The Political Thread

[IndigoPrime]

Another issue with means-testing is the manner in which it doesn't make sense unless done properly. You see that with child benefits. The law is that if any parent makes over £50k, they need to start paying a portion of child benefits back, which increases with how much they make. No allowance is made for the number of parents, though. So you end up in the ludicrous situation where a family with one worker on £55k is getting less child benefit than two parents each making £50k. (You have to wonder how much the state saves at all with the child benefit thing, too.)

[Professor Bear]

This is anecdotal and I haven't any links or anything to back it up, but... in your heart, don't you just know that means testing for oik dinners will cost more money than it saves?  Be honest.

[Dandontdare]

means testing is bad enough, this new idea of rape-testing for tax credits is just ludicrous - amongst the many things wrong with it, the law is coming into effect with no training, organisation or clear idea of how it's going to be assessed, and also it may inadvertently put rape victims and civil servants in NI at risk of prosecution

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/mar/16/tax-credit-clause-becomes-law-without-parliament-vote
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/apr/06/tax-credit-rule-puts-northern-irish-women-in-legal-peril-charities-say

[Tjm86]

Post it at other thread a year ago...

Scary.

As Tordelback says, nothing like a good old War to distract from issues at home.

And now we see the real thing ....
How strong are your sphincter muscles?

[Goaty]

[Rately]

"We are going to be so accurate. We have the best rockets. Beautiful. So accurate."

Oh, look over there...

[Spikes]

God was mentioned a lot in his address last night.......

[IndigoPrime]

And like clockwork, supposedly wavering Republicans now say everyone should rally around the President. Perhaps that'll distract from them rewriting the rules to install a relative extremist justice, on the basis of those nasty Democrats planning to block him, despite the Republicans recently not even considering the appointment Obama was constitutionally entitled to make.

[Rately]

God was mentioned a lot in his address last night.......

"We have the best God. Wonderful guy, big supporter of mine. Huge Support. Huge."

[JPMaybe]

The response of our own bombfucking pencil-dicked centrist shitlibs has been a joy (cf Tom Watson, disgusting walking tuber Ian Dunt, almost certainly the entire New Statesman crew). A day ago Trump was a Russian agent, bomb some brown people and all is forgiven.

[GordonR]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/roaming-charges-eu-data-europe-free-2017-a7557741.html%3Famp

This June 23rd, why not celebrate We've Got Our Country Back Day by going abroad and using your no roaming charges cellphone to have a good old moan about how the EU never does anything for ordinary people?

Then watch your mobile bill soar upwards in two years time, when  EU price regulations no longer apply!

[Rately]

The response of our own bombfucking pencil-dicked centrist shitlibs has been a joy (cf Tom Watson, disgusting walking tuber Ian Dunt, almost certainly the entire New Statesman crew). A day ago Trump was a Russian agent, bomb some brown people and all is forgiven.

Disgusting. Oh, the poor children, whatever shall we do? Bombs away.

The coming weeks will be interesting as we see whether or not Trump is as compromised by Russia as we have been led to believe. If that Russian dossier bears out, and the assorted rumours surrounding it, we might soon be seeing something truly horrifying - A Trump sex tape!

[TordelBack]

You couldn't make this crap up, except that it has been.

[Rately]

People on the ground in Syria asking for aid, fo refuge and an end to the viloence.

This is what they get.

I'm so cynical i well believe Trump could care less, and is using it to forward his agenda and quiet the critics and controversies at home. The man really is a despicable piece of scum. The fact that he has now tramped all over International Law, didn't make a case to the senate... such dangerous, dangerous times.

Those British politicians who support, or worse, remain silent on the issue should never be forgotten or fogiven.

[IndigoPrime]

One of the issues that even advocates have been noting is precisely why this intervention occurred, and how worrying that might be. It appears Trump's mind was changed by... watching telly. So he sees some Syrian child victims on Fox and then says bombs away. Although that's probably something of a smokescreen, unless he has some serious cognitive dissonance (after all, blocking entry to the US for the exact same people).