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Beto O'Rourke announces presidential run


Still Waters

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Beto O'Rourke announced he is running for president, entering the 2020 race with a call for Americans to look past their differences in order to confront the challenges facing the country.

 

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So im not very politically savvy, is he one to watch, does he have a shot?

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Here are a few of his policies as listed on Wiki;

Crime

Spoiler

In an essay he wrote for Houston Chronicle he repeated a common refrain of his campaign,[140] that "Harris County Jail is the largest provider of mental health services in our state," and quoted the statistic that "the jail has more people receiving psychiatric treatment every day than the nine state mental hospitals in Texas combined."[141] He proposed that politicians work to eliminate private, for-profit prisons, end the "war on drugs," stop using mandatory minimum sentencing for non-violent drug offenses, end cash bail that disproportionately affects those unable to pay bail with longer jail sentences,[142] and provide reentry programs to reduce recidivism for non-violent criminals.[141]

Drugs

Spoiler

O'Rourke favors the legalization of cannabis.[143] In 2011, O'Rourke co-authored a book, Dealing Death and Drugs: The Big Business of Dope in the U.S. and Mexico, which in part argues for an end to the prohibition on marijuana.[144][145] He has called for the arrest records of individuals sentenced for possession of small amounts of cannabis to be expunged.[142] During the 2018 Senate campaign, O'Rourke's opponent, Ted Cruz, claimed that O'Rourke sought to legalize heroin; in 2009 when he was an El Paso city council member he called for "honest, open national debate on ending the prohibition on narcotics".[142]

Guns

Spoiler

On the evening of June 22, 2016, O'Rourke participated in the sit-in in the House of Representatives that attempted to force a vote on gun control legislation. When the Republicans ordered C-SPAN to turn off its normal coverage of the chamber, O'Rourke and Representative Scott Peters transmitted images by cell phone to social media for C-SPAN to broadcast.[164]

He supports universal background checks for gun purchases.[165] On March 7, 2018, O'Rourke told Alisyn Camerotaof CNN: "We have a great tradition and culture of gun ownership and gun safety for hunting, for sport, for self-defense... I think that can allow Texas to take the lead on a really tough issue, which the country is waiting for leadership and action on."[166] He has called for a complete ban on assault rifles.[167]

He's close to riding the center line. More so than most of the other candidates, anyway. He recognizes the need for gun ownership and wants to end the war on pot. Mind you, Obama ran on a platform of supporting whistle blowers and we all know how that turned out. If Beto gets in to Office, I expect his policies to mutate in to something much closer to what we have seen the last 20 years.

Edited by Dark_Grey
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52 minutes ago, OverSword said:

Didn't he just lose an election in his home state?

Narrowly, to Ted Cruz (51% to 48%).

Edit: He was also a bassist in a punk band. :ph34r:

 

Edited by Likely Guy
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Trumps right though...

Beto and AOC need to relax a bit with the hand action,they are gonna wind up in a slight breeze one day and fly away at the rate they are going :lol:

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1 hour ago, CrimsonKing said:

Trumps right though...

Beto and AOC need to relax a bit with the hand action,they are gonna wind up in a slight breeze one day and fly away at the rate they are going :lol:

I imagine that would be less of an issue if their hands were significantly smaller.... :whistle:

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2 minutes ago, Setton said:

I imagine that would be less of an issue if their hands were significantly smaller.... :whistle:

Good one :tu: :lol:

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Jay Inslee is the Governor of Washington and also running for president.  He's served as a congressman and governor with a proven track record as governor of a wealthy state that works successfully with big business and has taken many steps toward a greener economy but doesn't get near the attention of this guy.  Is it because the name Beto is ear catching I wonder?  I'm thinking that Beto isn't nearly as qualified as Jay.  This morning I heard the CBS morning show say the democratic party is very enthusiastic about him because they see him as a guy that can raise a lot of funds.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't vote for Inslee, I don't vote for democrats or republicans I'm just wondering what makes this guy the sudden center of attention?

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14 minutes ago, OverSword said:

I'm thinking that Beto isn't nearly as qualified as Jay.

Beto has that "aw shucks", Barney Fife way about him that some folks (unlike me) find appealing.

Jay Inslee has an annoying speech impediment that make some folks (like me) want to slap his face to get him to stop talking.

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2 hours ago, Likely Guy said:

Narrowly, to Ted Cruz (51% to 48%).

Edit: He was also a bassist in a punk band.

Beto also spent almost twice as much in campaigning so maybe not as close as the numbers make it appear. 

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2 minutes ago, hacktorp said:

Beto has that "aw shucks", Barney Fife way about him that some folks (unlike me) find appealing.

Jay Inslee has an annoying speech impediment that make some folks (like me) want to slap his face to get him to stop talking.

Yeah, right! :D  He talks out of the side of his mouth.  You should have seen the gubernatorial debates 4 years ago vs our former state attorney general.  Inslee got smoked but we are just sooo blue here that Inslee won anyway.

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30 minutes ago, OverSword said:

Yeah, right! :D  He talks out of the side of his mouth.  You should have seen the gubernatorial debates 4 years ago vs our former state attorney general.  Inslee got smoked but we are just sooo blue here that Inslee won anyway.

