality will all be handled by Musk, personally
Payroll is already dumb enough to hardly need someone to actually do it- it's friggin numbers...
And as we speak, code monkeys are currently busy inventing algorithms to replace themselves permanently - and those are supposed to be the smart ones...
Doctors- 90% replaceable by automation
Surgeons- same
Lawyers are getting crucified
Smelters - done
Miners - done
Sock weavers - done
Every working driver on the planet - done
Boat Captains- start training, there'll be some heavy competition
Logging, a bit of farming, construction, and creating boutique muffins is the future.
What property will be necessary, and what payroll will remain to tax?
The world is going to evolve, and 'bringing manufacturing back to America' is a long-term joke of a concept. Get ready for joblessness, replaced by automated lunacy.
... and then there's AI... that'll be a future topic to terrorize this board with. )
Well i only ask because i come from a industrial skill trade background. I was in a industry that desperately wanted to move from old machinery to new. From my perspective it was pretty interesting to see how new over engineered machines were just as needy for human intervention.. and definitely more costly to run.
As to not mention specific examples you probably know nothing about ill ask a question? Does your modern car require less manpower then your first? All the sensors, computer operation, blue tooth connected, extra parts and labor to get to? These all require more specialist to design and fix then a simple car that you yourself could maintain back in the day. I could of swore flying self aware cars that order parts and fix themselves was right around the corner by now.
Automation requires everything goes perfect all the time. forever. Any error or change in a system requires human intervention. A single valve on a stack leaks and you need a mechanic to asses. A jamup or error needs a operator to jog, home and reset. A single wire or switch..in the hundreds a machine uses, needs a electrician. Any change required in part or action needs programmers and plc specialists and setups. Maybe one day office, payroll, ordering, saftey and managment will be completely automated but as of now those systems are used as tools that steamline things but require humans to oversee implement and maintain.
IMO We are not eliminating human intervention for a very long time.
decreasing it, yes. Thats true. if automation and high tech was so attactive and in such high demand then why are companies flocking to run to third world countries to begin with? they are not going to beacons of technology areas of the world. They are simply going to places that can exploit HUMAN workers in PLACE of costly machines and automation. If thats true then why would you not be for any effort that supplies that human need, at a modern standard of living, to an american citizen? So Regardless of whether that increases or decreases over time, its better then zero. That is worth not throwing our hands up and pretending the end is near lets all kneel to our robotic overlords and give up on bringing american manufacturing or other jobs back to our country.
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On 3/25/2025 at 4:51 AM, BringMetheHeadofLeonLett said:
Trump's already said he's OK if the US economy goes into a recession- it's all part of the 'painful' plan. A total reverse of what he said would happen, btw.
So what's your plan once we emerge on the other side?
Do you expect manufacturing will return to the United States? I mean like, making socks and digging coal???
Those jobs are not returning- it'll be automated, so I don't know what you think is going to happen, but I'd suggest not banking on a manufacturing job 18 years down the line when the fruits of this idiocy come to fruition.
It will be automated? So american mechanics/office workers/management/electricians/quality/payroll/programmers ect ect can get a job, even if every production position is done by some robots? Not to mention the property and payroll taxes generated?
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Homelander is typing but its billstime voice.
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Its working. Im demorilized.
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1 hour ago, Roundybout said:
They should protest by invading the capitol instead, that’s a pre approved method.I think everyone would be ok with them spending 4 years in a isolation cell and requiring someone to run and win the presidency to pardon them as thier only way of getting out.
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This is ludicrous! How dare a president show cars! The white house is not a parking lot! We all know Its a freaky deaky mansion where transgender people run around showing their surgically altered chests.
What have we become!
Turn Down The Temperature: Unity? NOT HAPPENING
in Politics, Polls, and Pundits
Posted
Its a strange world when anna kasperian is the voice the of reasonable left. The optics alone are pretty telling. Unhinged leftist screaming in the mic while demanding trump trump trump! Its all trumps fault he cant be a human being.
Id think this was a Babylon bee skit.