A thread for Democrats Only
POSTED BY: THGRRI
UPDATED: Sunday, September 6, 2026 15:36
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. . . . The measure, which passed by a narrow margin, replaced party primaries in Alaska with a single open primary. The top four vote-getters will proceed to a November election with ranked choice voting, in which voters list candidates in order of preference for runoff rounds if none wins a majority.
Other states have adopted open primaries and ranked-choice elections, but Alaska is the first to combine them. Proponents say the reforms should boost politicians who work across party lines, since they no longer have to cater to their party’s base to win the primary. If adopted more widely, advocates say the system could serve as an antidote to partisan polarization and government gridlock.
“It encourages candidates to talk to all constituents and to build a broad coalition and to serve them,” says Robert Dillon, a Republican consultant who worked on the Alaska ballot measure.
Critics of Alaska’s reforms say they will weaken parties and confuse voters who rely on parties as identifiers to fill out their ballots. Alaska’s Supreme Court was scheduled to hold a hearing on Jan. 18 in an appeal case filed by plaintiffs who sued unsuccessfully last year to stop the changes on constitutional grounds. A ruling is expected by next month.
“Parties are an efficient way for people of identical or similar political beliefs to gather together. I think the political party system has to be made stronger rather than weaker,” says Kenneth Jacobus, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, who include the Alaskan Independence Party.
Even reform advocates say it will likely take multiple elections to see the true effect on who runs for office and how the winning candidate governs, making a stampede to the political center somewhat unlikely for now. And analysts caution that the centrifugal forces driving Americans apart, and poisoning the political well, aren’t easily unwound.
“It takes many cycles to see what these things will produce,” says Alexander Theodoridis, an associate professor of politics at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. “None are a panacea for party polarization.”
Alaska is just the second state after Maine to adopt ranked choice voting for general elections, joining dozens of smaller jurisdictions. But the state’s open, top-four primary, which expands similar measures used in California and Washington, may prove a more consequential reform. Several states plan to hold ballot initiatives this year to put similar reforms to voters.
Advocates say open primaries are essential to expanding voter choice, since most congressional seats are so politically lopsided due to geographic sorting and gerrymandering that only the primary matters. According to Unite America, a nonprofit that campaigns for electoral reform, 83% of congressional races in 2020 were decided by primaries in which only 23 million people voted.
More at https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2022/0118/Trump-wants-Lisa-Murk
owski-gone.-A-voting-reform-might-save-her
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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The latest Fox News lie is the Biden-says-parents-are-terrorists claim. It would be easy to overlook this one drizzle of disinformation in the torrent of falsehood the GOP-Fox axis produces. The network, which “informs” the majority of Republican voters, has painstakingly constructed a parallel universe in which vaccines kill you, Biden stole the election, Biden is senile, grade schoolers are being force-fed critical race theory, the FBI orchestrated the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the country is in an apocalyptic spiral of open borders, rampant crime and runaway inflation.
https://jabberwocking.com/fox-news-viewers-dont-deserve-contempt-save-
it-for-the-folks-fleecing-them/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:
The latest Fox News lie is the Biden-says-parents-are-terrorists claim. It would be easy to overlook this one drizzle of disinformation in the torrent of falsehood the GOP-Fox axis produces. The network, which “informs” the majority of Republican voters, has painstakingly constructed a parallel universe in which vaccines kill you, Biden stole the election, Biden is senile, grade schoolers are being force-fed critical race theory, the FBI orchestrated the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the country is in an apocalyptic spiral of open borders, rampant crime and runaway inflation.
https://jabberwocking.com/fox-news-viewers-dont-deserve-contempt-save-
it-for-the-folks-fleecing-them/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
Biden* doesn't say anything for himself.
Members of Biden*'s cabinet have called parents of grade schoolers terrorists.
If Biden* doesn't feel that way, then Biden* should have called out that behavior.
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Vaccinated People: "You need to get muh vaccination shots that don't work because I got muh vaccination shots that don't work and I'm afraid of people that didn't get muh vaccination shots that don't work because muh vaccination shots that don't work don't work."
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Quote:CLAIM: The National School Boards Association is asking the Biden administration to label parents who protest school policies domestic terrorists.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:Quote:
Originally posted by second:
The latest Fox News lie is the Biden-says-parents-are-terrorists claim. It would be easy to overlook this one drizzle of disinformation in the torrent of falsehood the GOP-Fox axis produces. The network, which “informs” the majority of Republican voters, has painstakingly constructed a parallel universe in which vaccines kill you, Biden stole the election, Biden is senile, grade schoolers are being force-fed critical race theory, the FBI orchestrated the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the country is in an apocalyptic spiral of open borders, rampant crime and runaway inflation.
https://jabberwocking.com/fox-news-viewers-dont-deserve-contempt-save-
it-for-the-folks-fleecing-them/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
Biden* doesn't say anything for himself.
Members of Biden*'s cabinet have called parents of grade schoolers terrorists.
