Clarence Thomas dishonesty

[RiverDog]

And giving billionaires $750 Billion per year in tax breaks isn’t?
At least many of those with education loans need relief.

You’re being hoodwinked by the extreme right into believing that it’s a good deal.
The last 40 years have provided the largest transfer of wealth in history and the people getting screwed have been convinced that it’s in their best interest to give it away.

That’s the extreme agenda.

Couldn't it be argued that minimum wage being moved up to almost $16 an hour in liberal states is a far left agenda that doesn't seem to be opposed by the Dems? ASEA gave you a ton of examples of Dem's not opposing far left agenda items. Both sides do it, that's the whole issue. A perfect example can be seen in a Bill Washington State just passed (Senate Bill 5599). This Bill will allow the state to take control of kids who want "Gender Affirming Care" without parental consent or even knowledge. A 9 year old kid who thinks they are trans can run-away, be taken to a "host-home" and receive hormone blockers and eventually surgery without a parent even knowing where they are. EVERY Democrat voted YES on this Bill. Wouldn't this qualify as extreme left ideology? The problem is people who point the finger one way. It's all the Democrats fault... it the extreme right's fault. No, it's both parties and they are both doing everything they can to manipulate us so that they can stay in power and make as much money off of us as possible. If you can't see the negative effects of liberal agenda in liberal states that is an issue.

The minimum wage is close to irrelevant in the current economy. No one pays minimum wage anymore, at least not for non farm work.

I didn't hear of that proposed bill, but it doesn't surprise me. This is the same Democratic controlled legislature that passed those idiotic police accountability laws in response to the extreme liberal Defund the Police movement that they're now realizing was a big mistake and are starting to roll back parts of it.

[Aseahawkfan]

No. You fix what you can fix, and let other problems take care of themselves. You don't refuse to fix the squeaky door because the roof needs to be replaced.

And how do you know that the money is going to non-millionaires? The threshold is $.25M in annual income, not net worth. It's very possible that we're giving a lot of that money to millionaires, or those like my nephew who will in a very short amount of time become millionaires.

You bitching about people receiving nothing money is par for the course the Republican whining about "unfair" while they sit their saying nothing while people with far more income receive far greater tax breaks, support, and government money whether direct pay back for deposits in a risky bank, government contracts for their companies, or stock gains from profits from tax breaks.

You don't fix what you can, you choose to target people getting some pittance student loan relief while not saying a thing when people with far more money are getting far amounts of government assistance in a wide variety of ways.

I've already made it clear your stance is a BS stance. Completely lacks moral standing due to the fact you say nothing when millionaires and billionaires are getting far bigger amounts of welfare from Democrats and Repubilcans.

It's why I told you I don't care about 10,000 dollar pittance loan relief. Give working people something. They usually get jack squat from the government compared to the wealthy. Until I start seeing threads from you calling out the massive...Massive millions and billions funneled to millionaires and billionaires at the local, state, and federal level, then you can step off the soapbox and let us all know you're completely ok with massive "stimulus" going to businesses while borrowers trying to get an education get tossed some 10,000 dollar minor relief that isn't even likely to happen.

Whereas both Democrats and Republicans fully supported bailing out depositors for a far higher amount at a few risky banks far in excess of what FDIC insurance pays. Why are you so vehemently hammering on people who had to get loans for their education getting some minor 10 k relief while not posting a single thing about millionaires and billionaires getting bailed out?

Maybe the Democrat posters on this board can tell me why Democrats are sitting by silent why they bail these people out if the Democrats give more of a crap about working people? They don't. They throw scraps and bread crust to the working people and can't even get that pushed through.

[Aseahawkfan]

It looks like you need the same "two wrongs don't make a right" lesson. You don't use abuses in one part of the system to justify abuses in another.

And as far as some people in need getting that money, you're right. Some are. But why not simply lower the threshold to $50/$100K? The median household income in the US is $70K. It wouldn't have been hard. Do you honestly think that a married couple making a quarter million dollars a year, within the top 5% of all household incomes, needs a $10k break on a student loan?

You guys complain about billionaires getting tax breaks and the disparity between the haves and have nots, but you're completely OK with giving $10K to someone in the top 5% of all wage earners.

And you need a lesson that this is far beyond two wrongs.

And maybe giving some minor amount of student loan forgiveness isn't close to making two wrongs. It's many continuous wrongs you do nothing about and one minor bone thrown to borrowers of education that doesn't amount even come close to equaling "two wrongs." Given how much the government has bailed out millionaires and billionaires, it seems it would take a whole lot more than 10,000 in student loan forgiveness to even come close to equaling the "two wrongs" you keep wanting to sell. It's not even close what each side is getting and you equating getting 10,000 in student loans forgiveness as equaling the billions paid out in the latest bank failure government funded bailout added with the 2008 bailout and all the millions in loans to businesses during COVID that were forgiven or not paid out on top of the government contracts, tax breaks, and the like, you would think you would know when two wrongs was reached?