Haha...yes, I saw it.  Poor bast'd can't even say his own last name without contorting his face and spraying saliva.

Anyone who debates Inslee should challenge him to say "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" for all of America to see.

 

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3 hours ago, Likely Guy said:

Narrowly, to Ted Cruz (51% to 48%).

Edit: He was also a bassist in a punk band. :ph34r:

 

So he ends up being boring despite his passion?  

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1 hour ago, Gertdoggy said:

Beto also spent almost twice as much in campaigning so maybe not as close as the numbers make it appear. 

But didn't accept any PAC money and the money raised came from 800,000 individuals, mostly Texans.

He also won't make the same mistake Clinton did because he visited every county in Texas at least once during the campaign.

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4 minutes ago, travelnjones said:

So he ends up being boring despite his passion?  

What's wrong with boring?

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in 2015, iirc correctly, i created trump is running for prez, thread, and he won,  same will happen this year, i just haven't decided who i want to win , lol

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2 hours ago, aztek said:

in 2015, iirc correctly, i created trump is running for prez, thread, and he won,  same will happen this year, i just haven't decided who i want to win , lol

Save some time and just pull up your old thread again.

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11 hours ago, Dark_Grey said:

Here are a few of his policies as listed on Wiki;

Crime

  Hide contents

In an essay he wrote for Houston Chronicle he repeated a common refrain of his campaign,[140] that "Harris County Jail is the largest provider of mental health services in our state," and quoted the statistic that "the jail has more people receiving psychiatric treatment every day than the nine state mental hospitals in Texas combined."[141] He proposed that politicians work to eliminate private, for-profit prisons, end the "war on drugs," stop using mandatory minimum sentencing for non-violent drug offenses, end cash bail that disproportionately affects those unable to pay bail with longer jail sentences,[142] and provide reentry programs to reduce recidivism for non-violent criminals.[141]

Drugs

  Hide contents

O'Rourke favors the legalization of cannabis.[143] In 2011, O'Rourke co-authored a book, Dealing Death and Drugs: The Big Business of Dope in the U.S. and Mexico, which in part argues for an end to the prohibition on marijuana.[144][145] He has called for the arrest records of individuals sentenced for possession of small amounts of cannabis to be expunged.[142] During the 2018 Senate campaign, O'Rourke's opponent, Ted Cruz, claimed that O'Rourke sought to legalize heroin; in 2009 when he was an El Paso city council member he called for "honest, open national debate on ending the prohibition on narcotics".[142]

Guns

  Hide contents

On the evening of June 22, 2016, O'Rourke participated in the sit-in in the House of Representatives that attempted to force a vote on gun control legislation. When the Republicans ordered C-SPAN to turn off its normal coverage of the chamber, O'Rourke and Representative Scott Peters transmitted images by cell phone to social media for C-SPAN to broadcast.[164]

He supports universal background checks for gun purchases.[165] On March 7, 2018, O'Rourke told Alisyn Camerotaof CNN: "We have a great tradition and culture of gun ownership and gun safety for hunting, for sport, for self-defense... I think that can allow Texas to take the lead on a really tough issue, which the country is waiting for leadership and action on."[166] He has called for a complete ban on assault rifles.[167]

He's close to riding the center line. More so than most of the other candidates, anyway. He recognizes the need for gun ownership and wants to end the war on pot. Mind you, Obama ran on a platform of supporting whistle blowers and we all know how that turned out. If Beto gets in to Office, I expect his policies to mutate in to something much closer to what we have seen the last 20 years.

I think the main difference is that, if I remember correctly, Beto isn't owned by any corporations or people. All his funding basically came from small donations. The reason other politicians' policies 'mutate' is because they have to tow the line.

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More than anything the Democrats lost the last election by splitting the vote. The Clinton/Sanders rift being the most notable.

If they go and throw a pile of bickering children into the mix again then they are going to lose just as badly once again.

Especially if Bernie decides to screw everything up again.

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13 hours ago, ExpandMyMind said:

I think the main difference is that, if I remember correctly, Beto isn't owned by any corporations or people. All his funding basically came from small donations. 

This thread is the first I've heard of this guy. IF he can go the distance, his private funding will go a long way. As long as he doesn't try and stop the war machine or fudge with the big banks, he should be fine. He's still a straight white male at the end of the day but nobody's perfect.

Quote

The reason other politicians' policies 'mutate' is because they have to tow the line.

This is true. But I think there's more to it than just paying back borrowed donations. There is way too much business on the line and far too much incentive to keep things going as they are to let one man, the President, arbitrarily decide to turn off the flow for everyone involved. If he has a family, as the President always does, he can be compromised. People have been killed for far less lucrative political reasons.

It wasn't long ago that Trump was bragging he was going to finally pull our troops out of Syria. It was less than 2 weeks later and he completely changed his position. We are staying in Syria. 

Maybe his Generals explained the true nature of the fight to him and that was enough. Or maybe there is so much damn money in war that several somebodys with dual citizenship pulled him aside and reminded him of who's really in charge. Hard to say and none of us will probably ever know. It's so incredibly difficult to change this current system from within.

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