Quick Takes on @SenWarren etc

1.) Lizzie Warren took an ax and gave The Donald forty whacks:

That’s going to leave marks.

2.) It’s the Gig Economy, Stupid. In the last week, I have heard both Grover Norquist and Gary Johnson praising the Gig Economy or the 1099 economy as if it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread and everyone’s secret wish is to be a small business owner.

I don’t think anyone in the research industry really wants to be in the Gig Economy and be in a start up funded by vulture capitalists. Small businesses are great for people who are bakers or accountants. For scientists? ehhhh, not so much.

And then there is the paperwork and the taxes to manage. Plus, you lose your Obamacare subsidy and have to pay it all back if you underestimate your income. And income can be variable. Then there’s saving for retirement, saving for future bouts of unemployment, because most self-employed people do not get unemployment benefits.

The Gig Economy will ruin the middle class faster than anything. It leads to income instability. When you can’t count on your income, you can’t buy cars or houses. It’s hard to have kids because you may not be able to afford them throughout the 18 years of their early lives. The gig economy means having to pick and follow your job, something I saw happen to a lot of my former colleagues who had their jobs in one state and their families in another. In short, it sucks and very few people want to live this way.

I can’t imagine why Grover and Gary keep pushing this. It only appeals to young single guys. Well, there you go.

If I were Hillary, I would steer clear of praising the self-employed and small business person too much. Most of us don’t want to go there.

3.) I still like Bernie. Seriously. If I weren’t such a cold hearted pragmatist, I could have felt the Bern. I certainly got warm enough. He’s right on so many issues and that’s why he got so much support.

He went off the tracks by not realizing that the rest of us had a right to our own votes and opinions. Our votes are legitimate too. Delegitimizing Hillary’s voters has been a feature of Bernie’s supporters. They share that with the Obama supporters of 2008. Some of them are probably the same people. Bernie should ditch these people. They are ruining his reputation.

Third Party Candidate Debate: Liveblog

So, you’ve seen what the other two parties have to offer and you’re not impressed.  Or you’re horrified by the reliance and inevitable abuse of drones in spite of the fact that your elderly relatives think they’re great and will protect us from the terrorists.  Or you’re a liberal Democrat in Exile and you need to put your party in time-out until it gets the message that you’re sick and tired of being run over by the bus.

This year may be the year that a third party has a breakaway.  You never know.  The Pirate Party did pretty well in Germany last year.  So well in fact that the party itself was surprised.  It’s going to be a long hard slog to relevancy and there may be another party out there that has yet to be formed.

But tonight is their night.  This is the liveblog for the Third Party Candidate’s Debate moderated by Larry King.  You can catch it here on C-Span.  There are four candidates participating tonight:

Jill Stein-  The Green Party

Rocky Anderson – The Justice Party

Gary Johnson – The Libertarian Party

Virgil Goode- The Constitution Party

I’m not going to spell out all of their names while I’m commenting so I’m planning to just use the first initial of their last name.

No need for disclaimer tonight.  I am *definitely* voting for one of these people.  I’m just not saying which one.

So, go get yourself a glass of wine or a cup of hot spiced cider and get ready to give these four people the attention they deserve.

Ready, set, go!

Third Party Candidates’ Debate Tonight on C-Span

Hi, Sportsfans.  It looks like we’re covering presidential debates back to back.  Had I known about this one tonight, I would have skipped the drone fest last night.  You can watch the debate on C-Span.  It’s moderated by Larry King.

For those of you who don’t know who’s running, check out this article in the Christian Science Monitor for a run down on the parties that are represented and profiles of each of the candidates.

So, set your bat channels for 9:00pm and meet me back here.  Feel free to join in with the liveblogging.  I’m a little burned out from last night and a busy day today.