StrangeSox

Guys. St. Jude's Children's Hospital sends out press releases to media outlets in order to promote their message. Corruption?

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 14, 2016 -> 05:26 PM) But is this a patronage issue? Seems like a "put people who care about the job" issue it sounds like we are having an institutional issue that we are blaming on actors. If we cleaned this up would outcomes be better? Isn't deeper issue our institution requires 75% fundraising time, not that people spent all this time fundraising, not this appointing fundraisers? True, incompetent hires don't only come from patronage.

There's some assuming your own conclusions going on there.

"This point" being ambassadors being patronage is from the very start, and before the late 19th and early 20th century civil service reforms that was the entire government. It's actually a lot better than it was historically. That part is really a dog bites man story. If that's too cynical for you so be it, but that's the way things are and I don't find a reason to be upset about it.

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 14, 2016 -> 03:58 PM) I guess no. I don't see it as a problem, because I assume the way to fix it is that a new administration would not be able to appoint anyone who had raised or donated money to them. Are we saying any of these people are unqualified for the position? What is the solution that would make you happy? Do you think there are some huge pool of really deserving commerce secretaries sitting around that don't get a shot because they don't have money to pay to get in? For better or worse, fundraising is a huge part of our political process which we have decided is okay, and if that is the case, the fundraisers are a pretty large part of the political team that we vote in. Look at this guys resume: http://www.allgov.com/officials/s%C3%A1nch...fficialid=29202 Seems like a pretty appropriate choice. Changing our constitution would solve the look of impropriety here, but I would guess the outcomes we receive are minimal. We all would probably just move to HEY LOOK HOW CORRUPT THEY ARE THEY ARE APPOINTING PEOPLE WHO GAVE SPEECHES FOR THEM. Heck of a job, brownie shows the problem of incompetent patronage

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Sep 14, 2016 -> 03:54 PM) I know, thats what bothers me. The lack of transparency has gotten out of control. Lack of what transparency? Pr organizations try to get favorable coverage, this is for politicians organizations charities businesses whatever.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Sep 14, 2016 -> 03:36 PM) Id imagine it just means the talking points are settled on in advance It looks like standard pr of pushing your message, every organization political or not will try to do this

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Sep 14, 2016 -> 03:23 PM) I was talking about handing out Ambassador jobs to the highest bidder for pay to play. Ill try to find some stuff about election fraud but unless the media picks it up all that will likely be out there is other people interpretations, which is why I said implied instead of a smoking gun. I guess I just don't care about the ambassadors because it's been patronage since always, and aside from some key ones that are in critical countries, they don't actually matter.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Sep 14, 2016 -> 03:15 PM) Also, Im not trying to make this partisan. I dont for one second think the GOP isnt doing this s*** too. Im just surprised it doesnt bother more people. This system is so rigged and it is only going to get worse. There are some pretty serious claims of insider trading, pay to play and election fraud implied in these leaks and we cant even get the media to investigate it because they are also implicated. If you're referring to those emails last night you posted, the "pay to play" was a term of art for the sec financial regulations and not what you're thinking. What's the election fraud reference?

Assange already said he was going to release a bombshell during her dnc speech. It's definitely not the first time he's claimed to have something and then fallen on his face. Clinton is still up more than Obama was over Romney with a larger ev firewall. She's not invulnerable, but she still is sitting pretty comfortably.

The Clinton Foundation has been investigated repeatedly and wrong-doing hasn't really been found. They do lots of actual good and have less overhead than organizations like Red Cross. Trump's appears to be grift from the top down like so many of his organizations.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Sep 14, 2016 -> 02:04 PM) What's your point and why include in the Democrat thread? Donald Trump has a long history of being super creepy about Ivanka including saying he'd like to bang her if she wasn't his daughter. It's creepy/funny. Note the sensualized look on her face and that they're staged next to a statue of two parrots f***ing. It's in this thread because the Dem and Rep threads are supposed to primarily be partisan "safe spaces" where you're free to take shots at the other party. That's broken down a lot this year, but I'm still not going to fill the Rep thread with silly potshots at Trump/other GOP people. Same reason I posted the NC GOP letter here. e.g. something like "HRC applauds more welfare to Israel" historically 'doesn't belong' in the Dem thread, and it was mostly greg that broke down these barriers.

"She's a friend I respect and here are the reasons she is awful" is a pretty good email

Like the "SEC PAY TO PLAY" thing, it's probably not what it seems like at a glance otherwise someone would have made an issue of it in the last 7 years.

Looks like those have FEC filing numbers associated so not really new information? If it's an FEC filing it's been public since it's been filed.

ACC pulls their championships out of NC, following the NCAA's move.

"Ambassadorships have always been patronage positions" isn't muddying the waters, it's stating reality.

NYT is hot garbage

Aren't education levels higher than ever these days?

trump campaign backpedalling on revelaing his medical records with Dr. Oz makes me wonder if his most recent physical results were not so hot. Part of the reason I didn't think clinton's stumble was going to matter more than a few days.

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 14, 2016 -> 09:18 AM) Re: skills. 2008 moved a lot of former construction workers to other industries (or dropped out), now there is a shortage of construction workers, and so far they aren't matching up. May be what SS is alluding to in terms of geographical mismatch right now. Small towns and rural areas as a whole are dying right now because everyone younger is fleeing them for suburban and urban centers.

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 12, 2016 -> 02:40 PM) By the way here is more insanity on the trump foundation: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how...db62_story.html Fahrenholdt has been doing pretty difficult but classic journalistic legwork. Very interesting stuff here: First, he stopped giving his own money. His contribution shrank to $35,000 in 2007. Then to $30,000 in 2008. Then to $0. At the same time, Trump’s foundation began to fill with money from other people. But in many other cases, his biggest donors have not wanted to say why they gave their own money, when Trump was giving none of his. “I don’t have time for this. Thank you,” said Richard Ebers, a ticket broker in New York City who has given the Trump Foundation $1.9 million since 2011. “No. No. No. I’m not going to comment on anything. I’m not answering any of your questions,” said John Stark, the chief executive of a carpet company that has donated $64,000 over the years. Vince and Linda McMahon declined to comment. NY AG opening an investigation into the Trump Foundation http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-elect...nprofit-n647896

The Fiery Trial is a great book on Lincoln's views throughout his life

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Sep 13, 2016 -> 11:28 PM) That particular email has Google hits back to July, not really seeing any Google news links with anything all that negative right now? For that specific email, "pay to play" seems to have specific legal SEC definition here and not necessarily the common connotation https://www.sec.gov/divisions/investment/pay-to-play-faq.htm