Democratic National Convention **live commentary thread**

[Peeperkorn]

This woman is annoying.

RNC >>>>>>>>>> this

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Okay, you guys have seriously got to get better introduction music.

Isn't it the intro of california gurls?

I don't know.  They had hip-hop music on a little while ago.

[Lief 🗽]

Guys, the conventions aren't very good before like 8 or 9 EST. No one is watching but us anyway.

[Likely Voter]

No one is watching but the amending of the platform (and apparent pushing through without 2/3s vote) is going to get played up big time by the conservative press and will probably also get some play in the MSM. It is an unforced error. Not Eastwood talking to a chair level of error, but it kind of shows that the party still fits the old Will Rogers quote "I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"

It also helps them play up how the Dems are not pro-Isreal enough and of course a bunch of godless heathens

[Peeperkorn]

Who is this? The old Lebowski?

[HagridOfTheDeep]

It's already being played over and over.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

No gods belong in the party platform. There is a separation of church and state.

[Peeperkorn]

The Chinese woman forgot to speak in Spanish.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

That's all well and good for you to think, Nagas, but that's not how it will play out amongst the larger electorate.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

That's all well and good for you to think, Nagas, but that's not how it will play out amongst the larger electorate.

It might stir up a couple of extreme far-right types (think JCL), but I really doubt there will be significant fallout from it. Whatever Clinton says will drown out this "issue."

The fact that the convention hall was split 50/50 is a good sign: the Democratic party is on the verge of departing archaic and meaningless props for Christianity in the platform. Sadly, the rest of the electorate is behind.

[Likely Voter]

Not sure if this was posted but here is the schedule for Wed.
http://www.demconvention.com/schedule-wed/

Here is their final 'hour'

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But there is no way they will be able to do all of that in an hour. I suspect they are shooting to have Bill wrap up the hour of primetime, so the roll call of the states will be going on pretty late.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Exactly, by replacing categorical eligibility with a capped, non-inflation adjusted block grant to the states that are seeing their budgets crowded out by the rising cost of healthcare and expanded incarceration, the effectiveness and automatic stabilizer effect has been significantly reduced by design compared to other safety net programs. At least in the following five or so years after there was a relatively good economy but unfortunately that didn't continue and of course direct-hire programs like the WPA aren't happening either.

Ugh.  I can't tell if they are just bad at handling statistics or being deliberately deceptive.

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The comparison they are making is totally inane.  In theory at least, changes in TANF caseloads should correlate to some degree with changes in unemployment, not with the maximum in unemployment.  Unemployment in Nevada increased much more in Nevada than it did in Michigan, so it is perfectly reasonable that the TANF caseload would increase more in Nevada than in Michigan.  (Actually I'd expect the correlation to be more aligned to long-term unemployment than overall unemployment.  With a properly designed public benefits program, there should be few instances of people getting both unemployment insurance and TANF.

Just like with AFDC, childless adults were ignored in the revision and when the TANF block grant is seen as a model for other programs like food stamps and Medicaid (which was finally going to cover childless adults via the ACA Medicaid expansion), you can guess what type of 'improvements' we'll see as far as coverage is concerned. The current law will probably be extended and it will shrink even further as inflation and budget cuts eat away at what's left, recession or not.

If the goal is to completely replace everything with a benefit administered via the tax system, e.g. beefed up negative income tax, then at least the party should be talking about it and addressing the access issues associated with that: lack of bank accounts among many of the unemployed/working poor, significant number of people who don't file their return or have an address, cash flow issues of annual vs. monthly payments, etc.

The cash flow problem can to some extent be addressed via making the EITC easier to access via the payroll. As for bank access, maybe if Johnson hadn't eliminated the United States Postal Savings System in 1967, but instead worked to turn it into something that provided a fuller range of services, that wouldn't be such a problem.

We are a long way from a basic income that eliminates (at least basic) poverty, something that ideally I (and I think Snowstalker) want to see the Democrats work towards.

Well, I'm not a Democrat.  Having a guaranteed basic income for able-bodied adults that is not tied to one's willingness to work is what I consider to be an awful idea.

[Mr. Morden]

Here's the video of the platform change fiasco:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cncbOEoQbOg

[Likely Voter]

CNN is reporting that Obama intervened to amend the platform and was supposedly pissed saying "why on earth was it taken out?"...sounds like someone is getting fired

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Here's the video of the platform change fiasco:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cncbOEoQbOg

What a cluster****

[Marokai Backbeat]

Dems making a big fit over it is only hurting the Democrats exponentially more than just ignoring the controversy and moving on would've been. The bitching about the God and Israel stuff would've been forgotten by tomorrow evening, but no, Democrats have to blink and try and "fix" the problem, only resulting in more problems and bad press. Always living down to my expectations.

[Peeperkorn]

Taking a picture? WTF?

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Wow, clearly not 2/3rds.

[Peeperkorn]

Here's the video of the platform change fiasco:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cncbOEoQbOg

Hilarious.

[Fritz]

Wow, clearly not 2/3rds.

That was NOT 2/3.  How could he, in good conscience, say that it was?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Yeah, Cleaver!!

[Niemeyerite]

Delegates are loving Emanuel Cleaver.

[J. J.]

Here's the video of the platform change fiasco:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cncbOEoQbOg

Hilarious.

He should have called for a standing vote.  Also, someone could have called for a standing vote.  

[Peeperkorn]

9 9 9

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Damn, he's riling them up.  I want to rent him for parties.