How much money would the government to give back to regular working people to equal the massive number of wrongs as you put it to bail out businesses and the wealthy?

You are as you like to say sometimes full of "chit." 10,000 student loan forgiveness which at this point looks unlikely to pass seems to the only type of wrong you seem able to fix or even motivated to fix, while you just shrug and overlook the millions and billions paid out to people who need it even less over the many, many years it has been done. I guess it's easy to crap on people with little to no political power who had to take loans out to go to school as Republicans seem to like to do.

[Aseahawkfan]

Couldn't it be argued that minimum wage being moved up to almost $16 an hour in liberal states is a far left agenda that doesn't seem to be opposed by the Dems? ASEA gave you a ton of examples of Dem's not opposing far left agenda items. Both sides do it, that's the whole issue. A perfect example can be seen in a Bill Washington State just passed (Senate Bill 5599). This Bill will allow the state to take control of kids who want "Gender Affirming Care" without parental consent or even knowledge. A 9 year old kid who thinks they are trans can run-away, be taken to a "host-home" and receive hormone blockers and eventually surgery without a parent even knowing where they are. EVERY Democrat voted YES on this Bill. Wouldn't this qualify as extreme left ideology? The problem is people who point the finger one way. It's all the Democrats fault... it the extreme right's fault. No, it's both parties and they are both doing everything they can to manipulate us so that they can stay in power and make as much money off of us as possible. If you can't see the negative effects of liberal agenda in liberal states that is an issue.

That is so insane.

It's this kind of stuff that makes me wonder how posters like Northhawk and I5 can keep claiming Democrats are somehow not just as crazy as Republicans.

Right now you just can't get away from the nuts in this country. They have really made America into a miserable place to live for anyone that wants a reasonable government. It's not even worst of two evils any more. It's voting for crazy uncles and aunts that keep trying to sell you total nut job policies like this prepubescent trans crap or this hate the immigrants crap. I don't want either of this garbage. I'm tuning out lately from these people.

I've got Republicans trying to tell me we shouldn't be helping Ukraine against Russia.

I've got Democrats trying to sell me kids under 10 are "misgendered."

What happened to our government? We paying them to act sensibly, not to be a bunch of extremist loons.

[RiverDog]

Couldn't it be argued that minimum wage being moved up to almost $16 an hour in liberal states is a far left agenda that doesn't seem to be opposed by the Dems? ASEA gave you a ton of examples of Dem's not opposing far left agenda items. Both sides do it, that's the whole issue. A perfect example can be seen in a Bill Washington State just passed (Senate Bill 5599). This Bill will allow the state to take control of kids who want "Gender Affirming Care" without parental consent or even knowledge. A 9 year old kid who thinks they are trans can run-away, be taken to a "host-home" and receive hormone blockers and eventually surgery without a parent even knowing where they are. EVERY Democrat voted YES on this Bill. Wouldn't this qualify as extreme left ideology? The problem is people who point the finger one way. It's all the Democrats fault... it the extreme right's fault. No, it's both parties and they are both doing everything they can to manipulate us so that they can stay in power and make as much money off of us as possible. If you can't see the negative effects of liberal agenda in liberal states that is an issue.

That is so insane.

It's this kind of stuff that makes me wonder how posters like Northhawk and I5 can keep claiming Democrats are somehow not just as crazy as Republicans.

Right now you just can't get away from the nuts in this country. They have really made America into a miserable place to live for anyone that wants a reasonable government. It's not even worst of two evils any more. It's voting for crazy uncles and aunts that keep trying to sell you total nut job policies like this prepubescent trans crap or this hate the immigrants crap. I don't want either of this garbage. I'm tuning out lately from these people.

I've got Republicans trying to tell me we shouldn't be helping Ukraine against Russia.

I've got Democrats trying to sell me kids under 10 are "misgendered."

What happened to our government? We paying them to act sensibly, not to be a bunch of extremist loons.

It's liberal garbage like that which is causing eastern Washington to consider breaking off from the western half of the state and either join Idaho and eastern Oregon or form our own state. I personally think it would be a big mistake, but a majority of people over here actually favor the idea.

[mykc14]

That is so insane.



What happened to our government? We paying them to act sensibly, not to be a bunch of extremist loons.

