Tag Archives: conservative

Elon Musk has a big idea to save civilization: Move it to Mars.

by DamionBenefield Posted on September 28, 2016

Myron Ebell, a director at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, would head Trump’s EPA transition team, E&E Daily reports. Ebell also chairs the Cooler Heads Coalition, a pro-business group focused on pushing climate denial.

While Ebell generally maintains that climate change is a hoax, he’s also argued that if it does exist, it’s actually a good thing. “Life in many places would become more pleasant,” he wrote in 2006. “Instead of 20 below zero in January in Saskatoon, it might be only 10 below. And I don’t think too many people would complain if winters in Minneapolis became more like winters in Kansas City.” He has less to say about the summers in Minneapolis, which, if current emissions trends continue, will feel like summers in Mesquite, Texas, by 2100.

Ebell’s waffling is in-line with the candidate’s, who seems to have spontaneously changed his mind about climate change during the first presidential debate. When accused by Hillary Clinton of calling climate change a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese, Trump flat-out denied it, despite a notorious tweet saying just that.

Ebell joins energy lobbyist Mike McKenna, George W. Bush’s former Interior Department solicitor David Bernhardt, and oil tycoon Harold Hamm on Trump’s team.

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Elon Musk has a big idea to save civilization: Move it to Mars.

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2016 will go down in history as the first year of the rest of our lives — not in a good way.

by DustyHorniman Posted on September 27, 2016

Myron Ebell, a director at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, would head Trump’s EPA transition team, E&E Daily reports. Ebell also chairs the Cooler Heads Coalition, a pro-business group focused on pushing climate denial.

While Ebell generally maintains that climate change is a hoax, he’s also argued that if it does exist, it’s actually a good thing. “Life in many places would become more pleasant,” he wrote in 2006. “Instead of 20 below zero in January in Saskatoon, it might be only 10 below. And I don’t think too many people would complain if winters in Minneapolis became more like winters in Kansas City.” He has less to say about the summers in Minneapolis, which, if current emissions trends continue, will feel like summers in Mesquite, Texas, by 2100.

Ebell’s waffling is in-line with the candidate’s, who seems to have spontaneously changed his mind about climate change during the first presidential debate. When accused by Hillary Clinton of calling climate change a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese, Trump flat-out denied it, despite a notorious tweet saying just that.

Ebell joins energy lobbyist Mike McKenna, George W. Bush’s former Interior Department solicitor David Bernhardt, and oil tycoon Harold Hamm on Trump’s team.

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2016 will go down in history as the first year of the rest of our lives — not in a good way.

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Let Us Investigate Hillary Clinton’s Latest Email Bombshell

by LashawnFKOP Posted on August 12, 2016

Mother Jones

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From today’s LA Times coverage of the Hillary Clinton campaign:

On a day in which Clinton was hoping to inflict considerable damage on Donald Trump — this time, by ripping into his economic agenda — her campaign was on the defensive, scurrying to clean up the latest damaging revelations in years-old messages that were sent by Clinton and her staff and released as the result of a lawsuit.

….The fresh batch of emails was pried from the State Department thanks to a lawsuit filed by the conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch. It revealed what appeared to be seedy dealings by Clinton’s team at the agency….The emails are not devastating, but they are damaging as Clinton struggles to boost her trustworthiness with voters.

I have developed a fairly regular habit of ignoring the latest Hillary “scandal” for a day or two, just to see how it’s going to play out. Nearly all of them turn out to be bogus, and it’s hardly worth the time to figure out how and why. So I just wait for other people to do it.

Even the ones that really are a problem are almost always overblown. Emailgate is a prime example. Yeah, it was bad judgment. Hillary screwed up, and if you think that’s reason enough not to vote for her, fine. But when you dig into the actual facts, there’s surprisingly little there. She had a private server. She turned over all her work emails when asked to. In an unprecedented judicial ruling, they were all released to the public and there was virtually nothing of interest there. Of the “classified” emails, most were retroactively classified (at a low level) in a dreary episode of interagency feuding; three were marked classified at the time but were marked improperly (and were trivial); and 110 were emails Hillary “should have known” were classified, but which dealt with a drone program that everyone on the planet already knew about.

So sure, it’s a screwup. But there’s not really that much to it. So what about the latest batch of emails. Do they really show “seedy dealings” by Team Hillary?

I dunno. One is from a Clinton Foundation executive asking a Hillary aide if she can set up a meeting for a big donor with someone at State. The Hillary aide says she’ll see what she can do, and then blows it off. In another, a foundation executive asks for help getting someone a job. He’s told that everyone already knows about the guy, and “Personnel has been sending him options.” In other words, he’s blown off. In yet another, it turns out that a Clinton aide spent some of her own time helping the foundation look for a new CEO.