If Biden* doesn't feel that way, then Biden* should have called out that behavior.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The organization — the NSBA, for short — is not asking Biden to label parents who protest at school board meetings as terrorists.
https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-634580066208
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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AP is not a legitimate factchecking source.
--------------------------------------------------
Vaccinated People: "You need to get muh vaccination shots that don't work because I got muh vaccination shots that don't work and I'm afraid of people that didn't get muh vaccination shots that don't work because muh vaccination shots that don't work don't work."
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:CLAIM: The National School Boards Association is asking the Biden administration to label parents who protest school policies domestic terrorists.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:Quote:
Originally posted by second:
The latest Fox News lie is the Biden-says-parents-are-terrorists claim. It would be easy to overlook this one drizzle of disinformation in the torrent of falsehood the GOP-Fox axis produces. The network, which “informs” the majority of Republican voters, has painstakingly constructed a parallel universe in which vaccines kill you, Biden stole the election, Biden is senile, grade schoolers are being force-fed critical race theory, the FBI orchestrated the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the country is in an apocalyptic spiral of open borders, rampant crime and runaway inflation.
https://jabberwocking.com/fox-news-viewers-dont-deserve-contempt-save-
it-for-the-folks-fleecing-them/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
Biden* doesn't say anything for himself.
Members of Biden*'s cabinet have called parents of grade schoolers terrorists.
If Biden* doesn't feel that way, then Biden* should have called out that behavior.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The organization — the NSBA, for short — is not asking Biden to label parents who protest at school board meetings as terrorists.
https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-634580066208
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
The NSBA didn't ask Joe Biden* to label parents who protest school board meetings terrorists.
THEY DID IT THEMSELVES.
Oh. You'd like to argue that fact? Well... Let's go straight to the source; the six page document written by the NSBA and put on their website here:
https://nsba.org/-/media/NSBA/File/nsba-letter-to-president-biden-conc
erning-threats-to-public-schools-and-school-board-members-92921.pdf
Oh. Funny. That's a 404 not found error today, huh? That's odd.
Archive.Today isn't very helpful either. It only grabbed a screenshot of the first page and you can't scroll down to the bottom of the page or pull up any of the other five pages...
https://archive.ph/dAIiA
(You ought to FIX that, Archive.Today.)
But what do we have here? Looks like Documentcloud.org has our backs...
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21098209-nsba-letter-to-presid
ent-biden-concerning-threats-to-public-schools-and-school-board-members-929211
I'll refer you to page two, paragraph three, sentence one that states "As these acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes."
So not only are the parents domestic terrorists, but they are perpetrators of hate crimes too! OH NOEZ!!!!
Fuck the NSBA for deleting evidence.
And Fuck AP for trying to cover for them.
And Fuck YOU for being a dumbass Leftist muppet tool.
Liars.
P.S. Hey Jaynez. You might want to add this document to the collection since the Leftist Media seems to be trying its hardest to scrub it out of existence.
--------------------------------------------------
Vaccinated People: "You need to get muh vaccination shots that don't work because I got muh vaccination shots that don't work and I'm afraid of people that didn't get muh vaccination shots that don't work because muh vaccination shots that don't work don't work."
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I see you abandoned this thread, dipshit.
Good move.
--------------------------------------------------
Vaccinated People: "You need to get muh vaccination shots that don't work because I got muh vaccination shots that don't work and I'm afraid of people that didn't get muh vaccination shots that don't work because muh vaccination shots that don't work don't work."
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:The Bot lies yet again trying to claim Fox lies.
Originally posted by secondbot:
The latest Fox News lie is the Biden-says-parents-are-terrorists claim. It would be easy to overlook this one drizzle of disinformation in the torrent of falsehood the GOP-Fox axis produces. The network, which “informs” the majority of Republican voters, has painstakingly constructed a parallel universe in which vaccines kill you, Biden stole the election, Biden is senile, grade schoolers are being force-fed critical race theory, the FBI orchestrated the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the country is in an apocalyptic spiral of open borders, rampant crime and runaway inflation.
https://jabberwocking.com/fox-news-viewers-dont-deserve-contempt-save-
it-for-the-folks-fleecing-them/
Another losing round of Liar Liar from sloppyseconds.
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Quote:Wisconsin has an answer to that: Republicans vote to allow 18-year-olds and their parents to carry concealed weapons on school property
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Fuck the NSBA for deleting evidence.
And Fuck AP for trying to cover for them.
And Fuck YOU for being a dumbass Leftist muppet tool.
Liars.
No reasonable person would say parents are terrorizing teachers when it becomes legal to bring a concealed gun to a parent/teacher meeting.
MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Republicans in the state Assembly passed a series of bills to expand gun laws in the badger state, including a proposal to allow some high school students and parents to have firearms on school property.
During the Assembly's return to the floor since the new year, Republicans passed legislation that would lower the concealed carry age from 21 to 18, allow legal gun owners to have their weapon in their vehicle when dropping off or picking up their child from school, and allow anyone with a concealed carry license from any state to be armed in Wisconsin.
With gun violence on the rise in Wisconsin and across the nation, Republicans believe more residents should be able to carry a gun legally to protect themselves.
