OK then.

So the new CDU Party Leader #CDUvorsitz is known - it's Armin Laschet.

This 🧵 will explain why he won, explain what he means, and outline what happens next.

1/20

At the CDU's party congress today, the three candidates - Laschet, Friedrich Merz & Norbert Röttgen - gave 15 min speeches

That was the first signal of what was to come... Today we saw the very best of Laschet - playing the reliable, careful person, not heavy on detail

2/20

Merz by contrast gave an ill focused speech, and did not make a single reference to Merkel or AKK, the outgoing party leader. He seems to have learned nothing

Röttgen, long the outsider, gave a speech with a lot more detail - especially on green issues and the future

3/20

1001 Delegates - these were the results

Round 1 🗳
Merz 385
Laschet 380
Röttgen 224

Round 2 🗳
Laschet 521
Merz 466

About 1/3 of Röttgen's vote went to Merz, 2/3 to Laschet

4/20

It's important to emphasise how absolutely *average* Laschet is in the CDU. If you were to imagine your archetypal CDU politician it would be him. Not to edgy, not too sharp, not too radical, not too conservative, not too dashing... it would be him

5/20

Thread – Excerpt from a 30 Jan Ross Rant

1. These following is an excerpt from a recent “Ross Rant.” Joel Ross publishes these periodic reports that provide commentary on the changing scene with an eye toward wise future investments.

Keir Starmer giving his most important speech yet-laying out his vision for the future.

“The Conservatives say they want to build back. But I don’t want to go back. You can’t return to business as usual. And certainly not back to an economy rooted in insecurity and inequality.”

"The foundations of our society have been weakened over a decade...even before the pandemic life expectancy had stalled for the first time in a century. Child poverty had shot up to over 4 million. A child growing up in a deprived areas of the North East can expect to live for.."

"...five fewer years than a deprived child brought up in a deprived area of London. What sort of legacy is that for a party which has been in govt for a decade? That life itself got cheaper. And shorter."

"During the last year my thoughts have returned time and time again to the wartime generation. Those who suffered the horrors of WW2, who rebuilt Britain from the rubble of the Blitz, created the NHS and built millions of homes fit for heroes. And I contrast that...

"...to those exposed to Covid in underfunded care homes, unable to say goodbye to families and to loved ones. How can the PM look those families in the eye and say 'we did everything we could'? When the truth is the Tories failed to fix social care for a decade?"

GOOD MORNING PATRIOTS

THE ARRESTS ALREADY HAPPENED

Q34 Yes, it happened while you were sleeping the Veterans Day weekend of November 9th 2018

Q856 On 11.11.18 Trump was parading at the cemetery with our fallen military patriots at American Cemetery of Suresnes France.

Yeah I know. I know!

SAUCE! lol

Learn that it isn’t your eyes that lie to you, it’s in your mind. (Maybe Q’s word games)

And “during this time” the “Initiating” of the President’s Emergency Broadcast System began.

(Q you are a wordsmith)

And yeah, Mr Podesta (Tony) was in secret proceedings with the New York prosecutors and arrested on 11.3.18
(Hasn’t been seen since)

Okay okay, I don’t have sauce because it was secret but listen to Tucker use a fake news trick called “sources” on 11.4.18

Read Q 34. Nice and slow. Think multiple meanings.

Why is Johnson's speech at the Munich conference hailed in some quarters, even by some journalists that should know better, as "a major policy speech" with "substance"? I went to read it expecting for once to be pleasantly surprised. Alas! Thread

It is full of the usual misplaced optimism not backed by any serious analysis, jingoism & digs at other EU leaders with transparent, nearly servile efforts to regain favour with the new US administration. A few examples:

The speech starts with the trademark rethorical device beloved of the UK right (whether to attack "woke' culture or pro-EU sentiments): A wildly exaggerated overblown simplistic statement that you then go on to "disprove"

So a dig aimed at Macron for saying NATO needs to adapt to changing circumstances and flattery towards America : "As you’ve seen and heard earlier, America is unreservedly back as leader of the free world and that is a fantastic thing."

Then the self- agrandissements : notice all the "I" & "Global Britain"

Things the GOP did not find "divisive": Launching an insurrection against the US government, seeking to disenfranchise 81 million Americans, seeking to negate the votes of entire states, seeking to negate the votes of African Americans, attacking the Capitol...

