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Serious SOTU thread

And that's partly the issue with shitty cops. Money. You want better cops, cops that match Fed cop qualifications, you need bigger budgets. If you have 800,000 cops - many of whom were hired by fulfilling a GED and age requirement - you have to expect issues
Even if you start offering bigger salaries, it takes time to hire and then have those cops work their way through the system. I'd guess at least a decade. Most politicians or people, for that matter, aren't that far sighted. They want results in the short term, and if they don't get it, they move onto the next shiny policy.

Teachers are a great example: everyone says we need to pay teachers more to attract smarter, better hires. I agree. But it takes time for that to work and paying the current teachers* more doesn't result in better teaching, necessarily (maybe in some type of competitive bonus structure it would?).

*not saying all current teachers are bad; just saying that in the aggregate, higher money incentives will attract more talent. And yes, I'm now dropping footnotes in my message board posts. I understand the silliness of that.
 
And that's partly the issue with shitty cops. Money. You want better cops, cops that match Fed cop qualifications, you need bigger budgets. If you have 800,000 cops - many of whom were hired by fulfilling a GED and age requirement - you have to expect issues
This especially hits smaller communities more where OT & part-time employment is less available to non-existent.

This is the IMPD salary schedule.

Not bad for a base salary, actually compares favorably to US Army.

On top of that, there are all kinds of OT grant work available (e.g., DUI patrols Th-Sa), special events around the city, & deposition/court time. PLUS, lots of places looking to hire part-time security (e.g., Broad Ripple & night clubs on the regular).

An IMPD Sgt. was one of the top-5 highest paid Indianapolis City employees for several years in the last 10. He worked a TON, but he was able to make a good living.

Small towns just don't have those opportunities for extra money and I'm sure their pay scale isn't $70k plus base for an officer his first year as a full-on cop off of his trainee & probationary years.
 
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This especially hits smaller communities more where OT & part-time employment is less available to non-existent.

This is the IMPD salary schedule.

Not bad for a base salary, actually compares favorably to US Army.

On top of that, there are all kinds of OT grant work available (e.g., DUI patrols Th-Sa), special events around the city, & deposition/court time. PLUS, lots of places looking to hire part-time security (e.g., Broad Ripple & night clubs on the regular).

An IMPD Sgt. was one of the top-5 highest paid Indianapolis City employees for several years in the last 10. He worked a TON, but he was able to make a good living.

Small towns just don't have those opportunities for extra money and I'm sure their pay scale isn't $70k plus base for an officer his first year as a full-on cop off of his trainee & probationary years.
Definitely not. The attractiveness of the gig here helped by lifting a residency requirement. But again here there are 90 munis. Basically 90 Ferguson's. Many pay in the 30s
 
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This especially hits smaller communities more where OT & part-time employment is less available to non-existent.

This is the IMPD salary schedule.

Not bad for a base salary, actually compares favorably to US Army.

On top of that, there are all kinds of OT grant work available (e.g., DUI patrols Th-Sa), special events around the city, & deposition/court time. PLUS, lots of places looking to hire part-time security (e.g., Broad Ripple & night clubs on the regular).

An IMPD Sgt. was one of the top-5 highest paid Indianapolis City employees for several years in the last 10. He worked a TON, but he was able to make a good living.

Small towns just don't have those opportunities for extra money and I'm sure their pay scale isn't $70k plus base for an officer his first year as a full-on cop off of his trainee & probationary years.
I've been tied in with cops for years. The ability to work secondary depends on the department. Not all get that luxury/misery. Most in the bigger cities do it for the pension. If they F'd with the pension here few would do it. As it stands taking half your pay at 40 ain't bad. Throw in a few lump sum injury checks and it's a living. Some of these guys who are smart end up bouncing around and get 3 or 4 pensions when they retire
 
Why do internet providers need money from taxpayers? Ukraine people once again shows us how it is done. I just cannot believe this kind of product could be rolled out without US govt. help.

 
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Why do internet providers need money from taxpayers? Ukraine people once again shows us how it is done. I just cannot believe this kind of product could be rolled out without US govt. help.

I'm sure the prices will come down with starlink at some point, but at this point it's pretty pricey. I think the concept is to make rural internet available relatively cheaply to some of the poorer & more disconnected communities in the country. Reasonable people can disagree whether it's worthwhile though. But the fact is that comcast isn't paying a company to bore fiber through miles of Appalachia to get to a house because they'll never recoup the investment.

"While the base Starlink service costs $499 for the hardware and $99 a month, Starlink Premium will cost $2,500 for the antenna, and $500 a month."
 
I didn't watch the speech but a lot of people seem to have a pretty positive feeling about it. But the final thing is "Action Speak Louder than Words". Giving a good speech and doing anything are two different things so I'm gonna have a wait and see attitude.
 
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Read some of the transcript. When Biden said something about filling downtowns and returning to the office, did he imply that we need remote workers to return to the office?

He may have meant it more as “don’t be afraid to go out and work in your office.” If he’s lobbying for less remote work, he can go boom down on Boomertown.
 
