"If it’s a 10-item list, it can only include so many things."
So narrow-minded. You need to liberate your agenda to become truly transformational.
You are still trying to appeal to the Democrats' traditional base, namely base ten. Granted, in base ten, a 10-item list can include only ten items. But why not hexidecimal? Why not sexigesimal! A 10-item list can include sixty items!
Once you have liberated your mind, you'll see that a 10-item list can include as many things as you like.
But by all means, eschew the traditional binary. A 10-item list with only two items is never going to win elections.
I'm sure #4 is popular, but you can take my credit card travel rewards from my cold dead hands.
As for #10, when the inevitable security leak happens and people are able to see who's viewing Internet porn, I wonder if some women would be surprised that that list includes literally every single man. (Researchers in the UK tried to study the effects of porn consumption but had to abandon things when they literally couldn't find a control group.)
I think the list should be more focused on inflation and productivity. It's what people care about, and it's also I think relatively actionable. Matt has said this elsewhere: US policy has been dedicated to "job creation" for 20 years, and that is now getting really harmful. Tariffs, "buy American", union requirements, permitting, environmental review etc.
"First trimester abortions and abortions with bona fide life or health of the mother reasons constitute the overwhelming majority of actual abortions" The other substantial sympathetic group of second and third trimester abortions is where the fetus has no or little chance of survival (or is likely to be massively disabled, like "in a coma for the rest of its life" disabled).
The case that particularly comes to mind is of a friend who had a 34-week abortion of an anencephalic fetus. For those with some Greek, that's not literally "no head", it's the absence of most of the brain and skull. It has enough brain for the minimal life-preserving requirements (maintaining heartbeat), though it requires a ventilator and to be fed through a tube. But it has no chance of long-term survival; a few weeks after birth is the most it can expect, and there is no ability to respond to stimulus. It's effectively born into a persistent vegetative state.
Anencephaly is normally diagnosed earlier, but they missed it for my friend and she ended up having a very late abortion of a fetus that had zero chance of developing into a baby. Could she have continued until birth? Sure, but why the heck should she?
I'd also want to look at making sure that women can afford early abortions. Even if that's just a government-guaranteed repayment plan so no-one ever has to save up for an abortion and so delay it.
1) energy dominance: Matt’s plan plus air conditioning and heating subsidies for low income households during hot or cold months
2) housing abundance, use the commerce clause to impose Texas style land use policies on blue states. Villainize high income urbanites who prioritize their home values over affordability.
3) A national HOPE scholarship. In Georgia, college tuition is very cheap for students who maintain good grades and almost free for those with excellent grades. Make this national. Impose stiff taxes on college administrative costs to reduce bloat and DEI bullshit.
4) First trimester abortion on demand, guaranteed access when two doctors say there is a serious risk to the health of the mother.
5) Legal marijuana.
6) Health care abundance. Open borders for English speaking doctors and Spanish speaking doctors with bona fire job offers. Federally chartered medical schools. Better pay and working conditions for medical residents. You shouldn’t have to amputate your twenties to become a doctor. Drug prices pegged to Canadian levels.
7) Tax capital gains at the same rate as labor income and use the proceeds to fund child allowances.
8) More roads and bridges for stressed out commuters. Federal laws to prevent NIMBYS from litigating construction projects. Streamlined environmental impact reviews
9) Free contraceptives for anyone who wants them.
10) Humane prisons for low level offenders. Murderers, rapists and child molestors should go to to traditional prisons. Young offenders who stole stuff or got into a fight or sold drugs should go to something like a CCC camp where they can sleep in dorms, engage in healthy outdoor labor, and mix with the opposite gender on weekends as long as they avoid drugs and liquor and follow program rules. The purpose of these camps would be more to teach clean living than to impose pain. Those who break the rules go to traditional prisons.
Basically, I take successful red state programs and nationalize them, I offer young people cheaper college and legal pot, I offer women free contraceptives and early term abortions, and I go hard on material benefits for the 10th to 90th percentiles of the income distribution.
