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On a Wednesday morning in late May, emissaries of two of the strongest political voices on climate change convened at a coffee shop a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Saikat Chakrabarti, chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), was there to meet Sam Ricketts, climate director for Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D), who is running for president almost exclusively on a platform of combating global warming. A newly released plank of Inslee’s climate change agenda had caught the attention of Chakrabarti and his boss, who had tweeted that Inslee’s “climate plan is the most serious + comprehensive one to address our crisis in the 2020 field.” Pleased by the positive reception from the demanding Green New Deal wing of the climate struggle, Ricketts had set up this meeting with Chakrabarti to establish a personal connection and share approaches to climate advocacy.

“Congrats on the rollout,” Chakrabarti told him as they sat down. “That was pretty great.”

“Thank you again for the kudos you guys offered,” said Ricketts. “We wanted to be pace-setting for the field, and I think we’re there now. … I want to ask you for input … in addition to hearing what you guys are working on.”

Chakrabarti had an unexpected disclosure. “The interesting thing about the Green New Deal,” he said, “is it wasn’t originally a climate thing at all.” Ricketts greeted this startling notion with an attentive poker face. “Do you guys think of it as a climate thing?” Chakrabarti continued. “Because we really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2019/07/10/feature/how-saikat-chakrabarti-became-aocs-chief-of-change/?utm_term=.519d71162768

Edited by Snake
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9 minutes ago, Zambroski said:

“If we can’t tax and legislate everyone into false equality, we’ll crash the economy and take everything from the ‘haves’ to start fresh.”

Yup...it all adds up!  

The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.

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2 minutes ago, XCR1250 said:

The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.

How many more trillions until we get there?

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Just now, Anler said:

How many more trillions until we get there?

60 years ago, Venezuela was 4th on the world economic freedom index.  Today, they are 179th and their citizens are dying of starvation.  In only 10 years, Venezuela was destroyed by democratic socialism.

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5 minutes ago, XCR1250 said:

60 years ago, Venezuela was 4th on the world economic freedom index.  Today, they are 179th and their citizens are dying of starvation.  In only 10 years, Venezuela was destroyed by democratic socialism.

They are dying of starvation because we put crippling sanctions on them dumb ass. :lol:

But I was talking about us. $22 trillion in debt and growing. We have the largest debt in the world. 

Edited by Anler
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Just now, Mainecat said:

She’s been headlong Fox News for months. Smart women scare Trumpers.....but brown ones make them crazy.

How about the slanty eyed ones you despise? They drive you nuts?

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17 minutes ago, Anler said:

They are dying of starvation because we put crippling sanctions on them dumb ass. :lol:

But I was talking about us. $22 trillion in debt and growing. We have the largest debt in the world. 

:lol:

 

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On 2 June 2010, Chávez declared an "economic war" due to increasing shortages in Venezuela. The crisis intensified under the Maduro government, growing more severe as a result of low oil prices in early 2015,[ and a drop in Venezuela's oil production from lack of maintenance and investment. The government failed to cut spending in the face of falling oil revenues, and has dealt with the crisis by denying it exists and violently repressing opposition. Political corruption, chronic shortages of food and medicine, closure of companies, unemployment, deterioration of productivity, authoritarianism, human rights violations, gross economic mismanagement and high dependence on oil have also contributed to the worsening crisis.

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How did Venezuela get this bad?

Some of the problems go back a long time. However, it is President Maduro and his predecessor, the late President Hugo Chávez, who find themselves the target of much of the current anger.

A Venezuelan living in Honduras rips a sign depicting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during a protest against his government, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras January 23, 2019.Image copyrightREUTERS Image captionMany Venezuelans blame Nicolás Maduro and his government for the economic decline

Their socialist governments have been in power since 1999, taking over the country at a time when Venezuela had huge inequality.

But the socialist polices brought in which aimed to help the poor backfired. Take price controls, for example. They were introduced by President Chávez to make basic goods more affordable to the poor by capping the price of flour, cooking oil and toiletries.

But this meant that the few Venezuelan businesses producing these items no longer found it profitable to make them.

Critics also blame the foreign currency controls brought in by President Chávez in 2003 for a flourishing black market in dollars.

Since then, Venezuelans wanting to exchange bolivars for dollars have had to apply to a government-run currency agency. Only those deemed to have valid reasons to buy dollars, for example to import goods, have been allowed to change their bolivars at a fixed rate set by the government.

With many Venezuelans unable to freely buy dollars, they turned to the black market.

What are the biggest challenges?

Arguably the biggest problem facing Venezuelans in their day-to-day lives is hyperinflation. The annual inflation rate reached 1,300,000% in the 12 months to November 2018, according to a study by the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

Presentational white space A graphic with figures explaining the inflation rate Presentational white space

By the end of 2018, prices were doubling every 19 days on average. This has left many Venezuelans struggling to afford basic items such as food and toiletries.

p06qkgc7.jpg
 
Media captionWhere mothers give away their babies

The price of a cup of coffee in the capital Caracas doubled to 400 bolivars ($0.62; £0.50) in the space of just a week last December, according to Bloomberg.

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8 minutes ago, XCR1250 said:

On 2 June 2010, Chávez declared an "economic war" due to increasing shortages in Venezuela. The crisis intensified under the Maduro government, growing more severe as a result of low oil prices in early 2015,[ and a drop in Venezuela's oil production from lack of maintenance and investment. The government failed to cut spending in the face of falling oil revenues, and has dealt with the crisis by denying it exists and violently repressing opposition. Political corruption, chronic shortages of food and medicine, closure of companies, unemployment, deterioration of productivity, authoritarianism, human rights violations, gross economic mismanagement and high dependence on oil have also contributed to the worsening crisis.

Are you citing Venezuela references because they are an oil producing country? Not sure what the relevance is to the OP... :dunno:

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1 minute ago, Anler said:

Are you citing Venezuela references because they are an oil producing country? Not sure what the relevance is to the OP... :dunno:

AOC and the outcomes of socialism which she is backing..

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Just now, XCR1250 said:

AOC and the outcomes of socialism which she is backing..

You know the we are already more socialist than Venezuela right? :lol:

 

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