Blue-state Democrats are in a bind. They support a more equitable tax system, but fear, with some justification, that they and their party will be blamed if higher state taxes cause their wealthiest residents and their state economies to “head south,” literally and figuratively.

They say "with some justification," but what is that justification? Is there evidence that higher taxes causes wealthy residents to leave AND that that has negative consequences for the broader economy?

No, I get that. I understand that a lot of leftists think demosocialism is just a liberal pysyop, or whatever, which is why I couldn't understand why those people had joined the Democratic Socialists of America. I couldn't understand why there were so many people in a Democratic Socialist organization who were critical of, or outright hostile to, Democratic Socialism. It's like crashing someone else's party and then telling them they're not welcome and have to leave, which is such an ML thing to do, too.

This is why I left DSA. It was full of MLs and anarchists who hated demsocialism. Members of a demsocialist organization who hate demsocialism. Why? The only reason I could think of was sabotage. They didn't want DSA, or demosocialism as an ideology, to succeed. Well, I'd say mission accomplished. Demsocialism is pretty much dead. There are still people who call themselves demsocialists, but most of them are just New Deal social democrats (I know a lot of people think this is just semantic pedantry, but demsocialism and social democracy are distinct ideologies).

So, is this where people can go to be taught that the Earth is a 5,000 year old flat disk, and that Adam, the first human, rode around on dinosaurs (like Jesus intended!)?

It seems to me that affordability starts with housing, because it is usually a household's single largest monthly expense. And it seems to me the best way to make housing more affordable is to make it non-profit. That doesn't necessarily mean city owned or other public housing, nor does it mean tax payer funded or subsidized housing, but having apartment buildings owned by a non-profit organization that charges tenants only enough rent to cover the organization's expenses without any extra going to an owner as profit. And the thing is, non-profit housing isn't only theoretical. It exists right now, but it's relatively rare. The reason is for-profit landlords don't want it because they can't compete.

Let's say you have two identical apartment buildings, but one is owned by a non-profit housing cooperative and the other is owned by a private landlord. The non-profit housing cooperative is going to have the same ongoing expenses (property management, maintenance, etc) as the private landlord, because the apartments are identical, but rent will be lower at the non-profit housing because they charge only enough rent to cover expenses whereas the private landlord charges rent to cover expenses plus some for his own personal profit.

You could have been the greatest president of all

No, he couldn't have

You betrayed us, the Israelis.

I realize I don't necessarily speak for all of my fellow Americans when I say this, but I could not possibly care less if Israelis feel betrayed by Trump. He's not your president, it's not your government, go fuck yourselves.

And the mortgages are even higher.

So the US is going to lift the embargo on Cuba, right? Right?

A dozen cops standing around like a bunch of slack jawed morons. Great use of tax payer money.

Clinton argued that had Biden announced in late summer 2023 that he would not run, a genuine Democratic primary would have produced a stronger nominee...“I believe whoever emerged from that contest, whether it was the vice-president or a governor or a senator or anybody else, would have beaten Donald Trump,”

I doubt it. I doubt Democrat voters could have come to a consensus on a candidate. Leftists/progressives just want different things than liberals. I think liberals are so far removed from what the majority of Americans want that they're just political poison, especially in a general election. But, while some of the progressives' economic populist messages resonate with a lot of Americans, a lot of the progressives' messages on social issues do not. I don't know who would have emerged from that mess who would have done any better than Kamala.

Here's the article, for anyone interested.

It basically boils down to: Brian Thompson grew up in a working class family in Iowa, while Luigi Mangione came from wealth and went to private schools. He compares Mangione to Osama bin Laden, and other "Angry rich kids jacked up on radical, nihilistic philosophies," who "cause a lot of harm, not least to the working-class folks whose interests they pretend to champion."

The author then mentions some polling that says people like their health insurance provider, actually. And then finally he says this:

Thompson’s life may have been cut brutally short, but it will remain a model for how a talented and determined man from humble roots can still rise to the top of corporate life without the benefit of rich parents and an Ivy League degree.

Without a stitch of irony. Thompson may have come from working class roots, but that ain't where he ended up. So if it's ok to become rich, but it's not ok to be born rich, then I guess this author supports a 100% inherence tax? Yeah, somehow I doubt it.

If you live in Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, or Florida (really any of the fifty states, but these are the most critical), AND you don't want to see Donald Trump elected for a second term, you must vote for Joe Biden in November. Yes Biden is a doddering old man who is experiencing rapid cognitive decline, and yes it is totally unacceptable that these are our choices, but disengaging does not solve the problem, it only makes it worse.

Believe me, I completely understand the inclination to just say to hell with it and check out, but we can't do that. I have been as guilty of it as anyone but I now fully recognize it was a mistake. But it's not too late to make it right. Voting is not only a right, it is a responsibility. If we, the people, want to rule, we must be vigilant and responsible.

Right now, our priority is damage control and harm reduction. I know, it has been that way for far too long, and that is extremely frustrating, but it is nonetheless the reality of the situation. We must vote for Biden this year, and then we MUST stay engaged so that we can work toward nominating the best possible candidate in 2028. We must stay informed and vote, diligently, in every state, local, and primary election.

Another moral victory for Democrats. If only such victories mattered.

While law enforcement does not believe Thompson's killing is part of a trend targeting health executives, the attack underscores the vulnerability of these high-profile executives.

Yes, very vulnerable people. I mean, not as vulnerable as an elderly cancer patient who's been denied care, or a working class family driven to bankruptcy by medical debt, but, you know vulnerable to righteous retribution. Except, they're not really even vulnerable to that, since they have the resources to pay for private security.

I'm not a Gen Z voter, so I certainly can't speak for them, but I hate our country. I hate that so many Americans are being left behind. I hate that we are falling so far behind other democracies. I hate that our democracy is so flawed and corrupted, that I'm not sure it's accurate to even call it a democracy anymore. I hate that so many Americans believe that being greedy, selfish, and indifferent to human suffering is not only acceptable, but somehow "rational." I hate the manipulation and the misinformation that is very intentionally disseminated to the American people. I hate the violence, I hate the war mongering and war profiteering. I hate a lot of what IS right now, because I DEMAND better for myself and ALL other Americans.

They're a parody of themselves.

Anyone celebrating this, you HAVE to understand that the US and Israel did NOT do this because it was what the Iranian people wanted, they did it because it was what THEY want. Whether this will actually be good or bad for the Iranian people makes absolutely no difference to the US and Israel. They don't care about the Iranian people, they don't respect the Iranian people. This was a selfish act on the part of the US and Israel, not a selfless one.

If the world was warming even faster than scientists thought it would, seemingly jumping years ahead of predictions, would that mean even more crucial decades of action had been lost?

Yes. Yes it would.