Yeah, it's really frustrating. The problem is moderate Dems and Republicans are so focused on how "crazy" their counterparts are that they don't look at the extreme agenda of their own party while those extreme policies are ruining America. Image sitting in your living room watching Fox News all day. All you see is how crazy and dangerous the Democrats are while extreme Republican policies are minimalized. If you watch CNN you see much of the same from the other side. They tell stories of poor mis-gendered kids who are having mental health issues because their conservative parents won't give them puberty blockers or allow them to have gender altering surgery. After a shooting Fox News talks about needing to have armed guards at schools while CNN talks about needing to get rid of guns. Neither side really looks deeply into the issues. It's all about viewers and money. The politicians love it because fear means money and power for them- especially the life-long politicians at the top.

[mykc14]

It's liberal garbage like that which is causing eastern Washington to consider breaking off from the western half of the state and either join Idaho and eastern Oregon or form our own state. I personally think it would be a big mistake, but a majority of people over here actually favor the idea.

Yeah there are lots of rural Republicans who want to secede from Liberal states and vice-versa. I don't think it will happen, but if we don't do something relatively soon as a country it could get bad. Extreme politics are killing our country and moderate members of both sides are letting it happen.

[RiverDog]

It's liberal garbage like that which is causing eastern Washington to consider breaking off from the western half of the state and either join Idaho and eastern Oregon or form our own state. I personally think it would be a big mistake, but a majority of people over here actually favor the idea.

Yeah there are lots of rural Republicans who want to secede from Liberal states and vice-versa. I don't think it will happen, but if we don't do something relatively soon as a country it could get bad. Extreme politics are killing our country and moderate members of both sides are letting it happen.

I realize that secession will never happen, but there are a few smaller things they could do to make things a little better out here. One would be to go away from the winner-take-all formula in Presidential elections for the state's electoral votes and give each Congressional district one electoral vote with the remaining two going to the candidate that gets a plurality of votes state-wide, similar to what they do in Nebraska and Maine. In a close election, which seems to have been the norm more than it has the exception this century, POTUS candidates would have to come to the state and fight for those districts that are in play. They wouldn't be able to just put it in the blue state category, with the Dems taking it for granted and the R's writing off the whole state.

The other would be to change the WA state constitution to apportion state Senators based on something besides population, say like one Senator per county, like in the US Senate. Currently, eastern Washington has almost no representation as both Houses are controlled by Puget Sound Democrats.

There are local issues out here that residents feel that they are completely at the mercy of liberal Seattle area Democrats that couldn't give a rip about them or their needs. One is that despite multiple studies that have questioned both the cost and the benefit of removing the LSRD dams and that all the utility companies are steadfastly against, they are still hell bent on taking them out, commissioning yet another study in the hopes that it will finally tell them what they want to hear and give them justification for taking them out. Another is a proposal to build a huge wind farm across the ridges behind the Tri Cities, with some of the proposed turbines being over a hundred feet taller than the Space Needle (the shorter ones are "only" 500' tall), across a footprint of 115 square miles and 24 miles of 'viewshed' despite the fact that surveys have shown that nearly 80% of the local residents are against it.

Take out hydroelectrical production that doesn't consume an ounce of fossil fuels or exhaust any greenhouse gasses and replace it with wind power that doesn't do didly squat during our peak demand periods. Yeah, North Hawk is right. There's no extreme liberal agenda. I'm just some stupid rube that's being hoodwinked by the extreme right wing.

[mykc14]

I realize that secession will never happen, but there are a few smaller things they could do to make things a little better out here. One would be to go away from the winner-take-all formula in Presidential elections for the state's electoral votes and give each Congressional district one electoral vote with the remaining two going to the candidate that gets a plurality of votes state-wide, similar to what they do in Nebraska and Maine. In a close election, which seems to have been the norm more than it has the exception this century, POTUS candidates would have to come to the state and fight for those districts that are in play. They wouldn't be able to just put it in the blue state category, with the Dems taking it for granted and the R's writing off the whole state.

The other would be to change the WA state constitution to apportion state Senators based on something besides population, say like one Senator per county, like in the US Senate. Currently, eastern Washington has almost no representation as both Houses are controlled by Puget Sound Democrats.

There are local issues out here that residents feel that they are completely at the mercy of liberal Seattle area Democrats that couldn't give a rip about them or their needs. One is that despite multiple studies that have questioned both the cost and the benefit of removing the LSRD dams and that all the utility companies are steadfastly against, they are still hell bent on taking them out, commissioning yet another study in the hopes that it will finally tell them what they want to hear and give them justification for taking them out. Another is a proposal to build a huge wind farm across the ridges behind the Tri Cities, with some of the proposed turbines being over a hundred feet taller than the Space Needle (the shorter ones are "only" 500' tall), across a footprint of 115 square miles and 24 miles of 'viewshed' despite the fact that surveys have shown that nearly 80% of the local residents are against it.