...killing Capitol police officers, inciting a riots that claimed five lies, participating in the largest act of domestic terrorism in US history, hunting down Congresspeople in the halls of Congress, supporting and defending white supremacists...

...supporting and defending Neo-Nazis, turning US federal force against peaceful demonstrators across the country, calling Mexicans rapists, discriminating against Muslims, putting children in cages, ending protections for children born innocently in the United States...

...promoting economic policies that help only the rich in America and fostering the worst inequality in our history, seeking to stigmatize those who sought to do the right thing to protect America from a deadly pandemic...

contributing to the spread of a disease that has killed hundreds of thousands--disproportionately people of color & the elderly, seeking policies that deny COVID relief to states with Dem leadership, seeking to help only those close to the GOP leadership with COVID relief...

1/9

While debt-to-GDP ratios already have a limited but very misunderstood use, it seems economists are finding bright new ways of misunderstanding them. Now we say that when nominal interest rates are lower than nominal growth rates, the

2/9

downward pressure on the debt-to-GDP ratio makes rising government debt and larger government deficits more sustainable and more easily justified.

This is totally confused. When the nominal interest rate is lower than the nominal GDP growth rate, it only means that net...

3/9

borrowers are getting a disproportionate share of growth relative to net lenders. This in and of itself changes the comparability of the debt-to-GDP ratio, so the fact that the ratio may decline tells us nothing about its sustainability which, I'm glad to say, isn't...

4/9

a mistake Olivier Blanchard makes in this article.

At least three things matter. First, whether or not rising debt is sustainable depends almost wholly on underlying conditions in the real economy, and only trivially on the arithmetical relationship between...

5/9

the interest rate and the growth rate. Second, this approach simply assumes away financial distress costs, in which case debt capacity is infinite anyway and the interest rate becomes irrelevant. And third, it assumes that the nominal debt level matters independently...

1/7 #JohnRoberts is in big trouble. So is anyone who went to Epstein Island & they're all connected. The FBI found children's bones under the temple, they have it all.

#EpsteinIsAlive #HoldTheLine #Redpill #ConcedeJoe

https://t.co/PRZX7eM2qw

Principle of FEDERALISM in US Constitution DOESN'T refer to a strong central FEDERAL government

(e.g. in many other countries such as Russian Federation, Pakistan, India etc.)

Instead, it refers to a loose "Federation" based on a minimum-yet-optimal "FEDERAL" Constitution :

Tying together multiple strong, individually self-sufficient state governments.

Going back to the days of founding of the nation, referencing the original "Federalist Papers",

Alexander Hamilton-John Adams "Federalist Party" faction

& their vigorous, spirited & @ times violent debates w/ Thomas Jefferson-James Madison Democrat-Republican faction :

It was Hamilton's Federalist faction that emerged as losers in the early years.

Hamilton's FEDERALISM idea was in fact of a strong central FEDERAL government similar to the Russian Federation of today.

Jefferson-Madison faction emerged as winners in the early years.

However, it's obvious that the nation has strayed very far away from the principle of FEDERALISM as envisioned by those Jefferson-Madison winners from the early years.

Sources : TN CM Edappadi Palanisamy, who claims to run “Amma’s government” has decided to accord the ceremonious farewell parade to disgraced police officer Jaffar Sait, who retires on 31.12.2020. While all DG level officers are eligible 1/n

for this parade on their retirement, no such honour was accorded to the DGPs who had retired in the recent past. A few of them are Ashok Kumar, SR Jangid, S. George, Ashish Bhengra, Asuthosh Shukla, Sri Lakshmi Prasad, RC Kudawla etc. 2/n

Rehearsal for Jaffar Sait’s ceremonious farewell parade is being held from 21.12.2020 at Avadi TSP Battalion grounds till date and the rehearsal would continue till 30.12.2020 say sources.

Edappadi Palanisamy should remember that Jayalalitha, 3/n

in 2011, immediately on assumption of her charge as CM in 2011, transferred Jaffar Sait to a post in the rank of Sub-Inspector of Police – Special Officer Mandapam Special Camp for Sri Lankan Refugees. 4/n

DVAC registered two criminal cases against Jaffar Sait on 23 July 2011 and he was suspended on 1st August 2011 and his headquarters was fixed as Ramanathapuram. Jayalalitha didn’t even allow him to come to Chennai. 5/n

Our Federal Government doesn't need revenue. Taxes serve as a gas pedal or brake for an economy. They drive the need for currency. They stave off inflation and can be used to break up pooled concentrations of wealth that are destructive to a functioning democracy and economy.
1/x

So what's the fuss about marginal income tax rates and "fair share"? Why the chatter about how will the government get money to fund its operations?