So….what? People in Washington schmooze with people they know to help other people they know? Shocking, isn’t it? My guess is that the average aide to a cabinet member gets a dozen things like this a week. If all we can find here are two in four years—both of which were basically blown off—the real lesson isn’t that Hillary Clinton’s State Department was seedy. Just the opposite. It was almost pathologically honest.

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Let Us Investigate Hillary Clinton’s Latest Email Bombshell

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Georgia GOP Elector Says He Might Not Cast His Electoral Vote for Trump

by BarbaraNewcomer Posted on August 3, 2016

Mother Jones

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Georgia Republican Baoky Vu is about to remind American voters—particularly Donald Trump supporters—that the process for selecting a president isn’t quite as democratic as they imagine.

Vu will be on the ballot this fall to become one the state’s 16 electors in the Electoral College. When people cast votes for president, they’re actually selecting electors who have pledged to back their candidate of choice—a distinction that generally has no practical implications. But Georgia is one of 21 states that don’t legally require electors to vote in accordance with the outcome of the popular vote in their state. And according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution‘s Jim Galloway, Vu not only won’t be voting for Trump in November as a citizen; he might not vote for the Republican nominee if he goes to the Electoral College.

An immigrant from Vietnam, Vu called out Trump for his recent attacks against Khizr Khan, the father of a slain American soldier. “Rather than earning the American people’s respect and trust through the duration of the past year, Donald Trump’s antics and asinine behavior has cemented my belief that he lacks the judgment, temperament and gravitas to lead this Nation,” Vu wrote in a statement. “Throughout the process, he has hurled insults at our heroes and their families, denigrated the disabled and praised dictators. Forget political incorrectness, this is simply despicable demagoguery.”

Vu wouldn’t be the first elector to betray the will of the voters. There’s been a long line of so-called “faithless” electors, including Democrat Barbara Lett-Simmons, who abstained from voting for Al Gore in 2000 to highlight the District of Columbia’s lack of congressional representation. But electors normally don’t telegraph those decisions so far in advance, instead making the move out of principle when it does not affect the outcome of the election.

Conservative commentator Erick Erickson cheered Vu’s decision:

It’s unlikely Vu’s sole vote would swing the final outcome of the election. But his decision to so publicly buck the norms of the Electoral College represents yet another instant of party resistance to Trump’s candidacy, and if more electors follow suit, it could change the electoral calculus. Vu’s move could offer a boost to efforts to replace the institution with a national popular vote, an idea that became popular among liberals after Gore lost in 2000, but less so among conservatives. The Republican Party platform even attacks the suggestion, saying, “We oppose the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact and any other scheme to abolish or distort the procedures of the Electoral College. An unconstitutional effort to impose National Popular Vote would be a grave threat to our federal system and a guarantee of corruption, as every ballot box in every state would offer a chance to steal the presidency.”

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Georgia GOP Elector Says He Might Not Cast His Electoral Vote for Trump

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Theresa May Poised to Become Next British Prime Minister

by NestorMcGahan69 Posted on July 11, 2016

Mother Jones

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British energy minister Andrea Leadsom—one of just two candidates in the race to replace David Cameron as the leader of the Conservative Party—announced on Monday she was quitting the race, a move that clears the way for home secretary Theresa May to become Britain’s next prime minister.

In a press conference on Monday, Leadsom said that a nine-week campaign was unnecessary when May had already secured support from 60 percent of their Conservative colleagues.

“The interests of our country are best served by the immediate appointment of a strong and well-supported prime minister,” she told reporters.

Her withdrawal from the race to succeed Cameron comes just days after she was quoted saying she was better-suited for the office because she is a mother, unlike her rival May.

“I have children who are going to have children who will directly be a part of what happens next,” Leadsom told the Times UK. The backlash was swift, and prompted Leadsom to personally apologize to May for the remarks.

Her decision to pull out of the race is just the latest political fallout since Britain’s referendum to leave the European Union last month. Widely seen as the frontrunner in the prime minister race, Boris Johnson—the former mayor of London and a leader of the “leave” campaign— surprised the political world late last month by announcing he would not seek the job.

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Theresa May Poised to Become Next British Prime Minister

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Trump Dumps Campaign Manager—Twitter Delights

by MosheRRMEecxgd Posted on June 20, 2016

Mother Jones

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Donald Trump fired his longtime campaign manager Corey Lewandowski this morning, and political Twitter had very little sympathy for the ousted operative. Lewandowski, who is known to be abrasive and to have contentious relations with the media, has long been a controversial presence on Trump’s campaign. His manhandling of reporter Michelle Fields during a campaign event in March drew an outcry and calls for his firing. More recently, he has feuded with campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was brought in to professionalize the Trump operation. He appears to have lost his battle for supremacy against Manafort and his firing was announced at prime time (10 a.m. Monday morning) for the chattering classes to notice.

