Juliajms

The people who live in trailers, get foodstamps, medicare and disibility deserve what they are going to get. I'm just saying there is a big difference between blue collar workers and people living in poverty. The poor aren't really known for voting in large numbers which is why they are always getting screwed. I disagree. http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-mythology-of-trumps-working-class-support/

Who would move to NYC and take a position making $70,000 though? You do that when you are 22 and have a degree and are willing to sacrifice to get ahead. People who aren't wealthy move and commute when they want to have families. Same as SF. I had coworkers who would drive two hours just to get to work when I lived there because they were married and didn't want pay $3,000 a month for an apartment. I don't think many of these people were Trump voters. Do you vote to burn it all down when you have hope? I don't know. I guess I just have to stop trying to figure out exactly how and why this happened and just accept that it did and here we are.

You're preaching to the choir friend. I think it's pretty decent money as well. If you want to make more than that you are probably going to have to have a marketable degree in most cases. Plus you have to figure these people are living in the rust belt, so it's not like they are living in a high cost of living area for the most part. I see a lot of people on twitter railing against "trailer park trash" for voting for Trump, but I'm pretty sure that's a misconception. It's not the working poor who put Trump in the white house, it's the blue collar middle class. Also, I think more educated republicans (including white women) voted for Trump then people originally thought would. Sadly, I think it's the poor who will really be hurt the most, not that Trump will be doing anything for the middle class either. I think the best we can hope for is that we avoid a stock crash and ensuing great recession part two.

One thing that struck me is that the average Trump voter had an income of something like $70,000. So it's not like it's necessarily the people who lost their jobs were voting for him or if they did they found new ones that pay a living wage. Once I saw that number my sympathy for these people evaporated. But at the same time more than those people voted for Trump. He couldn't have won otherwise.

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I feel like they are going to do a lot of dirt and get away with most of it.

Here's some good news. Biden's "cancer moonshot" bill was passed. If you read the details it's not all good news, but I'm still happy for him and I think this was an overall win. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/joe-biden-cancer-moonshot-bill-232342

^ Totally agree. Any time they cross that line into violence they need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I know that I can't fully understand what black people go through when it comes to these groups, but I do take my child to the Jewish community center most days. You can bet after what happened in Kansas there are days when I've sat in my car and wondered if it's really right to take him to a high value target. I'm more afraid of a white supremacist with a gun than I am a jihadist. Still, I get that I have a choice and no one is going to randomly assault us at Target because of our skin color.

I guess I believe they have the right to exist. Isn't the whole point of the 1st amendment to defend thought and speech we not only disagree with, but may find abhorrent? Recently, it's certainly crossed my mind that I wouldn't mind following the European model of restricting hate speech, but at the same time seeing Trump in charge makes me wary of restricting people's 1st Amendment rights. Also, in the age of the internet I don't know how we could stop them from existing even if we were inclined to do so.

^ Yeah, it seems like a mistake to let 1 million people in and then put a restriction on their religion. I read she's trying to send 10% of them back, but still.

In other news, Angela Merkel is calling for a ban on the burqa: http://www.theatlantic.com/liveblogs/2016/12/news-today/509687/12272/?utm_source=atltw

I agree with you and I think it has happened all over the country. Sure, it's a little more shocking in places like NYC where you think people are more cosmopolitan. However, I've lived in many parts of this country and there was a pretty strong veneer of acceptance for the most part. Of course racism is always there, but now it's emboldened. People are just flat out coming out with it with no sense of shame and they even feel justified in committing acts of violence.

Ben Carson as HUD secretary. Oh boy. Ana Narvaro tried to spin it like "We'll at least someone who grew up in poverty is in the cabinet." That might be an argument if he was even a little bit qualified.

It looks like the Trump administration will be chomping at the bit to undo the DAP decision. I hope they can't though. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/us-army-corps-blocks-dakota-access-pipeline-232172

^ Yes, and now if we try to stop north Korean's nuke capability will China stand by them because of this? Maybe they would have anyway, but pissing them off all the more doesn't seem like a good idea. CNN was just talking about the situation in North Korea getting more volatile by the day.

There are also a lot of people who have given up. Something like 95 million Americans who should be in the labor market are not. I really wonder how these people are making it day to day. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/08/us-unemployed-have-quit-looking-for-jobs-at-a-frightening-level-survey.html

Maybe this is one of those times he was supposed to be taken seriously not literally? Did you see that speech in Cincinnati yesterday? He was talking about how at one point months ago he had said "Carrier is not leaving the country". So some Carrier worker was on TV saying he knew they wouldn't leave because Trump said so. Then Trump saw it and thought "Oh, well I didn't actually mean that Carrier wouldn't leave. That decision was made 18 months ago. I just meant corporations in general wouldn't be leaving." But because the guy had so much faith Trump thought he had the step in. I mean, WTF is anyone supposed to do with a man who thinks like this? He actually says something as specific as Carrier is not leaving, but that's not what he actually means? Talk about causing chaos in the international community. How is anyone going to know when the President of the United States means what he says? I cringe whenever I see an article about how we are in a "post fact or Post truth America", but it's coming true right before our eyes.

One thing that surprised me over the last couple of days was McCain agreeing with Trump that people who burn the flag should be punished. What?! Luckily it seems like a lot of people on both sides of the aisle are against it, but Trump doubled down on it today.

^ Do we even know that her voters voted on that issue? Just because it was her issue doesn't mean that's what was motivating people. Anyone really serious about climate change would have voted for Clinton, imo. Otherwise, why risk that an actual climate change denier (who thinks it's a hoax by China no less) will be elected? I just don't believe that very many people at all voted 3rd party except for people casting a protest vote. It was obvious neither of them could win. For all we know the 3rd party voters would have just stayed home instead of voting for either of the main candidates.

^ I agree, but there sure seemed to be people who hated them both. I think there were both Republicans and Democrats who cast protest votes. There were quite a few Republicans out there saying they wouldn't vote for Trump, but couldn't cast a vote for HRC. We don't know how many people from either side cast a protest vote.

If there are two phrases I never want to hear again they are "America first" and "Make America great again". This speech in Cincinnati is freaking me out. It's so nationalist in tone. That assumes those votes would have gone to Clinton and I think that's a pretty big assumption.

I wondered the exact same thing. I suspect she's just so outspoken that she can't be quiet, even when that's more likely to result in getting what she wants.

An article about living in the post truth world of Trump. http://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2016/11/trump-media/509021/

^ We don't need to waste our energy rooting against him as I see it. I honestly thought we we're heading towards a more European system where we would pay people not to participate in the job market. Isn't that really what the welfare state does after all? It's just in the USA we aren't paying a living wage or being intellectually honest about it. We allow income disparity to keep growing instead of using a progressive tax system to make sure everyone has a roof over their heads, food and healthcare. I had really become so encased in my little bubble that I had forgotten how strong the idea that everyone has to work is within American culture. It's basically work or you deserve to suffer in many people's minds, even though everyone having a decent job is unrealistic.

And good for the workers who get to keep their job. Hey, I'm not rooting against the man when it comes to economics. I'm not even rooting against his presidency in the way that Rush Limbaugh said "I hope he fails" about President Obama. I hope the dangerous hateful policies he's going to try to enact fail though. I also don't expect many people to be better off in four years.