The biggest problem is what counts as porn is in the eye of the beholder - for example, on Reddit, there's lots of people who post themselves, of their own volition, for free, in various states of undress, doing everything from standing there to various sexual acts. No sob stories of being pressured, but people who just want to show themselves off.
Now, I know, yes, sure, stop the people from posting themselves having sex for free, OK, sure. The other problem is of course, Reddit for the most part doesn't post any porn. It links to various free sites that let you post videos and pictures. Those sites are pretty good at moving to domains where American law doesn't really apply to them, and I'm sure there are incentive-related reasons why even corporations who aren't pro-porn would want to make sure that Reddit isn't on the hook for every link submitted.
But, even getting past that, what's the difference between Olivia posting herself naked in her backyard and a statue of David with his willy hanging out, except time and subjective views of artistic skill? Is a topless woman with a dildo by her inherently sexual? Etc. Etc.
I'd also point out putting restrictions on porn breaks apart the Bro-Feminist Alliance that could be once again w/ Roe being overturned. You think secular conservative dudes in New Hampshire want to input their credit card or DL # everytime they want to jerk off.
Plus, stricter regulations in places like India don't really make teenage boys act better, it just means that anything vaguely sexual on Youtube gets tons of views and lots of odd comments from Indian guys. That doesn't seem like the healthiest thing either.
One of the things that annoyed me as a teenager was that I had much easier access to violence than porn. For example, I found that deeply hypocritical that sex was taboo, but I could easily watch "Saving Private Ryan". I would guess that the number of people machine-gunned by Slow Boring commenters is lower than the number of people who have had sex with Slow Boring commenters (even though most commenters here are American, and to the best of my knowledge the US is a more violent country than the average rich country both in terms of crime and in terms of wars it has recently fought).
Can someone make a good case about why teenagers watching porn is a more serious problem than teenagers watching people get machine-gunned in Normandy or teenagers machine-gunning people on Call of Duty?
The basic assumption that it's even remotely close to the realm of the possible for government to meaningfully constrain the flow of porn on the internet is simultaneous laughable and a legitimately dangerous authoritarian impulse. Chasing that particular type of dragon creates tyrants real fast.
1. Amount of comments on the anti-porn plan suggests this one might swallow the agenda, so to speak.
2. How much does the agenda matter versus having a snappy name? I was never sure how many Republicans knew what was in the Contract With America in the 90s, but the framing was terrific in a way that, say, Build Back Better is not. So how do we brand this 10-point plan? What’s the theme?
"Voter ID laws, for example, are very popular and now have a discernible impact on election results."
Is this a typo? My understanding is that Voter ID laws actually don't have a discernible impact in recent elections, and haven't since the data basically started (unless you include like grandfather laws or literacy clauses as voter ID laws for some reason)
I genuinely wonder about the porn thing given how much porn is out there on unauthorized channels if another law could do any good.
I feel like I’d be fine with some kind of reasonable regulatory regimes involving id checks and payment verifications but I wonder how effectively you could enforce this without rather draconian measures.
People are really really good at not paying for things on computers and I mean Pirate Bay is still up despite the continuing pressure of all the creative industries in America. Like to really, truly stop it you would need to really bring down a quite stifling level of censorship.
The age thing is just a deeply weird proposal for a party with a 79 year old President. Add to it that it would obviously require a constitutional amendment it seems like a waste of one of your top ten
I like wonder about voter Id laws. Like it seems there really could be an easy compromise which is like yes you need a voter Id law and the state has a positive responsibility to make sure anyone can get one. Yes even that 98 year old black woman who was born in a one horse town and doesn’t have a birth certificate that the media drags out for these.
"If it’s a 10-item list, it can only include so many things."
So narrow-minded. You need to liberate your agenda to become truly transformational.