A member of Trump’s own staff jumped in to celebrate. Here’s the campaign’s senior adviser and head of Trump’s New York operation:

Also reveling in the news was Michelle Fields, who wound up getting fired from Breitbart News over the incident, when she protested the conservative outlet seeming to take Lewandowski’s side.

Rick Wilson, a top GOP consultant who has long been a top Trump critic couldn’t resist either.

But it wasn’t all celebration. Fellow GOP operatives took to Twitter to point out just how ill-timed the move was, and how Lewandowski’s firing might be anything but calming for the Trump campaign. Ryan Williams, a former spokesman for Mitt Romney, pointed out that Trump still needs Lewandowski’s support, at least for another month.

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Trump Dumps Campaign Manager—Twitter Delights

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Norway talks a big game, promises to go carbon neutral by 2030

by MattieFerry Posted on June 16, 2016

Norway talks a big game, promises to go carbon neutral by 2030

By on Jun 16, 2016Share

Norway may be best known as the birthplace of the cheese slicer, but now the country can claim something even more inventive: Norway’s parliament pledged on Tuesday to go carbon-neutral by 2030, a full 20 years ahead of its original goal.

“This is a direct response to the commitments Norway took on by ratifying the Paris agreement and means that we will have to step up our climate action dramatically,” Rasmus Hansson, leader of the national Green Party, told the Guardian.

Still, the decision was not an entirely harmonious one. Norway’s minority Progress and Conservative parties don’t support it, arguing that ambitious cuts now could make the country worse off in future climate negotiations. Even the country’s climate minister, Vidar Helgesen, isn’t happy.

The plan does lack any specific targets emissions cuts — for instance, Norway could achieve carbon neutrality by funding carbon offset programs elsewhere and trading carbon credits through the European Union’s emissions market.

Besides, while Norway’s carbon-neutral plan is ambitious and the country tops the world for investment in  bicycle highways and electric vehicles, it is also one of the world’s largest oil producers. Just last month, the country controversially announced it will be opening the Arctic’s Barents Sea for oil exploration, after declines in global crude oil prices cut state revenue. And as ThinkProgress points out, Norway’s emissions increased last year to a higher level than it saw 1990.

Norway’s big ideas are, at the moment, just ideas.

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Norway talks a big game, promises to go carbon neutral by 2030

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UBI Continues To Be Wildly Unpopular

by IngeKWKdxrhvg Posted on June 5, 2016

Mother Jones

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The concept of an Unconditional Basic Income has become a hot topic on the interwebs. Conservative Charles Murray started things up in 2006 with the publication of In Our Hands, which created a brief stir and then sank into oblivion because (surprise!) conservatives were distinctly uninterested in cutting unconditional checks to lazy welfare bums.

Then it came out of hibernation a few months ago for reasons that escape me. At the time, I vaguely figured that much of the credit belonged to Vox’s Dylan Matthews for his tireless advocacy of a UBI. It also, of course, had something to do with the explosion of Bernie mania. Bernie doesn’t actually support a UBI, but he’s said that it’s “something that must be explored” and it pretty plainly fits into his general worldview. Nonetheless, after another 15 minutes of fame, it went into hibernation again. But it refused to die, emerging from its lair yet again a few weeks ago. Considering the fact that a UBI has less chance of being enacted than a law guaranteeing everyone a pet unicorn, this is a little odd. What’s going on?

I’m still not sure, but much of it was probably due to an upcoming UBI referendum in Switzerland, engineered by the lefty Swiss community a couple of years ago. Today, after months of anticipation, they finally voted on it—and the results weren’t pretty. Even in the heart of social democratic Europe, the mere concept of a UBI1 ended up with only 23 percent approval. It’s still in pet unicorn territory.

But eventually it will become reality. We just have to wait for the robot revolution to evolve to the point where lots of middle-class white people are permanently put out of work. Then it swiftly will go from pet unicorn to “duh.” I imagine this transformation will take a surprisingly short time and will happen sometime around 2030 or so.

1Despite endless headlines suggesting the Swiss were voting on payouts of $2,500 per month, the actual text of the initiative directs the Swiss parliament only to enact a UBI that “shall enable the whole population to live in human dignity and participate in public life.” The actual level and financing of the UBI are not specified.

