2024 Presidential Election Thread - Let's keep the party going.

[Firemans4Horn 17256]

6 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

She looks a good deal more spry than I would have expected.

She's batshit fucking crazy. Probably will live forever on her endless supply of Adrenochrome. 
 

Miriam Adelson hopes there will be a biblical ‘Book of Trump’

[Loch Ness Monster 3529]

Billionaires buying elections is SO fucked. Citizens United proponents need to be strung up by the balls upside down and left for dead.

And then Jesus said please sell Bibles and make 300K in my name

 

Edited August 16 by Loch Ness Monster

[Gil Bang 25689]

4 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Am I mistaken, or was Vance a Corporal simply because the Marine Corps doesn't have a Spec 4 rank?

The Army has both, so a Spec 4 would be in an office typing up press releases, and a Corporal would be out commanding troops and doing War shit. Spec 4s can do war shit too, but they are not considered NCOs. When I was a Spec 4 I called the rank "High Private."

In the modern Army, the rank of Corporal has been pretty rare, although my Kid was one when he was infantry.  You have the responsibility of an NCO, for the pay of a Specialist.  

In the last few years, the Army has announced that they intend to pin Corporal on more and more men, so when they make Sgt. they will have more leadership experience. 

 

In July 2021, the US Army began a change to require all soldiers to serve as corporals before being promoted to sergeant. The change is part of an effort to develop junior leaders and combat misconduct. The change went into effect on June 1, 2022 for active-duty soldiers and October 1, 2022 for reservists. 

[Tuco 5055]

Mea culpa probably should post less while driving in the middle of nowhere Nebraska. 
Made it to the wonderful Sioux City IA though. About to hit up the hard rock and just slayed some dogs and burgers at Milwaukee Weiner Co. 
Saw some swastikas etched into the sidewalk haha. 

There is a restaurant outside the meat packing plant in South Sioux City that gives you a free, vanilla soft serve ice cream cone with every meal.
That’s the only good thing I have to say about the area.

[DDD Dad 14078]

1 hour ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Don’t invite me again, thanks 

You bringing this?

[elfenix 34127]

 

1 minute ago, Tuco said:

There a restaurant outside the meat packing plant in South Sioux City that gives you a free, vanilla soft serve ice cream cone with every meal.
That’s the only good thing I have to say about the area.

we have jason's deli in texas too

[Tuco 5055]

 
we have jason's deli in texas too

Then I guess there is no reason to go to Sioux City.

[UrbanAchiever 272]

29 minutes ago, tbone_ said:

If you really want to help housing prices, not only let them in but encourage migrants to come in to build them. Outlaw all sales taxes on all building materials in the supply chain. Force municipalities to cap building and utility fees and subsidize them with general funds. And cut all income taxes on gains on land sales to home builders and apartment developers. Treat all investments in new housing and apartments like opportunity zones.

Don’t just give people money. Cut the god damn cost.

Or just severely restrict exclusionary zoning or just outright ban it. We've largely manufactured the housing crisis by artificially dampening the supply through outdated land use policies that are exploited primarily by homeowners who don't want homes built near them. 

[Bozo_Casanova 25909]

8 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

You bringing this?

Fuck around and find out

[Pato del Muerto 52117]

8 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

You bringing this?

Deconstructed hot dish: a bowl of cream of mushroom soup, some tater tots, a wedge (ok maybe an entire wheel) of cheddar cheese, and a scallion. 

[DDD Dad 14078]

1 hour ago, Ghost of LL said:

Hey, are you and @Pescado_Rojo and @Kyrie Eleison coming over to my house for Election Night drink-a-thon against this year?  If so, you better bring your top-drawer hot dish, my friend.

[MissingInAction 24431]

1 hour ago, Gatorubet said:

I would like to purchase a ticket to that event, please. 

If you wake up with your pants around your ankles would you tell anyone?

[Ghost of LL 15255]

And no--we're not having any fucking fires.

[Hank_Hill 17910]

5 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

“Invent”

hey, should we throw all of this pork waste away, or can it and sell it to poors and Hawaiians?