First we must decouple the idea that spending and taxing are linked. Taxes are not a financing operation at the federal level. In fact, taxes are destroyed upon receipt. You see, the dollar is nothing more than a tax credit. A unit of measure. Just like a run in a baseball game

All government spending is new money. Every cent. From social security to government contracts. All new money. Accounts are merely debited & credited. Marked up or marked down. Congress issues instructions to the Fed who makes deposits in the Treasuries accounts & spending ensue

Second, wealth inequality destroys a functioning society. You can easily see how the issue began in earnest in the 1970s and went absolutely crazy in the 1980s as government spending withered on the people and deregulation became the norm.

Some thoughts on the recently announced Critical Worker Benefit. Grab a coffee☕️ #ableg cause this is going to be a thread.🧵

First, let me say that I'm glad @jkenney is finally spending the money @JustinTrudeau sent AB. Overall, this is a good thing. But I have...questions
1/9

First, let's temper our praise here... The Fed Govt sent $$ to every province in MAY 2020 earmarked for critical workers.
This money was always destined for Albertans and Kenney sat on it while other provinces got it out to the workers that needed it.

Why do private sector employees have to rely on their employer to apply and distribute Gov't funds? That seems like a...strange...decision.

What if an employer doesn't know or doesn't bother? What if they don't distribute it properly? Is there any recourse? Just...strange. 3/9

Do employers have to deduct tax? CPP? EI?
What if somebody worked 300 hours during the qualifying period but no longer works for the employer?

Are payroll departments expected to set up a new earnings code just for a one time payment in Alberta? 4/9

What counts to the 300 hours worked between Oct-Jan? Vacation? Sick time? Disability? Leaves of absence?

Or is it strictly hours physically at work?

What if your employer reduced hours or even worse, laid people off? You're outta luck when you need it most? Neat! 5/9

During my career as a prison boss if I could of implemented a safe injecting room I could have saved many lives & minimised the spreading of communicable diseases such as Hepatitis C virus (HCV) where the prevalence in NSW prisons is 20-30 times higher than in the community.

Criminalisation of drug use results in the mass incarceration of people who use drugs. Illicit drug offences represent the second most common offence for custodial sentences in Australia.

There are currently no needle and syringe programs (NSPs)operating in any Australian prisons. This is despite a growing body of international research clearly demonstrating that NSPs have been shown to be safe, beneficial and cost-effective within a variety of prison settings.

Australia cannot afford to continue to avoid the serious implications of not implementing prison-based NSPs, both to protect prisoners’ health and human rights, and to limit the spread of BBVs as individuals are released back into the community.

The vast majority of injecting episodes inside prisons occur with shared injecting equipment – a practice identified to be one of the most effective ways to transmit HIV and HCV.12. I have found needles that have been used by multiple inmates for months on end.

@LambeJerry Question for you: On Monday, Congress announces it's going to vote to impeach a federal judge on Wednesday. The president of the United States decides to issue a preemptive pardon of the judge on Tuesday. According to you, there's no problem, right, as there was no impeachment?

My thinking on this is identical to that of a law professor at Northwestern University who published his opinion in the NYT. But that wasn't mentioned in your piece. It's also odd that you believe the impeachment exception has nothing *really* to do with separation of powers.

You couldn't possibly think the impeachment exception has anything to do with separation of powers, as according to you and the small number of attorneys you cited, the impeachment exception isn't *actually* about keeping the president from interfering in the impeachment process.

Per you, the impeachment exception to the Pardon Clause of the United States Constitution is just a *narrow administrative cutout* to make sure that a President doesn't cause the Congress to have...what, have wasted their time? I'd love to see an argument for that interpretation.

I've read the documents surrounding the creation of both the Pardon Clause and the impeachment exception. The framers were explicitly concerned about the sort of situation we have encountered now—which is entirely unlike the situation in Garland. Your legal analysis is facile.