Replies to post #36018 on LEE KRAMER'S ROOM: With Views

[ergo sum]

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has dropped its antitrust inquiry into four automakers that had sided with California in its dispute with the Trump administration over reducing climate-warming vehicle pollution, deciding that the companies had violated no laws, according to people familiar with the matter.
The investigation, launched last September, had escalated a dispute over one of President Trump’s most significant rollbacks of global warming regulations. The Justice Department’s move was one of a slew of seemingly retributive actions by the White House against California, as the state worked with the four automakers — Ford Motor Company, Volkswagen of America, Honda and BMW — to defy Mr. Trump’s planned rollback of national fuel economy standards.
A spokeswoman from Ford confirmed Friday afternoon that the company had been notified by the Justice Department that the investigation was closed. Representatives from BMW, Volkswagen and Honda did not respond to requests for comment. The Justice Department did not release a statement.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/climate/trump-california-automakers-antitrust.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Climate%20and%20Environment

[Susie924]

If Bernie and Liz don't support the Democratic candidate knowing full well that it will help Trump get re-elected, we will have to put them in the same space as the Senate Republicans who voted to acquit Trump.

[PegnVA]

Agree...Most voters are not as far left as Bernie Sanders, and to a lesser degree Elizabeth Warren - "free stuff" costs $$$ and to propose a wealth tax to pay for it is a losing proposition. It will interesting to see if the Dems get their act together to return this nation to normalcy. If not, there is a real possibility it will take more than this election cycle for voters to wake up and see the damage Trump is doing, including his HUGE permanent tax cut for the wealthy = cutting social programs, i.e. SS and Medicare/Medicaid for average Americans.

[SoxFan]

Liz and her supporters will but Bernie's people are a bit crazy. Many will not vote for any Dem if he doesn't win.

[arizona1]

When I listen to the rhetoric of Bernie and Liz I don’t see a way they can back Bloomberg.

They've made it pretty clear that they'll support whoever is the candidate. Bernie supporters are another matter. They're in their own cult. And although he's not my choice this time around, I personally like Bernie's policies but his supporters are not much different than trump's.

TPM: New Polls Suggest Dems Should Chill the F Out

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/new-polls-suggest-dems-should-chill-the-f-out

By Josh Marshall

February 10, 2020 3:46 p.m.

Two important new polls have come out this afternoon. They’re clarifying on a number of grounds. The first is that President Trump’s rise is the polls is at best overstated. Quinnipiac puts him at 43% approval, on the high side for that poll but the same as their previous three polls back into December. Monmouth has him at 44%. Their previous three polls had him at 43%. Just moments ago Yougov released a new batch of polls which put Trump at 41%, basically where he’s been since forever. (I put more stock in Quinnipiac and Monmouth but it’s another important data point.) Take this all together and they suggest Trump is in a relatively strong position based on where he’s been over the last three years. But there’s little evidence here of some game-changing move. Certainly nothing like the 49% Gallup found last week, which remains a distant outlier.

Quinnipiac has head to head match ups with Democrats. All the top candidates beat Trump by significant margins. Bloomberg 51-42, Sanders 51-43, Biden 50-43. There’s a lot of information that tells us that President Trump can definitely win reelection. But these numbers all point to an incumbent who has an uphill climb at best. And at least for now there’s little evidence suggesting a really different situation than we’ve had to date.

They also certainly suggest that if you think Sanders is a weak general election candidate that must be based on the predicted effects of attacks that have yet to happen. Because 51-43 is pretty solid.

The White House, in a moment of fragmentation and disappointment for Democrats, is trying to further demoralize the opposition. These numbers suggest that, technically speaking, Democrats should chill the fuck out.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287497320

#banRollingRock