Take out hydroelectrical production that doesn't consume an ounce of fossil fuels or exhaust any greenhouse gasses and replace it with wind power that doesn't do didly squat during our peak demand periods. Yeah, North Hawk is right. There's no extreme liberal agenda. I'm just some stupid rube that's being hoodwinked by the extreme right wing.

Yeah splitting our electoral vote would help appease some people possible, but I don't see Puget Sound Democrats doing anything that will limit their power. The wind turbines are ridiculous and a very frustrating Democratic push that really doesn't make any sense. Hydroelectric power is clean, relatively efficient, reliable and something that we have in abundance. Moving away from it and towards more Wind Turbines, which are huge Eyesores and not quite as efficient. The issues surrounding Hydroelectric power seem to come from the misbelief that they create a huge issue for wildlife, but the reality is that only 8% of fish swimming upstream die because of hydroelectric power. Nobody really mentions the fact that 400,000 birds are killed by Wind Turbines each year. This will only increase as they get bigger and more wide-spread. Washington State does not need more wind-turbines. I can see it as a possible option for State's that do not have the hydroelectric capabilities that we do, but they really don't make sense here.

[RiverDog]

Yeah splitting our electoral vote would help appease some people possible, but I don't see Puget Sound Democrats doing anything that will limit their power. The wind turbines are ridiculous and a very frustrating Democratic push that really doesn't make any sense. Hydroelectric power is clean, relatively efficient, reliable and something that we have in abundance. Moving away from it and towards more Wind Turbines, which are huge Eyesores and not quite as efficient. The issues surrounding Hydroelectric power seem to come from the misbelief that they create a huge issue for wildlife, but the reality is that only 8% of fish swimming upstream die because of hydroelectric power. Nobody really mentions the fact that 400,000 birds are killed by Wind Turbines each year. This will only increase as they get bigger and more wide-spread. Washington State does not need more wind-turbines. I can see it as a possible option for State's that do not have the hydroelectric capabilities that we do, but they really don't make sense here.

I could go on and on about the LSRD's. The Fraser River, the next large river system in the Pacific basin and immediately north of the Columbia, is also experiencing declining salmon runs, yet they don't have a single dam on it. There is no scientific evidence showing that returning the Snake to its original state would restore the salmon runs. All they can do is speculate that increased water flow during migration and lower water temperatures will do the trick. They don't take into account how much accumulated sediment from behind the dams will drift downstream and what effect that might have on migrating salmon. And there are no reliable cost estimates on what it would take to breach the LSRD's, with most estimates ranging between $10B-$27B. Is that the best use of limited tax dollars if our goal is to fight global warming and improve the environment? Plus, we move over 4 million tons of cargo per year, mostly wheat, via the slack water behind those dams. Remove the LSRD's and the cargo is going to have to be moved either by truck or by rail, both of which will contribute many more times the amount of greenhouse gas emissions than barging not to mention infrastructure improvements that would have to be made to accommodate the increased traffic. They also don't address dams on the Snake upstream of Lewiston, that unlike the LSRD's, don't have a fish passage, or dams on tributaries to the Snake, like Dworshak, Lucky Peak, etc.

And that's before we talk about electrical generation, of which the LSRD's provide enough to power a city the size of Seattle and that can increase production at the flip of a switch vs. wind which is constant and can't be varied to meet peak demands.

Those issues are real sore spots for citizens out here, and one of the reasons why the region is so 'red'.

[mykc14]

I could go on and on about the LSRD's. The Fraser River, the next large river system in the Pacific basin and immediately north of the Columbia, is also experiencing declining salmon runs, yet they don't have a single dam on it. There is no scientific evidence showing that returning the Snake to its original state would restore the salmon runs. All they can do is speculate that increased water flow during migration and lower water temperatures will do the trick. They don't take into account how much accumulated sediment from behind the dams will drift downstream and what effect that might have on migrating salmon. And there are no reliable cost estimates on what it would take to breach the LSRD's, with most estimates ranging between $10B-$27B. Is that the best use of limited tax dollars if our goal is to fight global warming and improve the environment? Plus, we move over 4 million tons of cargo per year, mostly wheat, via the slack water behind those dams. Remove the LSRD's and the cargo is going to have to be moved either by truck or by rail, both of which will contribute many more times the amount of greenhouse gas emissions than barging not to mention infrastructure improvements that would have to be made to accommodate the increased traffic. They also don't address dams on the Snake upstream of Lewiston, that unlike the LSRD's, don't have a fish passage, or dams on tributaries to the Snake, like Dworshak, Lucky Peak, etc.