You are still trying to appeal to the Democrats' traditional base, namely base ten. Granted, in base ten, a 10-item list can include only ten items. But why not hexidecimal? Why not sexigesimal! A 10-item list can include sixty items!
Once you have liberated your mind, you'll see that a 10-item list can include as many things as you like.
But by all means, eschew the traditional binary. A 10-item list with only two items is never going to win elections.
I'm sure #4 is popular, but you can take my credit card travel rewards from my cold dead hands.
As for #10, when the inevitable security leak happens and people are able to see who's viewing Internet porn, I wonder if some women would be surprised that that list includes literally every single man. (Researchers in the UK tried to study the effects of porn consumption but had to abandon things when they literally couldn't find a control group.)
I think the list should be more focused on inflation and productivity. It's what people care about, and it's also I think relatively actionable. Matt has said this elsewhere: US policy has been dedicated to "job creation" for 20 years, and that is now getting really harmful. Tariffs, "buy American", union requirements, permitting, environmental review etc.
Porn seems the weakest inclusion on the list.
"First trimester abortions and abortions with bona fide life or health of the mother reasons constitute the overwhelming majority of actual abortions" The other substantial sympathetic group of second and third trimester abortions is where the fetus has no or little chance of survival (or is likely to be massively disabled, like "in a coma for the rest of its life" disabled).
The case that particularly comes to mind is of a friend who had a 34-week abortion of an anencephalic fetus. For those with some Greek, that's not literally "no head", it's the absence of most of the brain and skull. It has enough brain for the minimal life-preserving requirements (maintaining heartbeat), though it requires a ventilator and to be fed through a tube. But it has no chance of long-term survival; a few weeks after birth is the most it can expect, and there is no ability to respond to stimulus. It's effectively born into a persistent vegetative state.
Anencephaly is normally diagnosed earlier, but they missed it for my friend and she ended up having a very late abortion of a fetus that had zero chance of developing into a baby. Could she have continued until birth? Sure, but why the heck should she?
I'd also want to look at making sure that women can afford early abortions. Even if that's just a government-guaranteed repayment plan so no-one ever has to save up for an abortion and so delay it.
My 10 point plan:
1) energy dominance: Matt’s plan plus air conditioning and heating subsidies for low income households during hot or cold months
2) housing abundance, use the commerce clause to impose Texas style land use policies on blue states. Villainize high income urbanites who prioritize their home values over affordability.
3) A national HOPE scholarship. In Georgia, college tuition is very cheap for students who maintain good grades and almost free for those with excellent grades. Make this national. Impose stiff taxes on college administrative costs to reduce bloat and DEI bullshit.
4) First trimester abortion on demand, guaranteed access when two doctors say there is a serious risk to the health of the mother.
5) Legal marijuana.
6) Health care abundance. Open borders for English speaking doctors and Spanish speaking doctors with bona fire job offers. Federally chartered medical schools. Better pay and working conditions for medical residents. You shouldn’t have to amputate your twenties to become a doctor. Drug prices pegged to Canadian levels.
7) Tax capital gains at the same rate as labor income and use the proceeds to fund child allowances.
8) More roads and bridges for stressed out commuters. Federal laws to prevent NIMBYS from litigating construction projects. Streamlined environmental impact reviews
9) Free contraceptives for anyone who wants them.
10) Humane prisons for low level offenders. Murderers, rapists and child molestors should go to to traditional prisons. Young offenders who stole stuff or got into a fight or sold drugs should go to something like a CCC camp where they can sleep in dorms, engage in healthy outdoor labor, and mix with the opposite gender on weekends as long as they avoid drugs and liquor and follow program rules. The purpose of these camps would be more to teach clean living than to impose pain. Those who break the rules go to traditional prisons.
Basically, I take successful red state programs and nationalize them, I offer young people cheaper college and legal pot, I offer women free contraceptives and early term abortions, and I go hard on material benefits for the 10th to 90th percentiles of the income distribution.
