Official Impeachment Thread

[Amsel_]

@Dolan Do you think the Romanian political-class has approached these issues well?

[Dolan]

Some did, some didn't. I'd have to write a lot to explain how they managed things here.
At least, they managed to agree on the right policy objectives back in the 90s, when they reached almost unanimous agreement that the country's strategic interests lay with join NATO and the EU.
In terms of policy performance, progress has followed a zigzag line. Reformist coalitions have managed to make some steps in the right direction, but then they became unpopular because reforms tend to make you lose votes, so they were voted out of power. When the left-wing coalition comes to power, they typically start a spending spree, hiking pensions, teachers' wages, doctors' wages etc etc, until our deficit balloons and public debt starts rising too. Then people go back to voting reformist coalitions, which again start making painful adjustments, to put the economy on a healthier footing.

[Amsel_]

@Dolan What do you think the future holds for Romania? Are you optimistic?

[Dolan]

Are you completing a survey?

I can't predict the future. If Romania keeps the current growth rate, it will reach a level of per-capita income above the EU average in about 32 years, according to my algorithm calculations.
Can you be optimistic about this or just think it's meh? And that's assuming current trends will hold.

[Amsel_]

@Dolan Alright Dolan, it's been great to have you on and hear your personal insight into Romania. Coming up we'll be talking with fightingfrenchman about the importance of physical exercise for political candidates. The time is 8:30 pm. You're listening to NPR.

[Dolan]

Fk, I tripped over the mic cable again.

Thanks for the invitation and stuff.

[Googol]

@Dolan Is Romania the sucessor to the old Roman Empire ? Could it be that the old emperors were in fact, Gypsies?

[Riotcoke]

Are you completing a survey?

I can't predict the future. If Romania keeps the current growth rate, it will reach a level of per-capita income above the EU average in about 32 years, according to my algorithm calculations.
Can you be optimistic about this or just think it's meh? And that's assuming current trends will hold.

If you think that current growth rates for 2nd rate countries are sustainable you don't know much about economics.

[Dolan]

I didn't say that. It was a calculation that was meant to give an idea on how much time this country would need just to catch up with the EU average. I'm aware most of this is catch-up growth.

Spain also has a high growth rate right now and they're not exactly a 2nd rate economy, btw.

Also, nobody "knows economics", it's pretty much educated crystal ball guessing, peppered with a bit of stats just to make it look more credible. Nobody knows how money circulate through the economy, for example.

[Amsel_]

I'm so glad the dems are going to nominate this guy.


https://www.zerohedge.com/political/joe ... -admission

[fightinfrenchman]

@Amsel_ Tyler Durden is my favorite journalist

[n0el]

Zero hedge, talk about a blast from the past. Went from classic wall street greed basher to Trump deepthroater.

[fightinfrenchman]

@Amsel_ Have you seen the movie Fight Club, by any chance?

[n0el]

Fraud Guarantee

[Amsel_]

How's that impeachment coming along, sweeties?

[n0el]

Great. Every day the case gets stronger and the process draws out longer.

[Goodspeed]

McConnell publicly contradicted Trump the other day, that was nice

[fightinfrenchman]

The neocons are here to liberate us

https://cnb.cx/36651yk

[lejend]

[n0el]

Sondland flips to save his ass. Uh oh.

[wardyb1]

I can't wait to start seeing public hearings, this will be juicy. Sondland changing his story will become a usual event for a bunch of these folks I think. Also excited to hear more about the Kushner/Khashoggi event unfolding too. That could be a minefield as well.

[n0el]

I have no idea why they are rushing this. Just shows the general incompetence of Pelosi when it comes to impeachment.

[Goodspeed]

What makes you say they're rushing it?

[Dolan]

The plan is not to impeach Trump, but to keep this investigation hanging on his head for the whole duration of the pre-campaign and campaign, to make sure he gets eroded and discredited.
I mean, who wants a Mike Pence president? Gotta keep scandals coming. Never one day of respite.

[gibson]

Yea, everyone knows that trump won’t actually be impeached. It’s gonna be interesting to see which weapon is more effective come election time, democrats saying trump deserved to be impeached or republicans saying that impeachment is a undemocratic conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2016 election. I mean it’s fairly obvious which is a decent argument and which is a load of horseshit, however far more people than I thought have already drunk the “It’s impossible for trump to be wrong” koolaid