US Politics Thread 2021-24

[Jimbuna]

[les green01]

i would almost rather vote for a turd in a toilet than anyone running or sitting in office now

[em2nought]

I can't think of anything that would be better than having a sitting President running our country from a jail cell. It's where our entire gov't belongs don't you know?

[mapuc]

I've been reading up on the information whether a prisoner can run for office and if people can put their vote on this person.

Here is what i discovered:

1. It's up to the congress to remover a politicians protection
2. Yes Americans can put their vote on an inmate.

The question is-Would it still be possible to vote on an inmate, if the congress has removed their protection(not the correct word)

Markus

[les green01]

im no lawyer Markus but i would say depends on what they found them guilty of if treason and starting a overthrow of the government then the office would go to vp or should

[vienna]

<O>

[Rockstar]

With democrats you don’t need to listen to a comedian’s monologue for a chuckle. Just let them be themselves and they will put on display their own willful ignorance and stupidity for a good laugh and a cry. Unfortunately, the utter ignorance of Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has placed our troops in jeopardy again. Not the best of reasons to go to war if you ask me, I wonder what Colbert would say?

Jake wrote an essay for Foreign Affairs that went to print before Oct 7. For the online version that came out yesterday, they let him not just add new material but scrub the sections embarrassed by events. Some deleted gems from the original, not available online

“The Israeli-Palestinian situation is tense, particularly in the West Bank, but in the face of serious frictions, we have de-escalated crises in Gaza and restored direct diplomacy between the parties after years of its absence.”

When Biden became president, “US troops were under regular attack in Iraq and Syria…Such attacks, at least for now, have largely stopped.”

Biden’s “disciplined approach frees up resources for other global priorities, reduces the risk of new Middle Eastern conflicts, and ensures that US interests are protected on a far more sustainable basis.”

“We have acted militarily to protect US personnel, and we have enhanced deterrence, combined with diplomacy, to discourage further [Iranian] aggression.”

the region is quieter than it has been for decades. The progress is fragile, to be sure. But it is also not an accident... [Biden's] approach returns discipline to US policy. It emphasizes deterring aggression, de-escalating conflicts, and integrating the region...”

[Jimbuna]

Was surprised to learn Pence has dropped out of the running yesterday.

[Rockstar]

Federal Real Property:
Preliminary Results Show Federal Buildings Remain Underutilized Due to Longstanding Challenges and Increased Telework

GAO-23-106200
Published: Jul 13, 2023. Publicly Released: Jul 13, 2023.

https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-106200

The federal government's office spaces cost billions every year to lease, operate, and maintain. Even before the pandemic, agencies struggled to determine how much office space they actually needed.

In this testimony, we discuss the 21.5 million square feet of usable office space—conference rooms, team rooms, and offices—in the headquarters buildings of 24 agencies. During 3 weeks in January, February, and March of this year, 17 agencies' buildings were at 25% capacity or less.

We also discuss the financial, environmental, and opportunity costs of underused office space and the challenges to addressing this issue, according to agency officials.

What GAO Found

Federal agencies have long struggled to determine how much office space they needed to fulfill their missions efficiently. Retaining excess and underutilized space is one of the main reasons that federal real property management has remained on GAO's High-Risk List since 2003. Seventeen of the 24 federal agencies in GAO's review used an estimated average 25 percent or less of their headquarters buildings' capacity in a three-week sample period across January, February, and March of 2023. On the higher range, agencies used an estimated 39 to 49 percent of the capacity of their headquarters on average.

Quartile Weekly Utilization Estimated Averages of Federal Headquarters Buildings across Three-Week Sample (One week in each of January, February, and March 2023)



Underutilized office space has financial and environmental costs. Federal agencies spend about $2 billion a year to operate and maintain federal office buildings regardless of the buildings' utilization. In addition, agencies spend about $5 billion annually to lease office buildings. Any reduction in office space could reduce these costs. Office buildings also have environmental costs that could be lowered with better utilization. For example, GSA renovated and reduced its current agency real estate footprint, which helped reduce energy consumption and costs.

Agency real property officials identified challenges to increasing their headquarters building utilization.

Funding. Additional budget resources are needed to reconfigure existing space to increase utilization and support a hybrid work environment.

