hay rick
hay rick's Journal
The rationale for having different standards for different parties and different candidates.
If you use a single standard, the Republicans are not competitive in terms of simple integrity, decency, and very often- competence. Using different standards maintains the fiction that we have a functional two party system that just offers two different and competing paths to the same goal- creating a just and prosperous society. The problem is that the paths are different because the goals are very different.
Democrats seek equal opportunity and general prosperity. Republicans claim those lofty goals but actually seek to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of a very few. Republicans rise through the ranks by competing in oligarch-financed primaries. The perfect GOP lawmaker has the ability to lie shamelessly in public while offering unquestioning support for any policy brought forward by their sponsors. They don't need any professional competence because they will not be expected to craft the desired legislation.
Florida is environmentally unsustainable.
People flock to Florida as tourists and as retirees relocating from colder, higher-taxing states. Governor DeSantis crows about Florida's growth rate as vindication of his libertarian, authoritarian "freedom" agenda. Politically, Florida is built on the idea that growth is good.
Unfortunately, all living systems encounter limits to growth when the conditions necessary to sustain that growth change. The state of Florida is itself a living system defined by geographical boundaries and operating under its own set of laws. In Florida, the most important growth-limiting change is the one that the governor is trying to banish from our vocabulary- climate change.
The Sunshine State has no effective defense to the inevitable increase in more frequent, powerful, and damaging storms associated with Earth's warming oceans. The only realistic options are mitigation with no-growth policies or even promoting net emigration. Florida needs to slow down or stop adding to the existing housing stock. More people means more pavement and less natural land to absorb excess runoff. Florida should discourage the rebuilding of expensive coastal properties that are also the most vulnerable to storms and storm surges. Flat, low-lying Florida is the proverbial frog in the slowly boiling pot of global warming. Rising seas will relentlessly reduce the amount of available habitable land. Saltwater intrusion and the current unsustainable level of withdrawals from fresh water aquifers will create potable water issues even as rivers of storm water rush to the sea, overwhelming drainage systems designed for a smaller population and a more hospitable climate.
The parrot in Florida's figurative fossil fuel mine is the homeowner’s insurance industry. Floridian homeowners' insurance is already the highest in the country, quadrupling the rates found in some other states. It's going to go up again. A big part of the problem is the need for reinsurance- support from the insurers of last resort. Those financial institutions are dominated by the Swiss. The Swiss can look out their windows and see rapidly melting glaciers. When it comes to climate change and global warming, they believe.
Promoting rapid growth when the existing infrastructure is already deteriorating and inadequate to serve the needs of the current population is foolhardy and irresponsible.
Who do you trust on the economy?
One sign of the collapse of serious consideration and discussion of economic issues in American politics is the ubiquitous reporting on the latest polling about "Who do you trust on the economy?" In the presidential contest, the answer is always- horse race. Trump is usually ahead but recently the responses have flipped to show Harris slightly in front.
Judging by the typical results, an inattentive voter might suppose that there must be a reasonable case for either choice. This creates permission to disregard all economic evidence and make choices based on other more comfortable and familiar issues. One might hope and assume that both candidates are being judged by the same standards. Clearly they are not.
Donald Trump is often represented as a successful businessman and, as a rich Republican, likely to be a careful guardian of the public's tax dollars. The evidence says otherwise. His multiple bankruptcies, fines, conflicts of interest, and fraud convictions scream "con man!" His single 4-year presidential term created a record level of public debt that leaves all previous administrations (and the Biden/Harris administration) in the dust.
On the other hand, the discussion about the Biden/Harris record on the economy is constantly reduced to the price of gas and groceries. Inconveniently for this narrative, gas prices are currently down. That's a bit of luck, but in a rational discussion, it would not even be considered a significant factor. The American president does not have the unilateral power to create and maintain low gas prices. Nor should he.
The price of groceries and other goods metric is unfair for similar reasons- lack of unilateral price-setting powers. In addition to the actions of other players, important external factors are almost never included in the oversimplified polling discussions: the supply chain disruptions from Covid and the effect of the war in Ukraine.
DeSantis doesn't trust federal government to look into apparent assassination attempt against Trump. Florida will conduc
Source: Sun Sentinel
Gov. Ron DeSantis expressed doubts Monday about the federal government’s ability to fairly and objectively investigate the apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
His solution: Florida will conduct its own state investigation into the Sunday incident at Trump’s golf club near West Palm Beach.
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“I mean I look at the federal government with all due respect to them, you know, those same agencies that are prosecuting Trump in that jurisdiction are now going to be investigating this. I just think that that may not be the best thing for this country.
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DeSantis’ reference to federal agencies refers to the special counsel investigation into Trump’s possession of classified documents after he left office, which is being handled in federal court in South Florida, and the investigation into his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, which is being prosecuted in Washington, D.C.
Read more: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2024/09/16/desantis-doesnt-trust-federal-government-to-look-into-apparent-assassination-attempt-against-trump-florida-will-conduct-own-probe/
Another shot at the limelight for DeSantis. Shameless as always...
DeSantis administration reviewing abortion petition signatures for "fraudsters."
Source: Sun Sentinel
TAMPA — Florida’s Department of State is examining thousands of petition signatures that were used to get the abortion amendment on November ballots, saying it’s looking for fraud.
In a move that supporters of the amendment fear could be “political interference,” Gov. Ron DeSantis’ deputy secretary of state has asked supervisors in Hillsborough, Orange, Palm Beach and Osceola counties to gather roughly 36,000 signatures for the state to review.
The signatures were among the nearly 1 million collected — and verified by local supervisors as belonging to real Floridians — to permit Amendment 4 to appear before voters in November. The amendment would protect abortion access and undo the state’s six-week abortion ban that DeSantis championed.
Whether the request could be used to challenge the amendment or strike it from the ballot is not clear. A deadline in state law to challenge the validity of the signatures has long passed.
Read more: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2024/09/05/desantis-administration-reviewing-abortion-amendment-petitions-for-fraudsters/
DeSantis is desperately trying to get back in the news in what he views as a "good way." He just got another public humiliation in the Great Outdoors Initiative scandal. I'm sure it's not lost on the governor that Trump is waffling on abortion rights, including Florida's Amendment 4 ballot initiative, and he sees an opportunity to be the unapologetic champion of pro-life extremists. He doesn't have to succeed, he just has to get media attention for taking a non-waffling stand.
Another Trump Trading Card!
The Commander in Chief can also be a Super Hero! What could possibly go wrong?
NFT prices available on request.
Donald Trump interviews future employees.
Donald Trump is the working man's friend! He finds great satisfaction in the interview and hiring process but the inevitable termination process (You're fired!!!) is his real signature move.
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Member since: Thu Jan 31, 2008, 11:08 PMNumber of posts: 8,163