State Rep. Shae Sortwell (R-Two Rivers), author of the bill to lower the concealed carry age, contends if 18-year-olds can vote, they should be allowed to arm themselves.
"They are mature enough, they are adult enough to make these decisions and yet we are going to deny them the basic human right of self-defense?" Sortwell said.
Democrats argue the measure would backfire and result in inexperienced gun owners.
When applying for a concealed carry permit, state law doesn't require someone to actually fire a weapon.
"Guns in these situations do not make people feel safer," said Rep. Lisa Subeck (D-Madison). "In this state, you can get a concealed carry permit and never once get any hands-on firing a gun and that's terrifying."
State Rep. Deb Andraca (D-Whitefish Bay) called the GOP bills ridiculous because it would allow high school seniors with concealed carry permits to have a loaded gun in their car and at school events.
"This makes absolutely no sense, and quite frankly is scary to every parent with children," Andraca said.
Sortwell admitted his bill would lead to more guns on school property, but believes it's a "common sense" measure to avoid people breaking the law.
Currently, schools are specifically excluded from the state's concealed carry law, and individuals can face a felony if they possess a firearm on school property.
Republicans are looking to please their base this election year by introducing proposals like these, that are likely doomed for Governor Tony Evers' veto pen.
When asked, Evers said the GOP efforts to expand guns rights are "pretty bizarre," during a press event at the Capitol.
Evers and Democrats have long advocated for more gun control measures, such as universal background checks and red flag laws to allow judges to temporarily take away guns from people who pose a threat to themselves or others.
Both measures have been rejected by Republican leaders.
https://www.cbs58.com/news/republicans-vote-to-allow-18-year-olds-to-c
arry-concealed-weapons-on-school-property
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Underfunded IRS lets tax evaders escape, costs taxpayers billions
Law and order advocates are demanding increased policing because bands of thieves have smashed and grabbed thousands of dollars from jewelry stores, but many of the same pundits have no problem hamstringing the IRS from recovering billions in unpaid taxes.
The Internal Revenue Service started income tax season Monday, but Commissioner Charles Rettig warned that the agency was buried in paper last year. The service relies on antiquated computers, too few staff, and too many paper forms that should have been automated long ago.
“In many areas, we are unable to deliver the amount of service and enforcement that our taxpayers and tax system deserves and needs,” Rettig said in a statement. “This is frustrating for taxpayers, for IRS employees and for me,”
Typically, the IRS begins the year with about 1 million leftover returns to handle. This year, though, it had 6 million unprocessed 2020 returns as of Dec. 23.
The agency’s shambolic condition is by design, not incompetence. Republicans in Congress have underfunded the agency for decades, blocked attempts to improve enforcement, and vilified agents for doing their jobs, which is to make sure everyone pays their fair share.
GOP lawmakers began their assault in 2010 when the IRS’s budget was $14 billion. By 2020, Congress had cut it to $12 billion, despite inflation and a growing population. The agency reduced the number of auditors by a third, down to 9,500, the same number the agency had in 1953.
In fiscal year 2010, the IRS completed 4,325 criminal investigations, but by 2021, that number dropped to 2,766, which was higher than the performance goal set by Congress.
The agency estimates corporations alone are underpaying $125 billion in taxes every year because they know the odds of getting audited are so low.
“Years of steady decrease in the number of special agents available to work cases (due to attrition and limited hiring) as well as (the criminal investigation division’s) focus on traditional tax case programs, continue to impact … overall performance,” the General Accounting Office said in its annual report.
Call me a misanthrope, but I suspect far more than 2,766 taxpayers committed criminal tax evasion in 2020. And I’m willing to wager the $75 billion the criminal investigators did recover last year is just the tip of the iceberg.
The Congressional Budget Office agrees. For every dollar Congress grants the IRS, the agency will return $7.10 from more vigorous enforcement. The additional spending would also correct a disturbing level of income inequality in who gets audited.
“Between 2010 and 2018, the audit rate for higher-income taxpayers fell, while the audit rate for lower-income taxpayers remained fairly stable,” Phillip Swagel, the nonpartisan CBO director, wrote. But increased spending “would return audit rates to the levels of about 10 years ago; the rate would rise for all taxpayers, but higher-income taxpayers would face the largest increase.”
The CBO analysis comes in a scorecard of President Joe Biden’s proposal to rebuild the IRS through the Build Back Better Act, which would provide $80 billion over the next decade to hire new agents and upgrade equipment. The IRS would then reduce the deficit by $400 billion.
Republicans, including Sen. John Cornyn, have promised to block the funding.
“People don’t have confidence that this new army of IRS agents the Biden Administration wants to hire will stay within its appropriate lane and collect taxes that are owed, but not target people who are maybe not of their political philosophy or orientation, or use the IRS to further harass and abuse the American taxpayer,” Cornyn said.
Honestly, though, the wealthy who cheat on their taxes are as bad, if not worse, than the robber smashing a jewelry case. They drain the treasury of funds needed for national security, health care, education and fair elections.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article
/Tomlinson-Underfunded-IRS-le
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