As a resident haole, spam is underrated. Also much higher quality and less pig assholish than your standard pork hot dog. Shit ain’t cheap. 

[Pancho 43016]

[tbone_ 13991]

Or just severely restrict exclusionary zoning or just outright ban it. We've largely manufactured the housing crisis by artificially dampening the supply through outdated land use policies that are exploited primarily by homeowners who don't want homes built near them. 

Also true. But that doesn’t change the fact that all housing is really fucking expensive to build right now. Apartments I build today cost more than 2.5x apartments I was building 10 years ago. Nearly triple.

And oh by the way, it doesn’t get built unless the profit is enough to attract capital. Guess what interest rates did to that? Caused less to be built. So guess what that does to prices?

Zoning is certainly a part. But the biggest part is cost. Land. Labor. Materials. Fees. Capital.

[gmr548 16316]

2 hours ago, TexasEd said:

On the housing situation, it's a pretty complicated topic.  What are the causes of the problems (too many funds buying up single family homes, foreign investments, etc.), what are potential side effects (crashing home prices) and how do you thread the needle of bringing more affordability without side effects?

I think we need to make sure that we incentivize home ownership by individuals and maybe that comes at the expense of the funds and foreign investment.  Is it propping up first time buyers or slowing the pace of conversion to investment properties?  Probably both.

 

We've seen what's happened in China with all the empty dwellings bought up as inflated investments.  We need to head that off here.  Not saying they are empty but the investment homes are impacting the market negatively.  

You are omitting by far the biggest culprits and focusing on popular scapegoats that do not ultimately move the market all that much.

Homeownership by individuals is extremely incentivized already. Renters are second class citizens per the tax code. 

[tbone_ 13991]

What no one says however is that really the only way to truly bring down housing costs is to somehow incentivize severe overbuilding that plunges us into a massive recession.

Only time I’ve seen housing costs actually back up in my life was the late 80s and 07-09.

[gmr548 16316]

54 minutes ago, tbone_ said:

If you really want to help housing prices, not only let them in but encourage migrants to come in to build them. Outlaw all sales taxes on all building materials in the supply chain. Force municipalities to cap building and utility fees and subsidize them with general funds. And cut all income taxes on gains on land sales to home builders and apartment developers. Treat all investments in new housing and apartments like opportunity zones.

Don’t just give people money. Cut the god damn cost.

This. Government subsidy is ultimately the answer - and these are forms of subsidy. It can take many other forms and what the best way to deploy it can be reasonably debated; but the current situation is ultimately the result of years and years of disinvestment in housing and the middle class, and is only going to be remedied in anything resembling a timely manner by a proportionally strong public investment.

[gmr548 16316]

4 minutes ago, tbone_ said:

What no one says however is that really the only way to truly bring down housing costs is to somehow incentivize severe overbuilding that plunges us into a massive recession.

Only time I’ve seen housing costs actually back up in my life was the late 80s and 07-09.

Yeah that's what happens when housing is treated as a financial asset class and not utility/infrastructure. Again, this is where government subsidy fills the gap.

[bolverk 29105]

56 minutes ago, Firemans4Horn said:

She's batshit fucking crazy. Probably will live forever on her endless supply of Adrenochrome. 
 

Miriam Adelson hopes there will be a biblical ‘Book of Trump’

Her donation also may have been on the condition that Trump would back Israeli annexation of the West Bank like he did the Golan Heights in his first term.

Free link from the Archive: https://archive.is/1bPnI

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2024-06-03/ty-article/.premium/trump-is-desperate-for-cash-but-donors-have-conditions/0000018f-df3a-db29-a3ef-ff3a27530000

[Hank_Hill 17910]

1 hour ago, immamac said:

Mea culpa probably should post less while driving in the middle of nowhere Nebraska. 

Made it to the wonderful Sioux City IA though. About to hit up the hard rock and just slayed some dogs and burgers at Milwaukee Weiner Co. 

Saw some swastikas etched into the sidewalk haha. 

Or Idk, maybe not at all??

[tbone_ 13991]

Yeah that's what happens when housing is treated as a financial asset class and not utility/infrastructure. Again, this is where government subsidy fills the gap.