And that's before we talk about electrical generation, of which the LSRD's provide enough to power a city the size of Seattle and that can increase production at the flip of a switch vs. wind which is constant and can't be varied to meet peak demands.

Those issues are real sore spots for citizens out here, and one of the reasons why the region is so 'red'.

Yeah that is really interesting and incredibly frustrating. The push of agendas for both parties creates issues just like this one.

[Aseahawkfan]

I'm breaking your balls some RD because you never post when the wealthy are getting their huge breaks and help from the government.

This is not a "two wrongs don't make a right" scenario. This is a "the wealthy are constantly getting government assistance for people who have little need of it" versus working people getting thrown table scraps like a 10 k student loan relief program. If these assistance programs, tax cuts, and the like were in any way equally applied, then your "two wrongs don't make a right" would apply. This is far more of a working and middle class people are constantly told to bear the burden of moral rightness and fairness for the nation while the wealthy and poor (I mean really poor) seem to have no standards of accountability.

The wealthy are always too big to fail, job creators, trickle down BS.

The poor are victims of the big companies, bad lives, and don't have any sort of accountability for their vice ridden, criminal behavior.

But hey, the middle and working class, gotta be fair for all of us, gotta bear the moral burden for all of America. Can't give them working people a break with some pittance college relief without the Republicans throwing a fit while I see nothing on CNN or Fox news about the billions in corporate welfare to make sure those depositors at a bank I know was using risky investing to generate a higher rate of return for those depositors are made whole. Just working and middle class people are held to any moral standards in America. They gotta bear the burden for all I guess because any time you give them some small break, some kind of crime has been committed.

I at least give the Democrats some credit for throwing working and middle class people a bone on occasion, though I guess the Republicans did under Bush Jr. with that 300 dollar check. It's not the greatest to be a worker in America right now. Seems you're the only person wanting to hold someone accountable for their behavior and actions and pay the market rate, while the wealthy people are sexually abusing their kids and the poor are living in "I don't give a crap" homeless camps from which they wander to steal the property of working people and make their life less enjoyable.

[RiverDog]

I'm breaking your balls some RD because you never post when the wealthy are getting their huge breaks and help from the government.

I haven't seen you post on any of those subjects, either. Start a thread and I'll be glad to throw in my $.02 worth, and until then, I'll stand by my assertation that you're claiming that two wrongs make a right.

I at least give the Democrats some credit for throwing working and middle class people a bone on occasion.

So you consider people making in within the upper 5% of median income "middle class"? Incredible.

Like I said, if they at least reduced the top earner that they're giving the $10-$20k down to about $50,000, which would be roughly in the 44 percentile of median income, then I might be able to swallow it. But not when they're giving it to couples pulling down a quarter million bucks a year.

But the main part of my objection to Biden's handout is fairness. It's simply not fair to the hundreds of thousands of families and individuals that worked and saved so that they didn't incur the debt in the first place or have since paid it off. They're every bit as entitled to that $10 grand as those that racked up 6 digit debt.

And why student loans? Why not forgive some housing loans and help ease some of the housing crisis? Why should just college grads or attendees be given a bone? Why shouldn't the independent truck driver that went into $100K debt so he could buy his own truck not be given a bone?

[Hawktawk]

I'm breaking your balls some RD because you never post when the wealthy are getting their huge breaks and help from the government.

This is not a "two wrongs don't make a right" scenario. This is a "the wealthy are constantly getting government assistance for people who have little need of it" versus working people getting thrown table scraps like a 10 k student loan relief program. If these assistance programs, tax cuts, and the like were in any way equally applied, then your "two wrongs don't make a right" would apply. This is far more of a working and middle class people are constantly told to bear the burden of moral rightness and fairness for the nation while the wealthy and poor (I mean really poor) seem to have no standards of accountability.

The wealthy are always too big to fail, job creators, trickle down BS.

The poor are victims of the big companies, bad lives, and don't have any sort of accountability for their vice ridden, criminal behavior.

But hey, the middle and working class, gotta be fair for all of us, gotta bear the moral burden for all of America. Can't give them working people a break with some pittance college relief without the Republicans throwing a fit while I see nothing on CNN or Fox news about the billions in corporate welfare to make sure those depositors at a bank I know was using risky investing to generate a higher rate of return for those depositors are made whole. Just working and middle class people are held to any moral standards in America. They gotta bear the burden for all I guess because any time you give them some small break, some kind of crime has been committed.

