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2008 financial crisis The bailouts, the stimulus, the health-care debate: with each of these issues, the path of expertise led the Obama administration toward compromise with the power of wealth. And by the thinking of Washington, that is entirely as it should have been. Thomas Frank, Pity the Billionaire  © 2019 Kwiple.com
Dead-in-the-heads say There is nobody that loves this country more or Hispanic more than Steve Cortes. Steve. Thank you Steve. Nobody loves the Hispanics more. Who do you like more, the country or the Hispanics? Donald Trump addressing the broadcaster, Steve Cortes, at a New Mexico rally © 2019 Kwiple.com
Great Recession Although Democrats apparently didn't know it, the Great Recession had repolarized the compass points. Nothing worked the way it used to in the nineties. It was no longer about “left” versus “right”; it was about special interests versus common interests. This was a time for a second FDR, not Clinton II. Thomas Frank, Pity the Billionaire  © 2019 Kwiple.com
Great Recession From its silver-tongued leader on down, Democrats simply could not tell us why our system had run aground and why our we had a stake in doing things differently. They could not summon an ideology of their own. … And so Democratic leaders tried to assuage public anger over the bailouts while barely mentioning Wall Street's power over Washington — that subject they left to the resurgent Right. Thomas Frank, Pity the Billionaire  © 2019 Kwiple.com
Great Recession Moneyed interests understand that with no second FDR, no incorruptible new cop on the financial beat, no return to the rules that once made banking boring but safe, they have nothing to fear from us, and may do as they please. This is the real tragedy of the Great Recession. Thomas Frank, Pity the Billionaire  © 2019 Kwiple.com
Impeachment I am deeply concerned that the actions described below constitute “a serious or flagrant problem, abuse, or violation of law or Executive Order” that “does not include differences of opinions concerning public policy matters,” consistent with the definition of an “urgent concern” in 50 U.S.C. §3033(k)(5)(G). I am therefore fulfilling my duty to report this information, through proper legal channels to the relevant authorities. From the complaint a whistleblower filed with the IG of the intelligence community about Trump's behavior © 2019 Kwiple.com
Impeachment I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. From Trump's July 25, 2019, telephone conversation soliciting President Zelensky of Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Bien and his son  © 2019 Kwiple.com
Impeachment In the days following the phone call, I learned from multiple U.S. officials that senior White House officials had intervened to “lock down” all records of the phone call, especially the official word-for-word transcript of the call that was produced – as is customary – by the White House Situation Room. This set of actions underscored to me that White House officials understood the gravity of what had transpired in the call. From the complaint a whistleblower filed with the IG of the intelligence community about Trump's behavior © 2019 Kwiple.com
Impeachment Multiple White House officials with direct knowledge of the call informed me that, after an initial exchange of pleasantries, the President used the remainder of the call to advance his personal interests. Namely, he sought to pressure the Ukrainian leader to take actions to help the President's 2020 reelection bid. From the complaint a whistleblower filed with the IG of the intelligence community about Trump's behavior © 2019 Kwiple.com
Impeachment Trump Urged Probe Amid Aid Talk — — — — — — — — — — — President's Team Bets House Inquiry Will Backfire on Democratic Party headlines, Wall Street Journal print edition, September 26, 2019 © 2019 Kwiple.com
Impeachment What has changed is not the calculus of impeachment, then. What has changed is the Democrats' propensity to calculate. Essentially, the party has stopped overthinking. Rather than second-guess the political consequences of impeachment, their concern is for – do not laugh – the principle. Janan Ganash, Financial Times, September 25, 2019 © 2019 Kwiple.com