Well that’s what it is. Always seemed kind of crazy to me that society would organize itself in such a way as housing only gets built when investors see enough return vs at least basic housing being regulated like a public utility. People that want to do better still could. And this coming from a capitalist housing developer.

[RomaVicta 29589]

8 hours ago, Chopper said:

I get that's a possibility, and that someone perhaps tried to make a clever political point or even bring the opposition into disrepute. OTOH taping a "hunting permit" for Hispanics specifically on the front of Hispanic-owned businesses seems an unlikely method to do so given the aggressive, violent and targeted message.

When the opposition tells you who they are, believe them. 

Are they (Trump and his supporters) racist? Yes. At least five Project 2025 contributors have a history of racist writing or statements, or white supremacist activity. One contributor wrote in his PhD dissertation that immigrants have lower IQs than white native citizens. Project 2025 contributor Jason Richwine’s 2009 PhD thesis claimed that “no one knows whether Hispanics will ever reach IQ parity with whites, but the prediction that new Hispanic immigrants will have low-IQ children and grandchildren is difficult to argue against.”  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/07/29/project-2025-racist-writing/74567007007/  - and that's the thugs at the top of the organization, not the thugs voting for 'em.

 

Are they violent (and acting out right now)? Yes.

 

Michigan is an obscenely difficult place for effective woman to hold statewide office. I take your point. Perhaps some of my Kamala optimism was making me hope something subtle was going on rather than something malign. 

Edited August 17 by RomaVicta

[cactusflinthead 27244]

@tbone_ has some good points about cost. 

The biggest hurdle for first time home buyers is putting together the down payment. They are probably paying more in rent than they would for a mortgage. I'm not seeing the problem with the 25k. 

[Pato del Muerto 52117]

26 minutes ago, tbone_ said:

What no one says however is that really the only way to truly bring down housing costs is to somehow incentivize severe overbuilding that plunges us into a massive recession.

Only time I’ve seen housing costs actually back up in my life was the late 80s and 07-09.

That’s the thing. I bought a house for 560k this year. If all of a sudden the same house starts selling for 480k, guess what that does to my home value?  Is someone going to make that adjustment to my note to reduce the principal by 80k?  And most of my neighbors?  Yeah banks will be saying no to that (even ones that got bail out money in 08).   

[RomaVicta 29589]

5 hours ago, Gatorubet said:

 

[LCHorn 2564]

1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Tie the dpa to fha loans. Then they are insured and have loan size caps built in, adjusted to regional pricing.  

Not to digress too much, but as a mortgage guy I can vouch that pretty much all down-payment assistance programs pair best with government loans (primarily FHA).  Usually the total amount of assistance, for example, is less on a conventional loan. 

 

1 hour ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Best way is to mandate density.  The problem is people don't want it. 

Totally disagree there on both points.  You don't need to mandate density--density will come organically from lessening the construction and regulatory burden in any place people want to live.  Even case steady in urban sprawl Houston is seeing density improvements with townhome and condo construction inside the loop. 

 

1 hour ago, tbone_ said:

Fuck mandating density. Let the market absorb what it wants. Just cut the damn cost.

This--and you cut the cost by giving builders the flexibility to meet market demand.  I'm pretty sure I saw this article posted on Surly but it's a good example of how a common sense reform.   

[cactusflinthead 27244]

Hotdish break in the housing discussion 

[Radical Larry 28465]

57 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

And no--we're not having any fucking fires.

Can confirm

[cactusflinthead 27244]

[Loch Ness Monster 3529]

 

Trolling MAGA 

[Ghost of LL 15255]

7 minutes ago, Loch Ness Monster said:

 

Trolling MAGA 

This is part of the point.  Demoralize them.  Let them know that they're losing.  They're losing in part because Harris has vastly more money to spend on ads than Trump does. 

These people view electoral politics as entertainment and sport.  But if their team isn't winning, they're not going to show up for it in November.  Because why would you bother showing up for a loser?

Demoralize them now; they'll stay home in November.