I at least give the Democrats some credit for throwing working and middle class people a bone on occasion, though I guess the Republicans did under Bush Jr. with that 300 dollar check. It's not the greatest to be a worker in America right now. Seems you're the only person wanting to hold someone accountable for their behavior and actions and pay the market rate, while the wealthy people are sexually abusing their kids and the poor are living in "I don't give a crap" homeless camps from which they wander to steal the property of working people and make their life less enjoyable.

I completely agree with what you have been saying about corporate welfare . My best friend is a multimillionaire retiree who is far right , trump supporter . He’s angry about everything going on but I point out without 3 huge stimulus and manipulation of the stock market repo loan fund even before the pandemic he wouldn’t be retired . I never put money in the market , thought it was a Ponzi scheme but by god my tax dollars and those of my descendants paid for my friends retirement funds . I care the least about student loan forgiveness of all the madness in both parties although I paid my loans for my education to be a minister that is absolutely useless .

. Biden should resign or be removed . Trump needs prison . Thomas who has now been discovered to have actually sold properties and taken actual money from this nazi buddy should be removed . None will happen . We’re screwed . Not enough people care .

[RiverDog]

I completely agree with what you have been saying about corporate welfare . My best friend is a multimillionaire retiree who is far right , trump supporter . He’s angry about everything going on but I point out without 3 huge stimulus and manipulation of the stock market repo loan fund even before the pandemic he wouldn’t be retired . I never put money in the market , thought it was a Ponzi scheme but by god my tax dollars and those of my descendants paid for my friends retirement funds . I care the least about student loan forgiveness of all the madness in both parties although I paid my loans for my education to be a minister that is absolutely useless .

. Biden should resign or be removed . Trump needs prison . Thomas who has now been discovered to have actually sold properties and taken actual money from this nazi buddy should be removed . None will happen . We’re screwed . Not enough people care .

You'd be cutting off your nose to spite your face if Biden were to resign. He is the only Dem that can beat Trump. If he were to resign, Harris takes over, if Trump goes on to win the R nomination as he's very likely to do, he'll beat her by 100 electoral votes. So I ask you: Who do you want, Sleepy Joe or the Orange Baboon?

And honestly, how can this corruption of Thomas change the way he votes? What is the real effect? I'd be more concerned if it involved a member of the court that was more of a swing vote than I would one that votes according to a straight-line conservative agenda on every single issue like Thomas and Alito do.

And while liberals are still wringing their hands about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, SCOTUS, in a 7-2 vote with only Alito and Thomas voting in the minority, just stayed a lower court's injunction to stop the sale of the abortion pill. It's not a final decision, but it is rather surprising that a person with such strong religious beliefs as ACB has would vote to allow it to continue to be sold.

[I-5]

Trump may be leading, and it's possible he may win the nomination (against the wishes of the party), but no way do I see him winning a general election. I'd be more worried if DeSantis runs.

[RiverDog]

Trump may be leading, and it's possible he may win the nomination (against the wishes of the party), but no way do I see him winning a general election. I'd be more worried if DeSantis runs.

Biden's poll numbers are still in the toilet, with job approval ratings in the low 40's and disapproval in the low 50's. Nearly 80% of voters, including over 50% of Democrats, don't think he should run again. The economy is teetering on a recession, with inflation at a 40 year high and gas prices on the rise again. He is extremely susceptible, and if I'm a Democrat, I'd be horrified at the prospect of him running against Trump again. Hell, I'm a conservative, and I'm horrified at the prospect.

In 2016, I made the mistake of thinking that Donald Trump didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning, but he did. In 2020, I thought that he was going to get routed, but he made a close election out of it. I'm not making the same stupid assumptions that I made earlier.

[Hawktawk]

I completely agree with what you have been saying about corporate welfare . My best friend is a multimillionaire retiree who is far right , trump supporter . He’s angry about everything going on but I point out without 3 huge stimulus and manipulation of the stock market repo loan fund even before the pandemic he wouldn’t be retired . I never put money in the market , thought it was a Ponzi scheme but by god my tax dollars and those of my descendants paid for my friends retirement funds . I care the least about student loan forgiveness of all the madness in both parties although I paid my loans for my education to be a minister that is absolutely useless .

. Biden should resign or be removed . Trump needs prison . Thomas who has now been discovered to have actually sold properties and taken actual money from this nazi buddy should be removed . None will happen . We’re screwed . Not enough people care .

You'd be cutting off your nose to spite your face if Biden were to resign. He is the only Dem that can beat Trump. If he were to resign, Harris takes over, if Trump goes on to win the R nomination as he's very likely to do, he'll beat her by 100 electoral votes. So I ask you: Who do you want, Sleepy Joe or the Orange Baboon?

