To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

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ex-khobar Andy
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

From the comments on a NYT piece about "The Crisis Is in the Oval Office."

MSPWEHO said: Why did the various media outlets agree to give Trump time on the national airwaves when he is demonstrating such a large degree of erratic dysfunction these past days, weeks, months?
Erratic dysfunction. I do like that.

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RayThom
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To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by RayThom »

Erratic dysfunction will always be media worthy especially when it's personified by a sitting president.

The only reason I watch Lord Dampnut is to see this psychotic behavior in action.

BTW -- my local FUXNews channel didn't broadcast Cheeto's rambling screed last night. They must have known in advance that there would be nothing new, and merely going to be a consolidation of many POTUS tweets over the last few weeks.

Sad.
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Bicycle Bill
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Bicycle Bill »

Betting website loses $276,424 after allowing wagers
on how often Trump would lie during speech
Donald Trump’s prime time address has cost a gambling website just short of $300,000 (£234,000), all because of the number of false statements the president made.

The website bookmaker.eu asked people to bet on how much Mr Trump would bet [sic] during his address, giving -145 odds that he would lie more than 3.5 times, and #115 for less than that.  That means that $145 bet would yield $100 if Mr Trump lied four times or more.

Odds consultant John Lester told BuzzFeed News, which first reported on the betting, that the website lost $276,424 as a result of the speech.  All told, 92 per cent of those who put money down correctly predicted that Mr Trump would make a habit of lies in his speech.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 20001.html

And a side question to Gob — why don't the Brits put a period after the abbreviation for "Mister"?
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Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?

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Bicycle Bill
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Bicycle Bill »

Bicycle Bill wrote:
Betting website loses $276,424 after allowing wagers
on how often Trump would lie during speech
Donald Trump’s prime time address has cost a gambling website just short of $300,000 (£234,000), all because of the number of false statements the president made.

The website bookmaker.eu asked people to bet on how much Mr Trump would bet [sic] during his address, giving -145 odds that he would lie more than 3.5 times, and #115 for less than that.  That means that $145 bet would yield $100 if Mr Trump lied four times or more.

Odds consultant John Lester told BuzzFeed News, which first reported on the betting, that the website lost $276,424 as a result of the speech.  All told, 92 per cent of those who put money down correctly predicted that Mr Trump would make a habit of lies in his speech.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 20001.html

And a side question to Gob — why don't the Brits put a period after the abbreviation for "Mister"?
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-"BB"-
Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

This video of Trump from 2004 is hilarious.


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Joe Guy
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Joe Guy »

Required viewing for all coyotes in training.

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Econoline
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Econoline »

:? :loon Okay, can someone please enlighten me? Maybe I've missed something.

Trump wants to "negotiate". He wants a "deal". What exactly has he put on the table? What has he offered the Democrats, that the Democrats want, to entice them to come to an agreement? DACA? Medicare for all? Regulations to protect the environment? Infrastructure spending? A tax increase on the rich to pay for the wall? Anything? Seriously, somebody tell me what he's offered. Am I nuts, or is he?
People who are wrong are just as sure they're right as people who are right. The only difference is, they're wrong.
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ex-khobar Andy
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

Econoline wrote: Am I nuts, or is he?
It's him, Econo. Trust me.

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Econoline
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Econoline »

Speaking of "slats" (steel or otherwise)...

Every time that word has come up recently, I thought of this guy. (Does anyone else here remember the late, great Mike Royko?)
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Sue U
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Sue U »

Econoline wrote::? :loon Okay, can someone please enlighten me? Maybe I've missed something.

Trump wants to "negotiate". He wants a "deal". What exactly has he put on the table? What has he offered the Democrats, that the Democrats want, to entice them to come to an agreement? DACA? Medicare for all? Regulations to protect the environment? Infrastructure spending? A tax increase on the rich to pay for the wall? Anything? Seriously, somebody tell me what he's offered. Am I nuts, or is he?
Trump is literally the worst negotiator in history. Virtually everything he claims to be "the best" at, he is actually incompetent. It's frickin topsy-turvy world. The guy is a fraud at every conceivable level.
GAH!