Even if you start offering bigger salaries, it takes time to hire and then have those cops work their way through the system. I'd guess at least a decade. Most politicians or people, for that matter, aren't that far sighted. They want results in the short term, and if they don't get it, they move onto the next shiny policy.

Teachers are a great example: everyone says we need to pay teachers more to attract smarter, better hires. I agree. But it takes time for that to work and paying the current teachers* more doesn't result in better teaching, necessarily (maybe in some type of competitive bonus structure it would?).

*not saying all current teachers are bad; just saying that in the aggregate, higher money incentives will attract more talent. And yes, I'm now dropping footnotes in my message board posts. I understand the silliness of that.
Unless, in the case of teachers, you change the requirements to allow people with real-world experience - and some rudimentary 'education' training - to be hired as teachers.

I'll bet, if pay was higher for cops, more ex-military guys would be enticed to sign up.
 
I didn't watch the speech but a lot of people seem to have a pretty positive feeling about it. But the final thing is "Action Speak Louder than Words". Giving a good speech and doing anything are two different things so I'm gonna have a wait and see attitude.
I haven't watched much and did not plan to but the Libertarian podcast I am watching was streaming at same time so they had it on in a box in the corner and commented on it as he spoke. If folks want to disregard opposing comments about his speech that is fine. I don't and IMO, this was pony show made for TV with a lot of BS so everyone can stand up and clap for him.
 
I don't know one can get a big bounce any more. Back in the ancient days we had network news and network news only. So an hour on tv watched by everyone was a massive opportunity to get out one's position.

Today the positions are on cable 24x7, on social media 24x7. This one hour by the president is blunted first because of the amount of news we now consume and 2) because the way our tribal news makes us more partisan to begin with.

I saw someone last weekend mention that the more news people watch, the more partisan they are. Now there might be a chicken-egg debate here. But if there is, I will go onto the side that a steady feed of partisan news increases partisanship over partisans seek out partisan news.
Looks like I was totally wrong. Marist had Biden at 39 and now at 47%.

 
Looks like I was totally wrong. Marist had Biden at 39 and now at 47%.

I'm assuming part of that could be attributed to the Ukraine situation. Putin trying to make every Western leader look REALLY good right now.

But yep, SOTU definitely helped him out. It was a good enough speech.
 
I'm assuming part of that could be attributed to the Ukraine situation. Putin trying to make every Western leader look REALLY good right now.

But yep, SOTU definitely helped him out. It was a good enough speech.
I agree any bounce is predominantly due to Ukraine. And like you said, the SOTU was good enough, certainly didn't hurt him.
 
Looks like I was totally wrong. Marist had Biden at 39 and now at 47%.

Kinda makes you wonder about our population. This guy has lied and failed for 40 years. Comes out with a Trump 2.0 speech, which most intelligent people knew was a crock of shit, and has now gone the other direction. Nothing to see here. Hilarious.
 
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I'm assuming part of that could be attributed to the Ukraine situation. Putin trying to make every Western leader look REALLY good right now.

But yep, SOTU definitely helped him out. It was a good enough speech.
Biden may have underequipped Zelensky but he was the one warning the world about this invasion before it happened, even when Zelinski was saying he didn’t think it would happen.

Putin is definitely helping Biden but Biden’s warnings accrued a lot of credibility, both at home and internationally.
 
Definitely Ukraine but he also made a point to distance himself from the crazies and that resonated too: fund the police; get past covid; fix the border, etc.
Yep, now that he's adopted Trump policies, I'm sure his numbers will improve.
 
Yep, now that he's adopted Trump policies, I'm sure his numbers will improve.
Well Dan as you know...actions speak louder than words. Whats he "actually doing" in regards to drilling, Made in America, Border, Fund Police?

Have you read something?
 
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Yep, now that he's adopted Trump policies, I'm sure his numbers will improve.
Definitely, as long as he stops short of trying to extort foreign leaders, bowing to ruthless dictators and undermining American democracy.

Trump's approval ratings were consistently abysmal, and the lowest of any American president in at least 75 years.

 
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Fair. I would add that I liked the get the masks off of kids in school, and no mention of Jan 6. Not a single word about Jan 6, Trump, the end of democracy blah blah blah that infatuate people on here but normal Americans don't care about anymore. While perhaps short on answers he pivoted from the Squad on many issues and touched on the issues that actually concern most Americans. I'd give him a B+

A lot of people still care about Jan 6, but everyone's opinion on the matter is likely set in stone at this point..just like on here.
 
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Definitely, as long as he stops short of trying to extort foreign leaders, bowing to ruthless dictators and undermining American democracy.

Trump's approval ratings were consistently abysmal, and the lowest of any American president in at least 75 years.


At this point, 40-50% of the country is going to hate whoever the current president is that is in the white house. The only thing moving approval up and down are the few independents that can go either way..
 
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A lot of people still care about Jan 6, but everyone's opinion on the matter is likely set in stone at this point..just like on here.
Nixon had a lot of support for a long time, but eventually the facts became more than he could overcome.
 