And honestly, how can this corruption of Thomas change the way he votes? What is the real effect? I'd be more concerned if it involved a member of the court that was more of a swing vote than I would one that votes according to a straight-line conservative agenda on every single issue like Thomas and Alito do.

And while liberals are still wringing their hands about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, SCOTUS, in a 7-2 vote with only Alito and Thomas voting in the minority, just stayed a lower court's injunction to stop the sale of the abortion pill. It's not a final decision, but it is rather surprising that a person with such strong religious beliefs as ACB has would vote to allow it to continue to be sold.

Biden will beat nobody in 24 and my issue is hes brain dead NOW. Let 24 handle itself. Weve never needed an alert cognizant leader more and we never had less of one. Hes scary as Trump in a different way.

As for Thomas...............now it is revealed he indeed heard a case at scotus and didn't recuse himself regarding a 25 MILLION DOLLAR claim against his nazi buddy's business. He voted in favor of his nazi buddy who prevailed. Hell that almost paid for some of the trips and stuff.
River you have an interesting way of deciding what's justifiable and not. Clarence thomas is increasingly looking like a corrupt ensconced fool who maybe should face prison. wrong on every conceivable level.

[I-5]

Biden's poll numbers are still in the toilet, with job approval ratings in the low 40's and disapproval in the low 50's. Nearly 80% of voters, including over 50% of Democrats, don't think he should run again. The economy is teetering on a recession, with inflation at a 40 year high and gas prices on the rise again. He is extremely susceptible, and if I'm a Democrat, I'd be horrified at the prospect of him running against Trump again. Hell, I'm a conservative, and I'm horrified at the prospect.

In 2016, I made the mistake of thinking that Donald Trump didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning, but he did. In 2020, I thought that he was going to get routed, but he made a close election out of it. I'm not making the same stupid assumptions that I made earlier.

I remember hearing similar doomsday prior to the midterms. The voters didn't deliver any landslide. You said yourself only Biden could beat Trump. And he could. I think Trump would lose worse the 3rd time around.

[Aseahawkfan]

With Trump looking cooked, I barely care who wins.

Biden has been nice and quiet. D.C. is back to running as it should with reasonable level of political attacks.

I'm sure it will be more interesting once the Republican candidate is chosen. I think even fewer people will vote for Trump this time around. I'm never voting for him. I know he's lost support from some of his one time supporters. Seems only Trump's diehards are still in his corner. If the Republicans run Trump again, he'll be a two time loser.

[RiverDog]

With Trump looking cooked, I barely care who wins.

Biden has been nice and quiet. D.C. is back to running as it should with reasonable level of political attacks.

I'm sure it will be more interesting once the Republican candidate is chosen. I think even fewer people will vote for Trump this time around. I'm never voting for him. I know he's lost support from some of his one time supporters. Seems only Trump's diehards are still in his corner. If the Republicans run Trump again, he'll be a two time loser.

Trump doesn't need more people to vote for him than did in 2020 to win the election. What he needs is more people to vote for him than vote for Biden.

2020 featured a record turnout, the highest in over a century and nearly 7% higher than it was in 2016, even higher in battle ground states. But that was when Biden was running as a challenger against a sitting POTUS that had done a horrible job of managing the pandemic, not Biden the incumbent with a low 40% job approval rating and the vast majority of voters, including a majority of those that voted for him, saying that he shouldn't run again.

There's a good chance that with the public so dissatisfied with both candidates, they may decide to either vote for an independent or sit it out altogether. All Trump needs to do is flip a couple of big states and he's in.

[RiverDog]

As for Thomas...............now it is revealed he indeed heard a case at scotus and didn't recuse himself regarding a 25 MILLION DOLLAR claim against his nazi buddy's business. He voted in favor of his nazi buddy who prevailed. Hell that almost paid for some of the trips and stuff.
River you have an interesting way of deciding what's justifiable and not. Clarence thomas is increasingly looking like a corrupt ensconced fool who maybe should face prison. wrong on every conceivable level.

So how do that outcome change as a result of Thomas's vote? Unless Thomas's side won 5-4, nothing changed as a result of his supposed corruption.

And once again, I'm not defending Thomas. I'm just saying that there's a lot more things of greater consequence to get your briefs in a wad over besides this issue with Thomas.

[I-5]

There's a good chance that with the public so dissatisfied with both candidates, they may decide to either vote for an independent or sit it out altogether. All Trump needs to do is flip a couple of big states and he's in.

That's quite a spin. I see no evidence that the public has equal disdain between Biden and Trump. If anything, Trump has lost a lot of support and would lose by a larger margin than 2020. And when he does lose, of course he's going to claim the election was stolen again, despite the last 4 years of debunking his 2020 claims. Is Fox News willing to go there again?

[RiverDog]

There's a good chance that with the public so dissatisfied with both candidates, they may decide to either vote for an independent or sit it out altogether. All Trump needs to do is flip a couple of big states and he's in.

That's quite a spin. I see no evidence that the public has equal disdain between Biden and Trump. If anything, Trump has lost a lot of support and would lose by a larger margin than 2020. And when he does lose, of course he's going to claim the election was stolen again, despite the last 4 years of debunking his 2020 claims. Is Fox News willing to go there again?

If you're looking for evidence of equal disdain between Biden and Trump, here it is:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epoll ... 7383.html#!

In a head-to-head matchup, Trump leads Biden in the latest RCP composite poll, and as we've all seen, historically the polls have tended to underestimate Trump.

I'm not trying to 'spin' the subject as I'm as against Trump being elected President as anyone in here. I'm mentioning it as a distinct possibility as you and everyone else in this forum seem to be convinced that he doesn't snowball's chance in hell despite some very clear evidence to the contrary, that if the election were held today, that he'd have at least a 50/50 chance of winning. What you're failing to recognize is how incredibly weak of a candidate Biden is, how by the fall of 2024 this economy could easily tip into recession, and how voters tend to blame the person in the oval office for their financial woes. If Trump wins the nomination, it's going to be another close election.

I think it's a reasonable proposition that when the two parties both submit unacceptable candidates that many voters will choose a 3rd party/independent candidate or sit it out. That's what both Hawktawk and I did in 2016 as we both voted for Gary Johnson. I'm likely to do that in 2024 as my vote doesn't matter much anyway in a state that is as blue as Washington is.

And of course, if Trump loses, he's going to claim that the election was stolen. He's a textbook narcissist and can't bring himself to face the fact that a lot of people don't like him. That's why he made up such a laughable scenario of cops crying during his arraignment.

[Hawktawk]

So it’s being reported Clarence Thomas nazi buddy paid for his daughter to attend a private prestigious university . He’s got to go doesn’t he ? In other news John Roberts wife made over 10 million working for a firm that had business before the court . I despise the supreme joke . It’s just as if not more corrupt than any other branch but we can’t fire the crooks . The founders made some errors but the construction of the court might be the worst . I have no faith left in America .

[RiverDog]

So it’s being reported Clarence Thomas nazi buddy paid for his daughter to attend a private prestigious university . He’s got to go doesn’t he ? In other news John Roberts wife made over 10 million working for a firm that had business before the court . I despise the supreme joke . It’s just as if not more corrupt than any other branch but we can’t fire the crooks . The founders made some errors but the construction of the court might be the worst . I have no faith left in America .

Are there any cases where Thomas, Roberts, or any other SCOTUS justice, might or might not have voted, or might change their votes on some future case (if so, which case?), due to a quid pro quo from any of these recent incidents involving their questionable ethics?

If no is the answer, then there is no corruption and therefore nothing to worry about as far as the fair and impartial functioning of SCOTUS.

[Aseahawkfan]

Are there any cases where Thomas, Roberts, or any other SCOTUS justice, might or might not have voted, or might change their votes on some future case (if so, which case?), due to a quid pro quo from any of these recent incidents involving their questionable ethics?

If no is the answer, then there is no corruption and therefore nothing to worry about as far as the fair and impartial functioning of SCOTUS.

Even the Supreme Court should have ethical standards.

[RiverDog]

Are there any cases where Thomas, Roberts, or any other SCOTUS justice, might or might not have voted, or might change their votes on some future case (if so, which case?), due to a quid pro quo from any of these recent incidents involving their questionable ethics?

If no is the answer, then there is no corruption and therefore nothing to worry about as far as the fair and impartial functioning of SCOTUS.

Even the Supreme Court should have ethical standards.

But those standards need to be examined during their confirmation, and as most of us will agree, the confirmation process is a joke. Once they're on the bench, they're pretty much untouchable as the only way to remove them against their will is impeachment, which is an extremely high bar to clear, and adding some type of ethical standards would likely require a Constitutional amendment, an even more daunting task.

But I keep coming back to my original question that no one has even acknowledged let alone attempt to answer. What decision rendered by SCOTUS was influenced by a quid pro quo? What potential decisions could be affected by the alleged conflict of interest? I'd be one helluva lot more concerned with possible conflicts of interest in the Legislative or Executive branches, such as this brewing scandal with Biden and his son Hunter, as they can actually affect policy decisions, than I would anything involving SCOTUS.