Why NOT to vote Republican

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Originally Posted by Alan

What illegal coverups would that be? The charge against him was claiming monies paid to his lawyer as a legal expense. Of course those monies were then used to purchase a non-disclosure agreement with a porn star, but there's nothing illegal about that.

If the claim is that it is illegal to do legal things to influence an election, I'm curious to see what type of Pandora's box we've opened. Our current President constantly lies about things such as the rate of inflation when he took office any how many jobs he's created, all in an effort to influence an upcoming election. Do you think we should charge him for that?

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I suppose the question might be, is it legal to use criminal activities to determine an election outcome. I think a jury of our peers has spoken. Both sides had a chance to argue their case. Perhaps you re aware of campaign finance laws?

The question of inflation is opinion and not a legal issue. I know of a Nobel prize winning economist that disagrees with your media feeds. It would seem he has presidential immunity regardless, as some would claim. After all inflation started with Trump.

That underlying crime, prosecutors argued, was a violation of a New York state election law that prohibits conspiring to promote a candidate by “unlawful means.” The hush money to Daniels, prosecutors said, was unlawful because it violated campaign finance laws.

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Originally Posted by Rogar

I suppose the question might be, is it legal to use criminal activities to determine an election outcome. I think a jury of our peers has spoken.

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Yes they have, but my original question remains. What criminal activity elevated a possible misdemeanor bookkeeping dispute to a felony?

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The question of inflation is opinion and not a legal issue. I know of a Nobel prize winning economist that disagrees with your media feeds. After all it started with Trump.

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Inflation is an opinion? OK, the Bureau of Labor Statistics opinion is that inflation was at 1.4% when Biden took office. Biden claims it was 9% although the BLS says it didn't reach 9% until 3 quarters after he took office. The BLS is my media feed on that subject so your economist apparently disagrees with them rather than me.

You're right that the rate of inflation is not a legal issue, but we seem to now be in a state where people are defending punishment for anyone involved with influencing an election, even if they've never been convicted or even charged with doing so. Biden's well documented mis-statements are clearly designed to do just that so should we assume those same people will hold him to the same standard?

I'm utterly exhausted this evening and have to get up at 4 AM tomorrow - but this day is historic and calls for Spicy Chickpea Stew. It'll be ready at 8 PM my time. I'll pass some to my immediate neighbors, take a few pics, and continue the grind tomorrow. What a gift today has been!!! Rob

I missed the big announcement. I was in a closed meeting of a governmental body all day, working with attorneys to figure out how to get rid of a corrupt local official (a Democrat). Problem solved, and the solution relied on a state supreme court decision that the ink is barely dry on.

I admit, I haven't followed the current Trump Trial in detail much at all. Too much work to keep the garden tidy even at the local level.

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Originally Posted by Alan

Inflation is an opinion? OK, the Bureau of Labor Statistics opinion is that inflation was at 1.4% when Biden took office. Biden claims it was 9% although the BLS says it didn't reach 9% until 3 quarters after he took office. The BLS is my media feed on that subject so your economist apparently disagrees with them rather than me.

You're right that the rate of inflation is not a legal issue, but we seem to now be in a state where people are defending punishment for anyone involved with influencing an election, even if they've never been convicted or even charged with doing so. Biden's well documented mis-statements are clearly designed to do just that so should we assume those same people will hold him to the same standard?

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No doubt there is or has been inflation. Whether Biden has lied about it or caused it, possibly in a criminal manner to deceive the public and influence and election as you have intimated, is a separate matter entirely. I don't think the BLS has judgement on that, but some interesting information showing how wage growth has outpaced inflation. People don't talk about that.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgraph.png?g=1oevf

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Originally Posted by Rogar

No doubt there is or has been inflation. Whether Biden has lied about it or caused it, possibly in a criminal manner to deceive the public and influence and election as you have intimated, is a separate matter entirely. I don't think the BLS has judgement on that, but some interesting information showing how wage growth has outpaced inflation. People don't talk about that.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgraph.png?g=1oevf

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Roger, that is an interesting graph,and by our own St. Louis Federal Reserve, no less.

I would use it to combat all the complainers who moan “ things are so expensive/I can’t afford to live/how does anybody afford rent or house buying? “ but facts are not part of their worldview.

On the other hand, it is undeniable that real estate in many places (most?) has skyrocketed. I Google skimmed the methodology of the Consumer Price Index in including housing costs. They certainly make an effort to address housing costs by including that cost in their “market basket.” There is methodology. I guess it is decent?
Some of their data reflect a lag time, tho.

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Originally Posted by Rogar

No doubt there is or has been inflation. Whether Biden has lied about it or caused it, possibly in a criminal manner to deceive the public and influence and election as you have intimated, is a separate matter entirely.

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Inflation isn't the issue at hand, it's the new standard we've just established where partisan legal and political actors attempt to criminalize anything that may be seen as negatively influencing an election. Think the current administration and intelligence communities efforts to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop in order to diminish its contents effect on the 2020 election, or consider the eventually discredited Steele Dossier the Clinton campaign used to attempt to influence the 2016 election.

Those very obvious examples now seem like fair play in the new reality we've created.

I can respect that viewpoint Alan, but we are coming from different perspectives. I've lost rack of the litany of Trump's minions who have been charged and convicted of criminal activates. Not to mention the big lie and it's proponents. I just don't have much faith in a contingency of conservatives that are not to be trusted and are involved in conspiracy theory and possibly illegal activities. They've lowered the bar of political ethics. And it's not a political bias of the courts, the laws, or the legal system, although I could say so much of congress. Of course we can bring up instances like Hunter's fictitious laptop, but it's all in a perspective of degrees of severity.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

On the other hand, it is undeniable that real estate in many places (most?) has skyrocketed. I Google skimmed the methodology of the Consumer Price Index in including housing costs. They certainly make an effort to address housing costs by including that cost in their “market basket.” There is methodology. I guess it is decent?
Some of their data reflect a lag time, tho.

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I did a bit of self education on how housing costs are included in the CPI, also. It's an interesting way of estimating a "rental cost equivalent" for home ownership. I guess it's OK, too. My finances are pretty much in order, but I took early retirement and a smaller sized pension from my corporate daddy. It doesn't adjust for inflation and I may be able to buy a few minutes in a parking meter with it one of these days. I think seniors depend on certain fixed incomes could be a group that inflation has affected more.

It’s weird that we’ve come to the point where republicans think it’s acceptable for their party’s leader to falsify business records for the purpose of preventing relevant information from getting out during an election. I guess the ‘law and order’ party has given up on that the same way they’ve abandoned the ‘family values’ shtick as the felon leader’s situation leading to his conviction so amply shows.