Mark Davis

Essentially the accounting coding written on the back of the check wasn't into the correct account and he not only knew, he knew the treatment was improper. But not only that, he did it primarily to win the election. The average person will never digest that, they'll think it's because he paid off a porn star he had sex with.

As good as Jeff Bagwell was, his numbers were drained so much by the Astrodome.

A hell of a hitter too.

If he'd just shot someone, Alvin Bragg likely wouldn't have prosecuted him.

Well at the very least it’s going to give him a huge fundraising night. It’s like I posted in the other thread. It’s possible this influences some of the few undecided or persuadables, not that there is many. It also might push some of those registered voters polling for Trump into actually showing up to vote who might not otherwise have been as intense. I’m not sure how it will all work its way through.

My wife, who voted for Biden last time, got her vote flipped to Trump thanks to Bragg. The fact he doesn’t prosecute things he should and yet decided to go after a political opponent was all it took. So I do owe him that debt of gratitude. In all seriousness, that was just one part. The open border situation and security concerns are probably as large or greater.

Keep in mind you get so many strikes from the jury pool, it would be pretty easy in certain areas to strike any even moderate jurors. I'll admit I never followed this case at all because I assumed guilty from the venue.

I'm not arguing with you to try and insult or put you down, I do believe you believe in the best. I wish you were right, I'd just bet my last breath you are wrong on this. In fact, I know you are from my "side" as people perceive it, even though I'm more moderate where I live at least the way I'm seen.

It wouldn't have taken 15 minutes in a rural Alabama courtroom. Walker Co, Chilton Co, Coffee Co, I could go down the map. Pick your southern state and I'll find you the county. I grew up there, still do business there, it's reality.

Well, you don't really think this is the end of it do you? I think that as soon as the right can, they are going to use the judicial process in a heavily red area to go after their political opponents. It's not an if, only a when. Statistics told me that from the jury pool they had what would happen. And it's not a left only viewpoint. As I stated, it can be duplicated in a hard right area. We are as polarized as we've ever been, certainly in my lifetime anyway, and I know plenty of people who would have made up their minds going in just to "get the other side".

It may have been the weakest case, but given the venue I had assumed this verdict all along. I would assume if Biden were tried in Walker Co. Alabama for a murder that happened before he could walk he would also be found guilty. I'm a little cynical.

I'll admit it could. It could also intensify the people who weren't voters in 2020 that have been polling for Trump that the Biden camp is hoping don't vote in 2024. As you know there's a polling gap between likely and registered voters. Closing that gap helps Trump so Biden will need to offset that gain in intensity from independents or what few swing voters there are. I don't really think there are a lot of moveable voters left. Given how polarizing this all is I'm not sure I know of anyone who could be moved right now. I know people who have changed their minds from 2020, but not that this would change their mind today.

Yeah I agree with you. I feel the same way when we get to November. It's not going to be pretty either way. I'm not so sure we don't have some leading up to November as well.

Lowest common denominator. Pretty much by definition anyone who is out there needs to go find a job. I doubt there's too many independently wealthy folks spending their Thursday afternoon out there.

Gooden was awesome and let drugs ruin him. The main one that jumped to mind for me was Bob Gibson. Josh Gibson deserves the HOF honor he has, but we can't rewrite history to put those players in MLB and know what would have happened. MLB wants to expand their appeal to the black community and has for years. I don't think this will matter and people will view those records with asterisks or still differentiate between the two. I'm trying to think of the top black SP prospects from the recent past. David Price, Dewon Brazleton, CC Sabathia, Brien Taylor came to mind. Taylor ruined his arm in a bar fight, Brazleton never panned out, Price was good for awhile, Sabathia had a nice career. What's funny is top 10 black SP prospects from the past 35 years or so would have to include Pat Mahomes. He was ranked the top RHP prospect in baseball by a few publications in 1991 I think it was.

Why would you think that? That's counter to every econ class I ever had all the way through grad school. I'm assuming we agree that we gave more unemployment than some jobs were paying in wages. So why would that incentive of you get more money to not work, not then lead more people to not work?

Why are you calling a fact a trope? We paid people not to work. You can argue the merits, but factually that's what we did. Also, just because you stop something doesn't mean it returns to the way it was in an economic environment. Just as inflation has not regressed to its former levels, neither did demand for jobs in the restaurant industry from the workforce. While labor costs certainly did increase, that is true, the materials/raw costs for food also took a large move upward.

Sure. Paying people to not work had an impact on it too. I'm pretty realistic and try to view economic situations with open eyes. How can you profit if you only want to lie to yourself about economic realities? The restaurant industry was forever changed by the economic forces at play, specifically when it came to the labor market as we came out of it in 2021. I admit I chuckle a bit about the discussion of corporate tax rate and it's part in the overall economy. You can't view that rate in an isolated vacuum. Right now the US is about middle of the pack on corporate rates in the industrialized world. Each move on the rate has a ripple effect on jobs, movement of corporations (both in and out), and obviously revenues. I would argue that much more important than the corporate rates, our runaway spending has had a much larger impact. You simply can't flood the zone with economic stimulus and not expect inflation. Particularly coming off a time where we were paying people to stay home. The end result was obviously an increase in currency with reduced output. It's impossible to do that and not have inflationary pressures. I think what's especially troubling is that the Fed is realizing they can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. Inflation has remained more stubborn than they ever expected. The old target of 2% seems far away. If the fed does remain diligent, we won't see those rate cuts everyone anticipated. It's fine to argue the merits of whether or not we reacted in the right way with stimulus, whether or not we did too much. But the impact of what we did is pretty obvious at this point and now the question is how to deal with it.

Outback is ok. Their salads are really the best thing there in my opinion. Well, that and I like the grilled chicken, can eat a healthy dinner. However, ours has really gone downhill post Covid. Never has gotten staffing right since then. Very spotty on service and quality. I'm sure like any other chain, depends on your local manager.

Damn. Just look at that guys eyes and tell me you'd leave your kids with him. Montgomery is an absolute s-hole. Everyone who could got out years ago.

Kudos to everyone following closely. I follow politics way more than the average person and even I've had to tune this one out.

Met him two summers ago at a business conference I was at. Told great stories and very personable guy. I'm a pretty tall guy and when I posted a photo with him on social media with him standing way over me that got a lot of comments. What's sad is he was kind of stooped over even at that. When he sat down, he used two stacked chairs to sit so that his knees had less strain.

Yeah, I agree with a lot of libertarian views, but the border isn't one of them. I don't know that I'd say that one issue or any one issue should exclude someone from a certain ideological group. One thing I've found disheartening in recent times is the litmus/purity tests for people. There's not a party or group I agree with on every major issue, much less every issue down the line. Anyone who always agrees with one party needs to think for themselves more.

That bill wouldn't fix the problem. Granted it was as much of a lessening of the flow legislation as could get passed at the moment. Trump owns the border narrative, while you may be correct in that the bill offered was better than nothing, it's that old saying in politics that when you're explaining you're losing. The majority of the electorate sees Trump as hawkish on the border and Biden as for more open borders. Nobody has to like it or agree with it, but it's the way it is. Trump has made a talking point of it for years and most of what the general public will remember is Biden stopping building the wall, reversing Trump's executive orders, and the kids in cages narratives. The average voter isn't going to be that nuanced. When it comes to the border and how it stands now Trump is viewed to the right, Biden is viewed to the left. I think the majority of the electorate wants us to the right of where our border stands right now.

Elevated and more persistent inflation numbers than the Fed thought would occur even just 2-3 months ago are going to be an awfully strong headwind for Biden to try and overcome.