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Nixon had a lot of support for a long time, but eventually the facts became more than he could overcome.

At this point no one will even agree to what is fact. It's fact if you like, fake news if you don't.

I guess we'll see if that is just me being pessimistic about where we are as a country, but I don't think facts will sway anyone.
 
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Well Dan as you know...actions speak louder than words. Whats he "actually doing" in regards to drilling, Made in America, Border, Fund Police?

Have you read something?
Oh hell no - he won't actually do any of that. He's just saying it to get his numbers up.
 
Definitely, as long as he stops short of trying to extort foreign leaders, bowing to ruthless dictators and undermining American democracy.

Trump's approval ratings were consistently abysmal, and the lowest of any American president in at least 75 years.

Whutabout it.

You're so full of shit. Trump's numbers were up and every poll had him winning the 2020 election before Covid hit.

Biden is saying what he needs to say because his policies are failing at every level.

Don't worry - he won't actually take action on what he says.
 
At this point no one will even agree to what is fact. It's fact if you like, fake news if you don't.

I guess we'll see if that is just me being pessimistic about where we are as a country, but I don't think facts will sway anyone.
Certainly facts don't matter to 99% of Democrats. Don't lump sane people into your fantasy world.
 
.... he also made a point to distance himself from the crazies and that resonated too: fund the police; get past covid; fix the border, etc.
Ummm...

He reminded people how he has always been far removed from the inflexible crazies in his own party, insisting (like always) on things like funding the police and fixing the border, and that he also is committed to sensible actions to get past covid (e.g., schools and businesses back to as normal as can be).
 
Ummm...

He reminded people how he has always been far removed from the inflexible crazies in his own party, insisting (like always) on things like funding the police and fixing the border, and that he also is committed to sensible actions to get past covid (e.g., schools and businesses back to as normal as can be).
LMAO. Negative. From his selection of Harris to his promise of being a "transformative" president to his last stimulus to staying evictions at the behest of Cori Bush to BBB to his endless virtue-signaling rush to judgment rhetoric from promising to get the USWNT equal pay without knowing a single thing about the CBA to his remarks on Rittenhouse. The list is long. He was co-opted by the inflexible crazies in YOUR party. Then he saw that his approval rating was swirling the drain so he pivoted and took a different approach. Voila his ratings are improving. Politics....
 
Ummm...

He reminded people how he has always been far removed from the inflexible crazies in his own party, insisting (like always) on things like funding the police and fixing the border, and that he also is committed to sensible actions to get past covid (e.g., schools and businesses back to as normal as can be).
 
Danc found the laughing gas...maybe his posts will be more tolerable for a little bit ;)
 
You're so full of shit. Trump's numbers were up and every poll had him winning the 2020 election before Covid hit.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. There is no bigger liar on this board than you. No one else even comes close. Some people exaggerate, some bend the truth from time to time, and some people are mistaken, but you just pull "facts" out of your ass on a regular basis and lie through your teeth. No wonder Trump is so relatable to you.

 
Ummm...

He reminded people how he has always been far removed from the inflexible crazies in his own party, insisting (like always) on things like funding the police and fixing the border, and that he also is committed to sensible actions to get past covid (e.g., schools and businesses back to as normal as can be).
You are really good at making things up.
 
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I've said it before and I'll say it again. There is no bigger liar on this board than you. No one else even comes close. Some people exaggerate, some bend the truth from time to time, and some people are mistaken, but you just pull "facts" out of your ass on a regular basis and lie through your teeth. No wonder Trump is so relatable to you.

Anything you say regarding Trump and the msm is so far whacked and tilted you think you were in an old Batman fight scene from the 60's. There is not ANYTHING the msm got right about Trump since he was elected. He was targeted immediately and numerous removals were attempted. Every time there was positive news about something he accomplished the lead story would be we've got him on Russia collusion. Horseshit! IDK how old you are, but since I've been alive I have never seen anything like it.

The only liars I see on this board are the fools that could not themselves see that from the beginning, and kept pushing a whacked media agenda. You just jumped on your democratic high horse and ignored THE OBVIOUS!

Also, by the time Trump was elected the country was completely divided. Most pubs I know were never that interested in politics until Obama's second term when everyone realized something is very wrong. Too much Obama, Biden and Hillary sh!t was getting buried and everyone was like wtf is going on. About that time the NYT started posting "fake news" articles trying to debunk what the smaller news agencies were trying to debunk about the NYT. NYT and WP retract, retract, retract. Ridiculous.
 
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I've said it before and I'll say it again. There is no bigger liar on this board than you. No one else even comes close. Some people exaggerate, some bend the truth from time to time, and some people are mistaken, but you just pull "facts" out of your ass on a regular basis and lie through your teeth. No wonder Trump is so relatable to you.

"according to data from Yahoo News/YouGov."

This is how ****ing stupid you are. You think a biased poll is a fact. No wonder you think everything you don't agree with is a lie.

And I said before Covid hit - your "poll" was published March 20, 2020 - after Covid hit.
 
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