Countdown to Extinction: The 2016 Presidential Election

[Daverz]

Don't you just hate it when things go piggledy? 

Sarge

Karl is reading Fox News and shopping at the Piggly Wiggly?  Now I'm very concerned.

[drogulus]

     Florida ditches surgical standards after failing hospital donates to GOP

     Either this is just an unfortunate "correlation isn't causation" instance or it really is all for you Damien! 

[Todd]

WaPo says do away with the Natural Born Citizen requirement.  Will this now join the calls to abolish/reform the Electoral College that pop up about every four years?

[Todd]

The special relationship potentially in peril? 

(You'd think this combined with a Comedy Central roast would informally disqualify any candidate . . . )

[Brian]

Sarah Palin will endorse Donald Trump in Iowa tonight.

[Gurn Blanston]

Sarah Palin will endorse Donald Trump in Iowa tonight.

The Kiss of the Spiderwoman....

[Brian]

The Kiss of the Spiderwoman....

Reportedly, over the summer somebody asked her if Trump or Cruz were going to ask for her endorsement, and she said "Not if they're smart." Which might be the brightest thing she's ever said.

[Todd]

I hope Palin gets State.

[Brian]

I hope Palin gets State.

OK let's hear it. What is your Maximum Chaos Cabinet?

[Karl Henning]

I almost don't like to think what planet the people are on, who care whom La Palin endorses.

[Daverz]

State would be Bolton.  Bundy for interior. 

...you know, Bolton may be getting a bit old, so Pam Geller for State.  And that's Ammon Bundy for Interior.

[Todd]

OK let's hear it. What is your Maximum Chaos Cabinet?

Maximum Chaos is an empty cabinet, with Congress refusing to advise and consent on the top jobs.

The biggest risk at the cabinet level is Defense.  Get a neo-con like Wolfowitz or Graham for the Republicans, or a committed liberal interventionist like Power for the Democrats, then the level of activist chatter reaching the President's ear goes up, as does the number of bombs dropping.

At Treasury, the worst case scenario would be on the Democratic side, and would be Warren.  Paul would be the nightmare scenario on the Republican side.  (I get it, people don't like Wall Street, etc, but this is a big job that can shake the confidence of equity markets and debt markets alike, and erode the power of the dollar.  Please, no ideologues, here.)

At State, Bolton on the Republican side (Christie if you have a sense of humor).  On the Democratic side, it's hard to see anyone with as much of an axe to grind here, at least among those who might plausibly angle for the job.  Chuck Schumer, maybe.

[Sergeant Rock]

And that's Ammon Bundy for Interior.

Sarge

[Daverz]

At Treasury, the worst case scenario would be on the Democratic side, and would be Warren. 

Too hard on fraudsters.

[Todd]

Too hard on fraudsters.

I'm more concerned about her fiscal policy proposals than enforcement actions.  International business tax coordination - fuggedaboutit! 

[Daverz]

I'm more concerned about her fiscal policy proposals than enforcement actions.  International business tax coordination - fuggedaboutit!

I think the idea is from Piketty.  His own solution to the problems outlined in his book.  Unobjectionable IMO, but as you say, not going to happen.

[Brian]

A British MP called Donald Trump a "wazzock".

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/shortcuts/2016/jan/19/why-wazzock-may-be-ideal-term-abuse-donald-trump

The northern England slang term allegedly derives from the medieval practice (again, alleged) of pooping onto a shovel and then using the shovel to toss your poop out the window. The wazzock was the shovel.

[Todd]

I think the idea is from Piketty.  His own solution to the problems outlined in his book.  Unobjectionable IMO, but as you say, not going to happen.

I assume you mean the international wealth tax.  That's pie in the sky.  That's not what I was referring to.  I was referring to coordinating/converging rates, loopholes, etc - that is, real world policy changes.  Wouldn't happen under Warren, whether POTUS is Hillary or Sanders.  Corporate tax rates are too low, corporations are bad, and so forth.

[Todd]

That is one shiny outfit!  That cinches it: Trump for President!

[Brian]

Trump appears to have done the graphic design of his campaign signs himself. He certainly didn't entrust it to a professional.