The biggest problem is what counts as porn is in the eye of the beholder - for example, on Reddit, there's lots of people who post themselves, of their own volition, for free, in various states of undress, doing everything from standing there to various sexual acts. No sob stories of being pressured, but people who just want to show themselves off.
Now, I know, yes, sure, stop the people from posting themselves having sex for free, OK, sure. The other problem is of course, Reddit for the most part doesn't post any porn. It links to various free sites that let you post videos and pictures. Those sites are pretty good at moving to domains where American law doesn't really apply to them, and I'm sure there are incentive-related reasons why even corporations who aren't pro-porn would want to make sure that Reddit isn't on the hook for every link submitted.
But, even getting past that, what's the difference between Olivia posting herself naked in her backyard and a statue of David with his willy hanging out, except time and subjective views of artistic skill? Is a topless woman with a dildo by her inherently sexual? Etc. Etc.
I'd also point out putting restrictions on porn breaks apart the Bro-Feminist Alliance that could be once again w/ Roe being overturned. You think secular conservative dudes in New Hampshire want to input their credit card or DL # everytime they want to jerk off.
Plus, stricter regulations in places like India don't really make teenage boys act better, it just means that anything vaguely sexual on Youtube gets tons of views and lots of odd comments from Indian guys. That doesn't seem like the healthiest thing either.
One of the things that annoyed me as a teenager was that I had much easier access to violence than porn. For example, I found that deeply hypocritical that sex was taboo, but I could easily watch "Saving Private Ryan". I would guess that the number of people machine-gunned by Slow Boring commenters is lower than the number of people who have had sex with Slow Boring commenters (even though most commenters here are American, and to the best of my knowledge the US is a more violent country than the average rich country both in terms of crime and in terms of wars it has recently fought).
Can someone make a good case about why teenagers watching porn is a more serious problem than teenagers watching people get machine-gunned in Normandy or teenagers machine-gunning people on Call of Duty?
The basic assumption that it's even remotely close to the realm of the possible for government to meaningfully constrain the flow of porn on the internet is simultaneous laughable and a legitimately dangerous authoritarian impulse. Chasing that particular type of dragon creates tyrants real fast.
If I’m a politician, I’m going to include telemarketing spam calls as my priority.
1. Amount of comments on the anti-porn plan suggests this one might swallow the agenda, so to speak.
2. How much does the agenda matter versus having a snappy name? I was never sure how many Republicans knew what was in the Contract With America in the 90s, but the framing was terrific in a way that, say, Build Back Better is not. So how do we brand this 10-point plan? What’s the theme?
"Voter ID laws, for example, are very popular and now have a discernible impact on election results."
Is this a typo? My understanding is that Voter ID laws actually don't have a discernible impact in recent elections, and haven't since the data basically started (unless you include like grandfather laws or literacy clauses as voter ID laws for some reason)
I genuinely wonder about the porn thing given how much porn is out there on unauthorized channels if another law could do any good.
I feel like I’d be fine with some kind of reasonable regulatory regimes involving id checks and payment verifications but I wonder how effectively you could enforce this without rather draconian measures.
People are really really good at not paying for things on computers and I mean Pirate Bay is still up despite the continuing pressure of all the creative industries in America. Like to really, truly stop it you would need to really bring down a quite stifling level of censorship.
The age thing is just a deeply weird proposal for a party with a 79 year old President. Add to it that it would obviously require a constitutional amendment it seems like a waste of one of your top ten
I like wonder about voter Id laws. Like it seems there really could be an easy compromise which is like yes you need a voter Id law and the state has a positive responsibility to make sure anyone can get one. Yes even that 98 year old black woman who was born in a one horse town and doesn’t have a birth certificate that the media drags out for these.
Should 'porn' really be a priority? I thought teens were having less sex and using contraceptives more. What problem are you trying to solve?
I know this is a political platform, but at least 3 of the items (1,2, and 9) would require a constitutional amendment.