Potential policy changes. Concerns about the future of in-office attendance policies and habits have caused a reluctance to reduce headquarters space.

Standards. There are no standards for how federal agencies should measure utilization to guide agency efforts.

Culture. Agency leaders can be reluctant to share headquarters space among inner-agency components or other agencies.

Why GAO Did This Study

The federal government owns over 500 million square feet of office space that costs billions annually. As the country emerges from the pandemic, the federal government has a unique opportunity to reconsider how much and what type of office space it needs.

This testimony discusses the preliminary results of an ongoing GAO review that (1) assesses the extent to which agencies utilized their headquarters buildings in selected weeks of early 2023; (2) describes the costs of underutilized federal office space; and (3) discusses challenges agency officials identified to increasing the utilization of their headquarters buildings.

GAO collected building size and attendance data from 24 federal agencies for one week in January, February, and March of 2023. GAO calculated the capacity of each headquarters building by dividing the size of the building by a per-person benchmark used by the General Services Administration. GAO then calculated utilization for each building by dividing the in-office attendance for the sample period by the capacity for each building. The percentages in this testimony are preliminary estimates based on ongoing work and are subject to change.

The General Services Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs provided comments, which are reprinted in the appendixes.

For more information, contact David Marroni at (202) 512-2834 or MarroniD@gao.gov.

[Rockstar]

Biden’s clueless National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told Jake Tapper that Biden will speak to Netanyahu later today to stress the need for the IDF to do every possible effort to distinguish between terrorists and Palestinian civilians during the ground operation in Gaza.

Why? Simply because that’s what happens when Democrats pander to Islamic terrorists. Democrats are wishy washy, scared of losing voters and will bend like like a reed in the wind to those who see Biden as the source of genocide.

[Jimbuna]

The House could turn into 'Lord of the Flies' under 'weak' Speaker Johnson: GOP insider.

The pressing need for a new budget deal to keep the government from shutting down, along with a caucus split on helping Ukraine, has all the hallmarks of handing newly-elected House Speaker Michael Johnson (R-LA) more than he can handle as he heads into his first full week in te top spot.

According to a report from Vox, there are some within the Republican Party who believe Johnson bit off more than he can chew by agreeing to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in the leadership position and more GOP chaos could be headed his way.

According to Ben Jacobs of Vox, one insider predicted the caucus will descend into "Lord of the Flies" state soon enough because the inexperienced Johnson is "weak."

As Jacobs wrote, "The challenge for Johnson is that he is going to face one tripwire with his conference even before he’s fully moved into his new office: the matter of Ukraine aid, opposition to which has become a shibboleth for many on the MAGA right. The Biden administration has proposed a major funding bill that would combine aid to Israel and Ukraine as well as funding for border security."

Reporting that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) who led the GOP insurrection against McCarthy is, for the moment, giving Johnson some "breathing room," Jacobs suggested it could be a tenuous peace.

The report adds, "Gaetz cautioned that because a recent amendment on Ukraine aid did not receive the support of a majority of House Republicans, future legislation on aid to the Eastern European country should not receive any consideration in the House because it violated the Hastert Rule, the recent tradition among House Republicans that all legislation should have the support of 'a majority of the majority.' He noted that 'the last time Ukraine funding was on the floor of the House ... [a] majority of the majority voted against it. That usually ends a measure’s prospects for consideration.'"

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) suggested that Johnson will have to assert himself to maintain control when it comes to Ukraine funding and negotiating with President Joe Biden.

“I think he’s gonna do it,” explained Bacon. “But there’s gonna have to be some good take on the border. And I think the president just can’t say, ‘I want X amount of money.’ ... He’s got to say why he wants it and make the case.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...844b1ac4&ei=38

[Rockstar]

Poll finds almost half of Americans think our democracy is broken, that political opponents should be silenced, and that we should explore "alternative forms of government."

This is exactly what the woke left has been fighting for: to divide us into warring tribes.

[les green01]

its not the form of government its the polition of today it use to be what was good for the country American people now its party line or whats good for them even people now vote for party not for the best person for the job

[Rockstar]

So true these days lol

[em2nought]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Was surprised to learn Pence has dropped out of the running yesterday.

Pence would have stood a better chance by changing parties, and running as a democrat.