Impeachment Whether in London or Washington, what liberals are ultimately defending is not any policy but the rule of law: the frame within which a nation paints its politics, not the choice of colours. Protecting the one might entail some sacrifice of the other. Ms Pelosi seems ready to brave the cost. The test is whether she holds to her course if voters revolt. Janan Ganash, Financial Times, September 25, 2019 © 2019 Kwiple.com
Kwiplers say Calculate the minimum wage as follows: MW = CMHI / CMHS × WPY × HPW where: MW = Minimum Wage CMHI = Current Median Household Income, e.g., $65,000 CMHS = Current Median Household Size, e.g., 2.1 people WPY = Workdays Per Year, e.g., 240 HPW = Hours Per Workday, e.g., 8 [MW would be $16.12 using data above] © 2019 Kwiple.com
Kwiplers say Count votes in Congress by: 1. Calculating a Member's Proportional Vote (MPV) for each member, as follows: MPV = SPNP / NLRS where: SPNP = State's Percentage of the National Population NLRS = Number of Legislators Representing the State (in that legislature) 2. Totaling “yes” MPVs and “no” MPVs 3. Passing if total MPV is more than 50 OTHERWISE Abolish the Senate © 2019 Kwiple.com
Leadership Anything, though, is better than the pundit-isation of leadership, whereby courses of action are parsed for their second-order effects rather than for their innate rightness. Janan Ganash, Financial Times, September 25, 2019 © 2019 Kwiple.com
Making money the old-fashioned way Manufacturing hubcaps © 2019 Kwiple.com
Myths in politics The will of the people is a myth not because the general run of people are ignorant and short-sighted, but because people are diverse and there are different and often incompatible ways of combining their opinions. “The people” is made up of a pluralty of people, and there is no simple way of getting from the plural to the singular.  Albert Weale, The Will of the People  © 2019 Kwiple.com
National security The line between legitimate national security concerns and outright paranoia is perilously thin. Edward Luce, Financial Times, September 19, 2019 © 2019 Kwiple.com
Political correctness Can we please stop pointing out people breaking rules that didn't exist yet? Just grandfather in the shit you would have done if you were alive then. Bill Maher, Real Time With Bill Maher, August 9, 2019 © 2019 Kwiple.com
Political correctness Wokesight is not 20-20 and you don't have ESPCP – Extra Sensory Politically Correct Perception. Bill Maher, Real Time With Bill Maher, August 9, 2019 © 2019 Kwiple.com
Post-2018 Senate shituation 15 states (Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming) 2018 population: 40,056,961 Senators: 30 Republicans 1 Senator per 1,335,232 people — 1 state (California) 2018 population: 39,776,830 Senators: 2 Democrats 1 Senator per 19,888,415 people 19,888,415 / 1,335,232 = 16, therefore: average 15er's vote is worth 16 times a Californian's, a Californian's vote is worth 6% of an average 15er's — 1 state (Wyoming) 2018 population = 573,720, therefore: 1 Senator per 286,860 Wyomians, a Wyomian's vote is worth 69 times a Californian's, a Californian's vote is worth 1.4% of a Wyomian's © 2016 Kwiple.com
Presidential debates Presidents Don't Debate Title of the Last Word segment on The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, August 1, 2019 © 2019 Kwiple.com
Presidential harassment Yes, presidential harassment – it's like sexual harassment, only Republicans take it seriously. Stephen Colbert, responding to Trump's complaint that Democratic investigations of him are “presidential harassment” © 2019 Kwiple.com
Regulations The question should always be which regulations , not deregulation. No country, no economy, can function without laws and regulations. Joseph Stiglitz, People, Power and Profits © 2019 Kwiple.com
Self-interest Enlightended goverance in our advanced age meant counting on industries to comply voluntarily. Self-interest is what would make bankers play fairly and oil companies drill safely. Thomas Frank, Pity the Billionaire  © 2019 Kwiple.com
Small business Every week should be Small Business Week, because America is small business. Ronald Reagan, 1983 speech proclaiming Small Business Week © 2019 Kwiple.com
 
Southern border wall It's like a manhood thing for him. As if manhood could ever be associated with him. This wall thing. Nancy Pelosi, on Trump's desire to get the wall built © 2019 Kwiple.com