I’m... kinda ambivalent on how much experience - if any - people should have before running for a particular office, but I just wanted to briefly point out that before being elected to the Senate, Paul Wellstone was a Political Science professor, which I have to imagine helped him. Can’t speak for Ted Kennedy or…

I’m pretty sure her first name was different on each card too, although I’m not gonna watch it again to check.

There’s a lot of truth to that, definitely, although Trump specifically seems to be the overriding factor in several districts dramatically shifting blue (or at least less red) from even two years ago.

You’re far too kind :) There were at least a couple things I don’t know anymore, or never knew, like: I’m not even sure if Plus loans can be consolidated with non-Plus-loans. Also, I have a tendency to get excessively wordy and go off on tangents. And lastly: I was most helpful when I could see details of a person’s…

In fairness, I don’t think the causation is clear. Is it Trump’s presidency in general that’s causing Rs to lose, or is his campaigning ironically giving Dems the extra push they need to win? Because I think Trump’s campaigned at every federal special election (although I’m not 100% sure on that, and I’m feeling lazy…

Thanks :) For now it’s a goal that I’m very much not working towards, but I hope to do it sooner than later. Same for shitty food; right now, outside of granola and the occasional piece of fruit, my diet is almost entirely shitty food - some shittier than others. Doesn’t help that I live on my own and I don’t really…

First, re: co-signer: did you get any “Parent Plus” loans? Those are loans where... huh, just looked it up, and a parent has to apply, students can’t... more importantly, yeah, i remembered it right: on a Parent Plus loan, parents aren’t technically considered co-signers, they’re referred to as “endorsers,” but…

Well, welcome to Great Lakes! I may have given the impression that they were lousy or lazy or something, but I think Great Lakes might actually be one of the better servicers. For one, we were actually well trained to offer the best solutions to borrowers first (one example: if the borrower can’t pay and they qualify…

Ugh, my heart goes out to you. My understanding is, if you had all your loans consolidated, then you should only have to deal w/ one servicer, but I guess I could be wrong there. The bigger problem for you seems to be that you’ve made payments on your loans before they were consolidated and/or before they were…

This is probably the last I’ll weigh in on this particular thread since I don’t really see it going anywhere, but...

I think I see what you were saying, or what you were trying to say. Again, a “cooperatively owned/operated internet news site” sounds great, and yes it would be more consistent w/ the views espoused by most writers for Splinter, BUT I’ve never heard of something like that existing in the real world, especially at the…

That... wasn’t exactly what I was trying to argue. By definition there’s at least a little distance between any union and management; at best they get along ok, at worst they hate each other and maybe the union decides to strike.

You know Katherine Krueger and every other writer on here is in a union already, right?

I imagine their argument is more “we need to create or adjust market incentives so businesses are compelled to build broadband infrastructure in places that don’t have it yet” rather than “the government needs to step in” - offering businesses incentives (tax breaks, etc.) to get things done would be much more in…

I think it can depend a lot on what kind of rates you’re getting offered. I was lucky enough to get loans lower than 4%, other people are only offered loans at around 9%, or even more if they’re private loans. If you know your education is gonna get you a significantly better-paying job, student loans can be a…

A couple things:

Whenever Trump talks about trade deficits with other nations he is highly likely ONLY talking about goods out of his ass.

Historically we’ve had much higher marginal tax rates on the wealthiest here - at times over 90% - so the whole “if you raise my taxes too high I’ll just leave” threat rings pretty hollow.

First off, not sure I agree w/ your premise; not all will be replaced, and maybe not even most - sure, robots will work for free, but they’re not free to build or maintain; meanwhile the third world is often eager to step up to the plate.

Oh yeah, I fully expect a lot of what he said was fueled by alcohol, or maybe even another substance or three. It may have been sobering up that turned him around, or maybe when he said “What do you think Mueller’s gonna do to me?” and “I’m not cooperating. Arrest me.” and everyone else was like “THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT…