Dems Suck. Third Way Dems Really Suck. Because they’re not Dems:
A group of centrist Democrats is being mocked and criticized for their new strategy to defeat Donald Trump and Republicans.
Earlier this month, the centrist think tank Third Way gathered the group, which included Democratic consultants, campaign staffers, elected officials, and party leaders, in Loudoun County, Virginia, to come up with a game plan on how to return to relevancy, Politico reports. But the resulting conclusions seemed way off base.
For example, among the 20 solutions suggested for the party were to “embrace patriotism, community, and traditional American imagery”; ban “far-left candidate questionnaires and refuse to participate in forums that create ideological purity tests”; and push “back against far-left staffers and groups that exert a disproportionate influence on policy and messaging.”
The plan also included a proposal to “move away from the dominance of small-dollar donors whose preferences may not align with the broader electorate,” which would seem to reject the money of many working-class donors and elevate billionaires and millionaires at a time when the Trump administration is being criticized as a wealthy oligarchy.
The irony of meeting in Loudoun County, a wealthy Washington, D.C. suburb in northern Virginia, while concluding that candidates should “get out of elite circles and into real communities (e.g., tailgates, gun shows, local restaurants, churches)” was not lost on at least one critic.
You get the idea. The Third Way, like Trump, wants to ‘own the libs’ or, more precisely, wants to eradicate any influence of progressives in the Party. At the expense of winning elections, I might add. Nobody is more attached to The Third Way than Chris Coons. Since 2011. Memo to prospective opponents of Coons: Cut-and-save.
Trump Imposes Tariffs. This will not end well–at least, for my retirement savings. Or, I think, for Trump politically:
China and Canada imposed tariffs on U.S. goods on Tuesday, retaliating swiftly against the Trump administration’s decision to place new levies on imports from the countries in an escalating trade war that has rattled global markets and international relations. The Trump administration also raised tariffs on Mexico, which was expected to respond later today.
China’s finance ministry announced 15 percent tariffs on imports of chicken, wheat, corn and cotton from the United States, as well as 10 percent tariffs on imports of sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, aquatic products, fruits, vegetables and dairy products.
Canada imposed 25 percent tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods at 12:01 a.m. Eastern but did not specify which products would be affected. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said in a statement that the tariffs would extend to $125 billion of American goods in 21 days.
The administration’s latest tariffs — 10 percent on imports from China and 25 percent on most imports from Canada and Mexico — are likely to encourage some manufacturers to set up factories in the United States, instead of in other countries. They could also strain supply chains, add costs for American consumers and manufacturers and test diplomatic ties.
The only possible result is higher prices for everything that has had tariffs imposed. Madness.
Putin’s Puppet ‘Pauses’ Aid To Ukraine. It’s not getting unpaused.
Solution To Egg Shortage: ‘Raise Your Own Chickens’. Trump’s Ag Secretary has gone under the radar–until now:
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins this weekend offered some unusual advice to Americans frustrated by rising egg prices: raise your own chickens.
“People are sort of looking around thinking, ‘Wow, well maybe I can get a chicken in my backyard,’ and it’s awesome,” Rollins told Fox & Friends Weekend host Rachel Campos-Duffy. The agriculture secretary, who was sworn in last month to the position in President Donald Trump’s cabinet, added she has her own backyard chickens.
You guys are smart. I don’t need to explain why this idea is idiocy to the nth power.
Trump Screws Mountain West. Spare me your crocodile moose tears. Which reminds me:
Trump Orders Slaughter Of Killer Trees:
The president, in an executive order, has demanded an expansion in tree cutting across 280m acres (113m hectares) of national forests and other public lands, claiming that “heavy-handed federal policies” have made America reliant on foreign imports of timber.
“It is vital that we reverse these policies and increase domestic timber production to protect our national and economic security,” the order adds.
Trump has instructed the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to increase logging targets and for officials to circumvent the US’s Endangered Species Act by using unspecified emergency powers to ignore protections placed upon vulnerable creatures’ habitats.
Delaware’s ‘Smash-And-Grab’ Approach To Assuaging Musk And His Billionaire Buddies. Quite the interesting op-ed:
The recently proposed amendments to Delaware’s corporate law threaten a nuclear winter for investor protection and Delaware’s corporate law preeminence.
Senate Bill 21 is dangerous. The legislation provides a license for billionaires to use their control over public corporations to siphon value from those companies and public stockholders. The purpose of the amendments is to undermine our state’s crown jewel, our courts. The Court of Chancery’s core competency is policing transactions in which corporate insiders have interests that do not align with public investors, known as conflict or self-dealing transactions. Investors are comfortable investing in Delaware corporations because there is a cop on the beat. The bill is designed to make it easy to engage in unfair self-dealing, to prevent anyone from uncovering it, and to remove our courts from the equation. Ordinary people’s pensions and 401(K)s will suffer.
I get the distinct impression that Meyer’s association with Phil Shawe makes it likely that he supports this bill. Elected Democrats have a choice: Support oligarchic billionaires, or support investors. With the impartiality of the Court of Chancery hanging in the balance.
Suxco Growth ‘Unsustainable’. Stating the obvious. But still:
Amid escalating population growth in Sussex County on the back of expansive housing development approvals, the top state planner told county leaders last week that the growth was “unsustainable” and would have adverse consequences.
More than 13,000 homes have been built in the southernmost county over the past five years, including many in large-scale communities that include 1,000 or more homes.
In the last five years, however, Sussex County has steadily ignored the preferences of state planners and approved thousands of new homes in Level 4 areas. It has issued 5,558 building permits in Level 4, compared to just 984 in Kent County and 344 in New Castle County.
“Sussex County is a large geographic area and there are insufficient funds to cover you if we are going to have development everywhere,” David Edgell, the director of the state’s Office of State Planning Coordination, told the Sussex County Council and Planning and Zoning Commission at a Feb. 25 meeting in Georgetown. “We provide a great deal of the resources, and we don’t want waste or inefficiency … We are not in agreement with this council’s plans.”
What do you want to talk about?