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UBI Continues To Be Wildly Unpopular

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Obama in Elkhart: "I Hope You Don’t Mind Me Being Blunt About This"

by JanetteReiter96 Posted on June 2, 2016

Mother Jones

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Dave Weigel says that conservatives weren’t impressed with President Obama’s speech yesterday:

I was actually sort of surprised by the lack of conservative reaction to Obama’s speech. I guess they must be keeping their outrage to themselves—which is a bit odd, since Obama’s speech was about the most partisan attack on Republicans I’ve ever heard him give outside a campaign. Here’s a taste:

I’m going to start with the story that…most Republican candidates up and down the ticket are telling….America’s working class, America’s middle class — families like yours — have been victimized by a big, bloated federal government run by a bunch of left-wing elitists like me. And the government is taking your hard-earned tax dollars and it’s giving them to freeloaders and welfare cheats. And we’re strangling business with endless regulations. And this federal government is letting immigrants and foreigners steal whatever jobs Obamacare hasn’t killed yet. (Laughter.)

….I haven’t turned on Fox News or listened to conservative talk radio yet today, but I’ve turned them on enough over these past seven and a half years to know I’m not exaggerating in terms of their story….But it’s not supported by the facts. But they say it anyway. Now, why is that? It’s because it has worked to get them votes, at least at the congressional level.

Because — and here, look, I’m just being blunt with you — by telling hardworking, middle-class families that the reason they’re getting squeezed is because of some moochers at the bottom of the income ladder, because of minorities, or because of immigrants, or because of public employees, or because of feminists — (laughter) — because of poor folks who aren’t willing to work, they’ve been able to promote policies that protect powerful special interests and those who are at the very top of the economic pyramid. That’s just the truth. (Applause.)

I hope you don’t mind me being blunt about this, but I’ve been listening to this stuff for a while now. (Laughter.) And I’m concerned when I watch the direction of our politics. I mean, we have been hearing this story for decades. Tales about welfare queens, talking about takers, talking about the “47 percent.” It’s the story that is broadcast every day on some cable news stations, on right-wing radio, it’s pumped into cars, and bars, and VFW halls all across America, and right here in Elkhart.

There’s more, and it’s mostly a sustained attack on conservative misinformation about the economy and Obama’s policies. It’s also a sustained attack on Donald Trump, even though Trump’s name is never mentioned. After seven years of holding his tongue, it’s pretty obvious that Obama is eager for the Democratic primary to finish up so he can get out on the campaign trail and tell us what he really thinks of the Republican Party these days.

And if you’re interested in policy, here’s what Obama had to offer:

Raise the minimum wage
Increase unionization
More early childhood education
Free community college
Build more infrastructure
Expand Social Security
Pass TPP
Strengthen Wall Street regulations

That all sounds very Hillary-esque, doesn’t it?

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Obama in Elkhart: "I Hope You Don’t Mind Me Being Blunt About This"

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The Super-Rich Tech Elite Is Just Fine With Big Government

by SwenDaneit Posted on May 2, 2016

Mother Jones

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Gregory Ferenstein, in the course of arguing that super-rich donors are about equally split between Democrats and Republicans (although the Republicans donate more in absolute dollars), points out that the super rich in Silicon Valley are almost exclusively Democrats. Why?

I think the more likely explanation is that the nation’s new industrial titans are pro-government.

Google, Facebook, and most Internet titans are fueled by government projects: the Internet began in a defense department lab, public universities educate a skilled workforce and environmental policies benefit high tech green industries. The CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick, is a fan of Obamacare, which helps his entrepreneurial drivers keep their health insurance as they transition between jobs.

In other words, the Democratic party is good for emerging industries and billionaires recognize it. Donald Trump is a candidate known to go after major figures in tech; a trend that may further the Democrats friendship with new industrial titans.

Perhaps more importantly, I’ve argued that the modern emerging workforce of Silicon Valley, urbanized professionals, and “gig economy” laborers all represent an entirely new political demographic redefining the Democratic party to be more about education, research and entrepreneurship, and less about regulations and labor unions.

There’s something to this, but I suspect culture has a lot more to do with it. Most of these folks have spent their lives marinating in social liberalism, and being situated in the Bay Area just adds to that. So they start out with a visceral loathing of conservative social policies that pushes them in the direction of the Democratic Party. From there, tribalism does most of the additional work: once you’ve chosen a team, you tend to adopt all of the team’s views.

Beyond that, yes, I imagine that tech zillionaires are more than normally aware of how much they rely on government: for basic research, for standards setting, for regulation that protects them from getting crushed by old-school dinosaurs, and so forth. And let’s be honest: most of the really rich ones have their wealth tied up almost entirely in capital gains, which doesn’t get taxed much anyway. So endorsing candidates who happen to favor higher tax rates on ordinary income (which they probably won’t get anyway) doesn’t really cost them much.

For most folks in Silicon Valley, even the super rich, there’s very little personal cost to supporting Democrats. Combine that with an almost instinctive revulsion at both troglodyte Republican policies and the Fox News base of the party, and there just aren’t going to be many Republican supporters in this crowd.

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The Super-Rich Tech Elite Is Just Fine With Big Government

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