[BrickHorn 18072]

46 minutes ago, bolverk said:

 

“Today, we honor the service of a true American hero: Roseanne Barr in a Vince Neil wig.”

[TwiceHorn 30851]

1 hour ago, Firemans4Horn said:

She's batshit fucking crazy. Probably will live forever on her endless supply of Adrenochrome. 
 

Miriam Adelson hopes there will be a biblical ‘Book of Trump’

For the record, I don't argue otherwise.  I just thought she'd look older than that.  And 

 

[BurntOrange&White 38890]

Kamala has republicans defending price gouging. It’s hilarious. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11730]

1 hour ago, MissingInAction said:

If you wake up with your pants around your ankles would you tell anyone?

Depends.
 

And maybe some more depends.  

[Hugo Stiglitz 23247]

The GWB administration had a $10k first time home buyer investment/tax credit… can’t remember exactly how it was structured buy I got it when I bought my first house in 2009.  Democrats are stealing all the decent republican ideas again. 

[cactusflinthead 27244]

More from LP

[PenelopeWitherspoon 18508]

2 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

Why would I invite you?  Every time I'm in New York, you find some excuse not to hang out with me.  "I'm in London that week."  "I'm in Cape Town that month."  Yeah--likely story.

It fucking feels like high school again every goddamned time I got to New York.

LOL. I think the last time you were up here it was January of this year, and I was in Cambodia/Vietnam/Singapore for most of January. 

However, let me know next time you are up, and Overstory or Katana Kitten is where we shall meet.

That being said, anyone in NYC for the election, you are more than welcome to kick it at my house. Harvey would be happy to have the company, and the 400+ bottles of wine and full bar in my apartment could use a workout.

[Pato del Muerto 52117]

9 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

More from LP

Cool all the lawyers and bozo can discuss this at their hotdish potluck

[PenelopeWitherspoon 18508]

2 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

 

Are you under the impression that it’s the people who already own homes that are being disproportionally hurt by high interest rates? The people that already got into homes and probably refinanced at 2-4% during COVID? 
 

Also, there aren’t a lot of cheaper “starter homes” these days. I bought a townhome n 2014 for 215k. The person I just sold it to, sold it for 450k. My next home as appreciated like 50% since we bought it. Which is great until we curiously looked to sell it and see what we could get elsewhere only to realize we’d have to use most of those profits and move to a worse neighborhood and buy a shittier home to have the same mortgage rates we have now because of interest. 
 

Yeah, the housing market is fine. 

She’s full of shit, she’s not coming back to Texas for anything short of a funeral. 

Hmmm, come back to a state where fucksticks in the state leg (Briscoe Cain, anyone) want to effectively test women leaving to make sure they are not pregnant?!? Thanks, but nope. 

That being said, I am going to be in Texas sometime in the fall for work, and then I will be in Houston probably every other month until it gets hot as fuck again.

[Chopper 16692]

old topic, somewhat fresh info. Dale is Canadian journalist and Corey is a law school prof at KU

[closetohumping 17302]

[Macanudo 12798]

Being on oxygen is a nice touch.

[tx 3 putt 75563]

1 minute ago, Macanudo said:

Being on oxygen is a nice touch.

On point for a trump supporter 

[27-25 2030]

4 hours ago, UrbanAchiever said:

There are millions of people who can capably make a mortgage payment but can't come up with $25K for the down payment because things like exorbitant rents, child care, and student loan debt eat into any opportunity to save. And they can't hit up their parents or grandparents for the money either because they don't have generational wealth. Do these people just need to save until they're 50 to buy a house? 

This man says yes.  Keep renting at Potter's Field until then!

[The Dog 43490]

25 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

More from LP

[Sawbonz 26904]

26 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

More from LP

[SydneyCarton 47486]

12 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

Hmmm, come back to a state where fucksticks in the state leg (Briscoe Cain, anyone) want to effectively test women leaving to make sure they are not pregnant?!? Thanks, but nope. 

That being said, I am going to be in Texas sometime in the fall for work, and then I will be in Houston probably every other month until it gets hot as fuck again.

I’m sorry for your loss.