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RayThom
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To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by RayThom »

Regardless, Lord Dampnut's logic is unimpeachable.

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1083446725346381824

On the other hand -- he's a fucking moron.
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Econoline
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Econoline »

From the Twitter thread Ray linked to:
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Lord Jim
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Lord Jim »

(Does anyone else here remember the late, great Mike Royko?)
I well remember Mike...

I read his work going back to my teen years; his columns frequently appeared in DC papers.
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ex-khobar Andy
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

Let's get a sense of proportion about this. CNN is carrying a story aboutWilliam Striffler, an air traffic controller in Newark who is not being paid.

Yes he should be paid and it is wrong that he and other federal workers are being used as political pawns by Trump (95%) and the Democrats (5%).

According to the story "Striffler said they will use their savings and get help from family to make ends meet until the shutdown is over."

You can look up any federal salary on various databases: according to https://www.fedsdatacenter.com/federal-pay-rates/ William Striffler earned $146,000 in 2017. (They don't mention that in the CNN piece.)

I am not going to get into whether an ATC guy should get that much. I am surprised to learn that someone who looks to be early 40s and is a high earner cannot easily manage a month or two with no paycheck. Yes - if this drags on as long as Trump has seemingly threatened but I hugely doubt that. I would be astonished to see this still shut down in February - there are cooler heads, even among Republicans, who will prevail.

Big RR
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Big RR »

Well to be fair, he did say he'd use savings, but they will only go so far (I heard him quoted on NCR yesterday saying his savings should last around a month or so). should they go further? Maybe, but it's not his fault that the shutdown occurred and even if he is a spendthrift (and he may not be--he is expecting a child soon so who knows what additional expenses the family had), so what?

Another concern I would imagine he may have is healthcare--I don't know how long his heath insurance will be paid for, or how his portion will be collected even if it is continued, but these expenses will mount up quickly and strain his finances as well (when I was self employed, my family healthcare coverage for a not so generous policy was around $2400 a month (and that was a few years ago, I'll bet it didn't decrease); add in his hospital and physician copays, and they'll get even bigger.

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Sue U
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Sue U »

$146k in northern NJ is pretty middle class, maybe even at the lower end depending on which town you live in.
GAH!

Big RR
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Big RR »

Another interesting thing, according to an OPM site, the insurance will be continued but:

If an employee submitted a new application or a change to his/her health insurance plan (e.g., because of a Qualifying Life Event eta: like a birth) and the paperwork was not processed by the agency because of a shutdown furlough, how would the employee seek services or coverage?

A. New enrollments or changes in enrollment due to a Qualifying Life Event do not take effect until the employee has been back in pay status for any part of the prior pay period.

so when his son is born, he will not be covered by insurance until the shutdown ends and he is back in pay status; that has to be pretty terrifying and he could incur astronomical expenses.

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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Burning Petard »

"so when his son is born, he will not be covered by insurance until the shutdown ends and he is back in pay status; that has to be pretty terrifying and he could incur astronomical expenses."

So ? For conservatives, and particularly POTUS (not that he is a conservative. He has no economic or personal philosophy beyond hedonism) that is not a problem. Should have had better financial management skills. Why does the government owe him care for his kids/ The kids are just parasites, economically. No skin off Senator McConnell or POTUS.

It is the soft, weak minded, bleeding heart Liberals who will eventually yield to the suffering of the people and give Trump his wall. After all, those federal workers don't support Trump.

snailgate.

Burning Petard
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by Burning Petard »

weather underground is forecast 4-8 inches of snow for DC, beginning now and ending about 3am Monday morning. A one-inch dusting is usually adequate to bring complete paralysis to this city. Will the federal shut down have any impact on the snow removal--street clearing--public transport system process?

snailgate

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eddieq
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Re: To Shut Down Or Not To Shut Down...

Post by eddieq »

Good question, SG.

Snow removal is typically handled by the local municipality or by the state for the highways. Is snow removal in DC typically a federal thing?

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