US Erection 12 *AND* 16 *AND* 20 *AND* 22 *AND* 24 *AND* Beyond

[Topper]

Third time is a charm, 118 page Bill passed. Make one wonder what all was buried in those 1500+ pages. Dems trying to say cancer research for kids, Repubs retort that was passed as a stand alone earlier and is sitting in the Senate waiting on Dems to move that.

[donlever]

There's crackpots on both sides, or so I've been told.

There is not?

[Per]

Sweden instead has a rule that only a balanced budget can pass. Thus if you want to increase spending you have to raise taxes, and if you want to lower taxes, you have to decrease spending. Works like a charm. Of course, things may happen in a year that throws you off ...

So when things happen that throw you off, where does the money come from?

Well, a budget is a plan. Sometimes plans don’t work out. You make adjustments. If you have to spend more on A, you try to spend less on B, C and D. And sometimes, when the shit hits the fan, you just have to overspend. Like the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015 or the pandemic. And then you balance the budget for next year. Never plan to overspend. If you manage to stick to the budget like four years out of five, debt should probably fall over time, or at least remain stable. I’m not saying our system is perfect, but out debt to gdp ratio is 36%, which is healthier than the 121% in the USA.

[5thhorseman]

Third time is a charm, 118 page Bill passed.

The main thing for the Dems is that Trump's demand to suspend the debt ceiling was not included. So if he wants his tax cuts for the rich next year he'll have to fund them under his administration.

Also. Musk's primary threat seems ineffective.

Otherwise, a step in the right direction.

[donlever]

How the political spectrum should operate no?

A little give.

A little take.

A little shared pain.

[5thhorseman]

After further reading, it turns out that very little was removed from the first bill to create the third bill, which is why it passed so easily with Dem support.

Sure, no pediatric cancer research, reforms for pharmacy benefit managers, control over RFK stadium, pay raises for lawmakers, restricting investments in China, criminalizing revenge porn, or reimbursing food stamp theft.

All of these are low or no cost, so where are the pork items?

It looks like DOGE claimed a success but actually didn't accomplish much at all. I guess Musk is getting better at politics

I take back my comment about "a step in the right direction".

[Chef Boi RD]

After further reading, it turns out that very little was removed from the first bill to create the third bill, which is why it passed so easily with Dem support.

Sure, no pediatric cancer research, reforms for pharmacy benefit managers, control over RFK stadium, pay raises for lawmakers, restricting investments in China, criminalizing revenge porn, or reimbursing food stamp theft.

All of these are low or no cost, so where are the pork items?

It looks like DOGE claimed a success but actually didn't accomplish much at all. I guess Musk is getting better at politics

I take back my comment about "a step in the right direction".

Why do you read that garbage, you’ll end up all homely, curmudgeon-like like Topper, all obsessed with it, read porn. Cuz can hook you up with some good reading material

[donlever]

After further reading, it turns out that very little was removed from the first bill to create the third bill, which is why it passed so easily with Dem support.

I take back my comment about "a step in the right direction".

What AI engine do you use?

[5thhorseman]

After further reading, it turns out that very little was removed from the first bill to create the third bill, which is why it passed so easily with Dem support.

I take back my comment about "a step in the right direction".

What AI engine do you use?

I use perplexity but it didn't help much on this topic.

[5thhorseman]

Why do you read that garbage, you’ll end up all homely, curmudgeon-like like Topper, all obsessed with it, read porn. Cuz can hook you up with some good reading material

Read what garbage? Do you think I read the entire 1500 page bill lol?

Anyways, I enjoy Topper's takes, even if I disagree with some of them. We don't all want to read your regurgitated Instagram shorts. That's the garbage.

[Cousin Strawberry]

After further reading, it turns out that very little was removed from the first bill to create the third bill, which is why it passed so easily with Dem support.

Sure, no pediatric cancer research, reforms for pharmacy benefit managers, control over RFK stadium, pay raises for lawmakers, restricting investments in China, criminalizing revenge porn, or reimbursing food stamp theft.

All of these are low or no cost, so where are the pork items?

It looks like DOGE claimed a success but actually didn't accomplish much at all. I guess Musk is getting better at politics

I take back my comment about "a step in the right direction".

Why do you read that garbage, you’ll end up all homely, curmudgeon-like like Topper, all obsessed with it, read porn. Cuz can hook you up with some good reading material

Anus McSphincter was a favourite character from the old Hustler Humor mags

[Chef Boi RD]

We don't all want to read your regurgitated Instagram shorts. That's the garbage.

I disagree, it’s on par with Mad Magazine.

[donlever]

After further reading, it turns out that very little was removed from the first bill to create the third bill, which is why it passed so easily with Dem support.

I take back my comment about "a step in the right direction".

What AI engine do you use?

I use perplexity but it didn't help much on this topic.

Since your perception of me is of a cyncic who has little faith in systematic politics and who only casts the occasional derisional comment out rarely worthy of response I will offer the following waxing poetic diatribe vis a vis the Bill in question.

The general voter, Hell most voters, have, if they give a fuck at all, a rose colored glass notion of politics thinking that their man/woman/party will work hard to make things better for them when, in all likleyhood this is not the case as politics has become more of a game of Monoply (which unfortunately for us all then translates to Risk in many cases) than accomplishing what's good " of the people, for the people, by the people."

Most voters, as my personal assessment, don't even know who or what their Representative is voting for or supporting during the gatherings of leaders or, even worse, what sort of back door deals they are making in contravention to what their platform may have been which is, oft times, the generic base layer of why Motherfuckers voted for Dude/Dudette in the first place.

By slashing this Bill down to 118 pages from 1500 I hope that the opportunity thus arises for more of the General Public, as you have obviously done, to demonstrate the attention span to review the available information and regard what is (or has been) going on which then, in turn, may promote a push towards enforcing an overall accountability of our elected officials.

"Clean the Swamp" if you will.

In the words of Arlo Guthrie on educating oneself and speaking up (paraphrased):

If one person does I they'll think he's sick and won't listen

If two do so they might think they're Faggots and ignore them too

If it's 3 it becomes organized

...and 50 becomes a movement.

So, in summary, my hope this that by weaning this bitch down to readable and understandable the GP (us) summon up something beyond our currently limited, Social Media induced, Celeb Drama, next Pandemic, Kardashian level attention spans start to give a fuck and begin to watch what's going on (Governmental arrogance and wastefullness for instance) and then (hopefully) do something about it.

Irrespective of mocking Musk or (re)turning the cycle into Blue demeaning Red for the next 4 years, that's a positive, "step in the right direction" that I see potentially (possibly) occuring out of all this.

[Cornuck]

So you're an optimist?

[donlever]

Always have been....

...also a Climber.