Blooper

The comment directly below this one reads like propaganda straight from Moscow. I’m very glad to see it down-voted. Blaming blatant authoritarianism and extremely dangerous rhetoric on “old people” seems like a pretty obvious diversion from the actual culprits: the entire Republican party who is sleepwalking into a legit second coup attempt. They’re losing political power and have abandoned the idea of democracy. The fact that they’re unable or unwilling to drown this Nazi rhetoric in the bathtub speaks volumes. They are openly supporting authoritarianism. Not “old people”. Republicans.

The fact that it’s nearly impossible to get liberal policies past a Senate where representation is heavily skewed in favor of Republicans does not equate to a conspiracy that the tiny margins Democrats are still sometimes able to eek out are then intentionally sabotaged. That’s some conspiratorial BS. The simple fact is that Dems are playing a rigged game and always have been. Both-sidesing the parties when one of those parties is full of literal Nazis is simply ignorant and requires a lot of mental gymnastics and outright ignorance to get onboard with.

To the contrary - I own a large home in an urban area and it is filled with my children. But we don’t have to have a conversation - I was only pointing out the flaws in your logic. My tax bill will be $12k this year while my elderly next door neighbor’s will be a fraction of that. Our homes are identical (3k sqft over 3 floors). She’s not leaving because it would make little financial sense to do so. This is quite common.

Maintenance costs are probably fairly minimal given how little wear and tear happens in an empty nest. And property taxes for elderly folks are usually frozen or nearly frozen in place - meaning the next buyer will be paying a much higher tax on the same house because they won’t qualify for those exemptions.

Extremely wasteful - and that’s to say nothing of the obvious climate impacts from said waste. It’s one hell of a drawback to what I would otherwise describe as a system that works pretty well.

Not that I don’t emphasize with your struggle - I just want to point out that there are people stuck in those “starter homes” with 5 or more kids who could really benefit from a 5 bedroom upgrade because they’re at a point in their lives where they can afford it and they need it. The housing crisis we’re living through produces victims up and down the income ladder.

Also this whole problem can be traced back to our absurd zoning laws blanketing most of California and the US. Still the boomers’ fault, but not for decisions they’re making today. Most of them are screwed right along with the rest of us. :(

Dot Hogs

While I agree with your anger and frustration, in sure you recognize how dangerous of a precedent that would be. Instead, we should be going full RICO on the entire Republican party.

A huge chunk of the elected officials on that side of the aisle are actively working to subvert democracy in the US. Endorsing Trump in an official capacity should absolutely be seen as a participatory activity in that context and those elected officials who have engaged in that should be held to account. The justice department should be looking to use this as a sledgehammer if they want to crush the rampant fascism sweeping the Republicans and their base.

Please, please do this in Pennsylvania. As a “swing state” (Jesus fuck the electoral college has really fucked us) he needs to be removed. Here in Illinois, he’s not going to win here anyway.

Because there’s probably a significant number of affected rich folks who are retirees, vets, or both. Though, the propane you saw insinuates that it’s the other way around - that a significant number of retirees and vets would be targeted by the new law. It’s a pretty common tactic used against dumb people who can’t tell the difference. Good on you for seeing through it.

Almost?

Here in the US, we have them their own political party. It's the Republicans in case it wasn't obvious.

Looks like the superintendent is all about following the rules to a T - that is unless it's his kid - in which case he'll gladly obstruct an investigation a likely DUI.

https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/pasadena-news/article/Son-s-crash-has-Barbers-Hill-ISD-chief-in-hot-1790103.php

Yeah I’m curious what would happen if nobody intervened. Would the guy just slowly curl into a ball on the floor and die? A silent room full of cameras recording him as he sheds his mortal flesh and unceremoniously exhausts the very last drop of what used to be his vast reserves of evil. To never again utter a self-serving Fox News talking point or to fellate an oil executive on a private jet.

He made tons of choices guaranteeing my absolute contempt for him. I’m not going to carry an ounce of guilt for the schadenfreude I’m experiencing now. There’s no shame in taking personal joy from bad things happening to bad people. A wild, rabid alligator could have appeared out of nowhere during the news conference and bit the man in the dick right there in front of the podium - I’d still have no sympathy to spare. He’s done meaningful and lasting damage to all corners of society during his shameful life and his suffering inevitably brings lots of people great joy.

His obscene wealth guaranteed that outcome regardless.

Dude can barely read. He’s not writing anything.

We have to acknowledge that Republicans have lots to offer if you’re a mega corp.

1. They pick up the phone for you and your lobbyists - day or night
2. They lower your tax burden
3. They functionally killed unionization - allowing you to pay your executives enormous sums of money while the majority of your workforce struggles financially.
4. If you’re somehow unable to outright buy their legislative agenda with bribes campaign donations, they can instead be forced to comply with subtle threats to leak details of their various homosexual escapades to the media.
5. They tend to have absolutely no morals - which is great for your shareholders.

Worse. The US is building suburbs.