Not really. Here are a couple of big changes:

-Trump pulling out of Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal
-Trump pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement

The Syria bombings were in response to a chemical attack by the Assad government - we don't know how Obama would have responded, but I wouldn't be surprised if he responded in a similar fashion. The Saudi Arabia arms deal is mostly not real - it is a wish list that the Saudis have had for a while (some of it indeed already announced under Obama in 2015), but that they probably can't afford because of falling oil prices.

The biggest issue imo is still North Korea. The Trump administration is obviously very worried about the NK government's attempts to develop ICBM nukes, hence the deployment of three carriers (plus Japan's helicopter carrier) off the Korean Peninsula. Trump started off hot, but since then it is mostly Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis that has been making threats against North Korea.

Advanced ProTip: Don't sweat it brah.

He seems just as dumb when he is on the official government channel fox.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/24/o...democrats.html

Dumb huh?

Maureen Dowd is stupid. Democrats won a special election in California, so it's 1-4.

I love that Republicans think "This is fine" when they win districts by 6 points that they are used to winning by 25.

so food stamps plus free housing ~= 16k? is that one you mean? seems a reasonable approximation.

but is that really a life worth living? for some ppl sure. but I would imagine all but a very small fraction of ppl would much prefer to work a job to create a better life.

Also, even though it's a much smaller batch of potatoes, but Dems flipped a NH State House of Reps seat, and a NYS Assembly seat in Long Island in a district won easily by Trump.

Winning House seats held by R incumbents in Kansas, Georgia, South Carolina, and Montana is very impressive.

By the way, through 155 days, having the House in R favor by a wide margin has accomplished absolutely nothing.

I'm sure welfare can create some weird incentives, especially near cutoff points for benefits, but I don't know enough specifics about the programs to comment further.

It would be pretty ridiculous to use this as an argument for reducing or getting rid of welfare though.

You are making a fundamental mistake in thinking what you consider acceptable is what another person will consider as acceptable.

How could you or me possibly imagine the life of an uneducated, unskilled person? If you didn't graduate high school and went to jail for 5 years, what would you consider acceptable?

I know many poor people and I've sat and talked with them and had long conversations. I'm very friendly with a homeless Vietnam vet who I've known for 15 years, he hangs out in front of the bar I drink at. I give him 5 bucks every night I see him and he keeps an eye on my car for me and used to run to the store if I ever needed cigarettes back when I used to smoke (I would give him 10 dollars to do it). He's disabled and uneducated and went through hell and back. What could you or me possibly determine what kind of life he considers acceptable?

It's amazing how ignorant 2+2ers are. Yes, if i lived his life I might consider suicide, but I sure as hell don't pretend to assume he feels the same way.

is 16k/year a life worth living????? lolololol

the idea that welfare doesn't disincentive work is just ludicrous. Puerto Rico is the best example.

That's actually a pretty good post by Wil. Some people's situation is bad enough that they have accepted not needing much.

If you made 7.50 an hour and don't really see a way how you could make more than that, I wouldn't be sure you would feel the same way.

After taxes min wage would be, what? 250 a week? What could you do with 250 a week? What kind of housing and clothing and food could you possibly afford on 1000 a month?

The very idea of it is absurd, yet you speculate if someone views welfare as a decent way to live?

Also, "envelop" does not mean to come together. It means to surround completely.

Starting to think wil has an unorthodox definition of what "friend" means.

A W is a W bro. Doesn't matter what the margin is. Remember the GE.

And we're not sick of winning yet, not by a longshot.

I love how wil just like attacks from ANY direction no matter how nonsensical it is.

Yeah, he's right about Warren. The Dems should dump her, she's toxic.

Along with Pelosi.

Sure, until you realize he wants to take all of it away from those people.

AHAHA WTF LITERALLY LIKE THREE POSTS LATER...

Ok, that's so insane I must've misread more than a few things. Going in for the reread.

edit: Ok, I didn't technically misread it but I didn't take into full account how much gorilla math wil was using to arrive at a MW salary always being lower than DAT WELFARE THO.

Dr. Goodall doesn't sweat, even in the tropical jungle.

What I've seen on the high end has made me actually embarrassed. I was in a situation where the group I work in was going to be laid off due to a merger. The guys I work with were outraged we weren't offered a retention bonus to stay until the end of the year (even though the company guaranteed we would all receive a full bonus no matter what happens). They wanted to call for a meeting and demand a 50k cash bonus for each of us for the next 6 months of work on top of our regular salary, full bonus, and severance (multiple weeks paid cash for every year of service at the company). I sat and watched these people complain endlessly, while I sat there very quietly. Finally one of them said "Wil, what do you think?" I said "I grew up poor, so what you guys are even saying is completely foreign to me. If you really think we can get it, go for it." I went home and asked my wife what she thought because I was so incredulous. She said "white people are so entitled. Don't be surprised if you get it". 5 days later I received a letter asking me to sign an agreement that I would accept 40k as an acceptable retention.

Think about that for a second. People I worked with were OUTRAGED they weren't offered extra money to do their regular job responsibilities. I burst out laughing out of joy and signed it.

I've heard endless stories about situations like this. A good friend of mine who worked at Goldman Sachs told me his manager quit on the spot because he "only" received a bonus of 75k, on top of his 100k salary. Granted, he was expecting 250k as a bonus, but still. I was dumbfounded.

What one person considers as "acceptable" is wildly different than another. I don't understand why so many people scoff at the idea that someone would consider welfare as acceptable.

You dudes let this dude sneak attack you from the left.

Also, all that **** was made up but come on now you all had to know that, right? The successful sneak attack still counts.

I said I was friendly with him. We are not "friends" in a meaningful sense. He doesn't have my phone number and we don't go to each other's houses. He does, however, know me by name and knows about my family and life situation. I try to help him every time I see him and I hand him 20-50 dollars during Christmas and his birthday.

He does tell me it's his birthday 2-4 times a year, though. We both laugh when he pulls that move and I give him a few extra bucks.