“President barely passes budget despite his party holding both chambers of Congress” isn’t a major anything.

It is a despicable continuation of the November 2024 disaster, but this isn’t anything worse than what anyone with any wisdom at all saw coming seven months ago.

(It is less-bad than it could have been, in the way that food soaked in piss is less-bad than food smeared with feces. Small victories, though…)

Alito doesn’t write defenses or arguments. He writes justifications for the outcomes that his neo-pharisee dominionist buddies would most prefer.

In modern usage, the word “family” does not mean a group of people who share s common ancestor.

Instead, it refers to one or more children and those adults who take full legal responsibility for raising and caring for them.

If all Musk does is chuck money at his “baby mamas” but never actually spends any time caring for or speaking with or being a role model for his descendants, he’s not their father. He’s just a sperm donor with some money.

(I don’t know if “carry them around as assassin deterrent” is enough to qualify. The only real people qualified to judge anyone’s parenting are the adults their children grow up to be.)

Not even.

2+2=(3,4,5) is just recognizing imprecision in the original measurement.

The “budget” not matching appropriations is “I’m only going to spend 100 on lotto tickets this month, and save 50” and then buying 150 in lotto and putting the 10 you ‘won’ in savings.

It’s not the math ending up. It’s just recognizing that budgets are nonsense if the actual spending is a wholly separate act of Congress.

I assure you that anyone who ever put on a town hall debate, including the League of Women voters and definitely the TV networks, screened the questions and reserved the right to exclude anyone they chose to.

No debate or political event since well before Nixon/Kennedy has been “open to everyone”.

“town hall” is a style of event. Back when there were meaningful debates during presidential campaigns, it used to be a regular choice.

I guarantee you that they were closed events, with attendees chosen legally-arbitrarily by whatever TV network was hosting the event.

So long as he takes questions from those in attendance, it’s a town hall. Even if no cameras are allowed.

So, what rule do you think makes “congressional town halls” work differently than any other campaign activity?

So, how does it work? Does your state have a law requiring congressional “town halls” to be open to the public?

Unless the town hall is paid for with taxpayer dollars or held on government property, it’s a citizen who happens to be in Congress having a private event with their political supporters.

Same as a political party convention or fundraiser dinner,.AFAIK.

(And, depending on state law, even a function on government property may be legally private.)

This is a point well worth making and repeating.

If there isnt a law recognizing your labor rights, you serve at the whim of the executive. True in government and true in the private sector.

There’s a dramatic difference between “willing to compromise and support other democrats” and “sold out her supporters”.

You’re assuming that the dramatically segmented and stratified experience is the “exact same service”, which is patently not true.

There’s a world of difference between a black officer who managed a supply line, a white non-comp who maintained aircraft, and a queer rifeman who witnessed half his unit die to an IED. And that’s ignoring rape, gang infiltration, religions discrimination, and plain ol “was your CO a jerk or awesome?”

I can forgive virtually everything else he’s said… But suggesting Biden grant a pardon to a man who has shown no remorse or even an admission that his alleged crimes might be wrong is so far off the path of wisdom that i dont think its even fair to count his seat “blue”.

Very little, at least.compared to the opposition.

It was infested with myopic tomfoolery of a scale that can easily be described as “corrupt”, but i haven’t heard and specific allegations of anyone actually trying to lose.

Is the answer more complicated than “magazines are a dead medium and our entire annual revenue comes from our person of the year issue”, coupled with “when we did this eight years ago that issue sold gangbusters”?

If you call the police you might wind up dead or in an institution for months or weeks.

If you call for an am ambulance, you might wind up dead or in an institution for months or weeks AND will definitely have a huge bill that you have to pay.

Assuming you’re a US citzen:

0. Identiy that the fault is how we fund healthcare, not “government meddling” or “bad researchers”.
1. Pick a major political party.
2. Register as a member and find out where your local meetings are.
3. Make clear that the ONLY issue you care about is fixing healthcare.
4. Volunteer, donate, or run if you can.
5. Vote in every general, primary, or special election for whomever makes fixing healthcare a priority. Spoil if you must, but VOTE.
6. Dont fall for lies.

Fixing healthcare funding is itself broadly popular, but since its inherently unprofitable to care for sick, disabled, or elderly people all possible fixes are either “socialism” or “die quickly”

Healthcare should be like roads or schools or calling the police, not like cars or contractors or hiring a lawyer.

The one thing we can absolutely be sure of is that this dispicable con-man will do all that he can to enrich himself, without regard for any limiting principle or structural restraint.

Its not a question of “if” he “may” be corrupt, but only how brazen the supposed patriots in the Republican party will let him be as he does it.