Wow, Stephanie Ruhle on MSNBC just said ...

[aggiesal]

that REGULATIONS means PROTECTIONS, which is what I've been advocating, on this forum, what we should be saying as well.
Words matter.

She also said that Texans are left UNPROTECTED against their current energy DEDEGULATIONS.

Thank you, Stephanie Ruhle!

[Comfortably_Numb]

1. Up next on M$NBC- Mrs. Greenspan lauds the "free markets" of high electricity prices.

[question everything]

37. Misogyny is alive and well on DU

Would you refer to the Vice President as Mrs. Emhoff? To the Senator from MA as Mrs. Mann?

Welcome to the second half of the 20th Century! Women do not automatically take on their spouse's last name.

Of course you know this. You may hate Andrea Mitchell with passion, but instead of specifying why you are trying to belittle her.

[Comfortably_Numb]

40. Wow that escalated quickly. If that's misogyny to you maybe you need to adjust your threshold.

[amuse bouche]

43. Andrea Mitchell, the Right Wing Shill, could be called a lot of things

Mrs Greenspan was probably the blandest of all

[ProfessorGAC]

47. But, It's Not Her Name

She did not take Al's name when they got married.
Her actual last name is Mitchell. Not Greenspan.

[amuse bouche]

50. Don't care. Still bland

[JanMichael]

60. How about Ms. Dumbass? Is that allowed in our narrow views? nt

[ProfessorGAC]

62. SURE!

She's a dumbass. That name fits!

[JanMichael]

63. But "Dumbass" isn't her surname?

I guess Ms. Dumbass-Greenspan-Mitchell works? I like double hyphenates.

[treestar]

59. Yeah, really,

[amuse bouche]

74. This place gets more and more absurd

[redstatebluegirl]

44. I agree question everything! I don't like this woman one bit, but she has the right to be referred

to by her name, not Mrs.

[Roy Rolling]

67. People have no right to naming protections

People may call me a dumbass or genius, and unless it’s a legal document you have the right to call me anything.

But I hear your point—it’s disrespectful. But the point—she is married to Greenspan—is the information being shared. To some, clumsily, but I had never heard that so it’s useful to me.

[elleng]

46. Thanks.

I usually skip these, but give you a 'just because.'

[treestar]

58. In her case, it's meant to link her to Alan Greenspan

as far as her attitudes towards economics go. Remind you they are peas in a pod.

[Cha]

64. Okay.. Andrea But her Emails Mitchell

is freaking manipulative media tool.

She shouldn't be referred to by her husband's name but that doesn't make the poster a "misogynist".

[question everything]

71. It is. If she were a man, similarly hated, how would he have referred to him?

[treestar]

73. Like it was said above, something worse

and more insulting than a name he could actually have claim to use.

[True Blue American]

76. Mister Mitchell?

Come on guys, get real! This thread is funny.

[CTyankee]

2. Live free or die!

or something like that...

[Wounded Bear]

48. More like live free and die!

[CTyankee]

55. Yep. I was being sarcastic.

[JI7]

3. And safety . We need to use these type of terms more

when we support regulations.

safety, protection, quality

[unblock]

4. I like the football analogy. Deregulation is like the nfl getting rid of referees

Everybody loves to hate the refs, and sure, they botch a call every now and then. And trying to get the calls right slows down the game.

Still, everyone knows that the game would be a completely pointless disaster without them. Really, it would quickly cease to be football at all and turn into a silly brawl.

[empedocles]

7. Lines on the field, rulebooks, video review are all helpful.

[theneworiginal]

36. Same with cops.

They enforce rules. They enforce regulated societal norms. They take it out of the "kill or be killed/only the fittest survive" mode. For those against regulation, let's get rid of the cops, too. Then we'll see who is really top dog.

Capitalists love deregulation of financial systems, but are the first to call the cops when someone tries to steal their money. Banks screw people with fees, exploit the poor and double-charge on bounced checks, but the Feds will put bank robbers in jail for 7 years for an average of $3500 robbery.

Double standard.

[gibraltar72]

5. And many other things.

[Cyrano]

6. Republicans have always been for deregulating everything

Their "magic of the marketplace" is bullshit. They work for Wall Street and big business who are their donors and who get them and keep them in office. All the rest of us are just peasants who are on our own. Texas is the latest example of the destruction caused by deregulation.

[gab13by13]

8. As someone else already said here,

it shouldn't be called deregulation, it should be called decriminalization.

[Baitball Blogger]

9. I like the way one of the guest speakers corrected a host, (not sure who)

saying that, no, Texans didn't vote for a deregulated energy program. It all came about from a decision from the then governor and state leaders.

[Stuart G]

10. The greatest book on "Regulations"...yes this book created some..Upton Sinclair..."The Jungle" ,1906

As a result of this book, meat packing regulations were enacted for the first time. (that is meat was inspected and
had to be proved eatable if sold)...nationwide....You got to read it to believe it. Describes what it was like before
meat was inspected...

[littlemissmartypants]

14. Excellent book.

Full Audiobook

❤ miss pants

[groundloop]

25. You mean that industry self 'regulation' didn't work?.... Say it ain't so !!!!!!!

[treestar]

79. Right! The industries are motivated

to have a good reputation which will gain them more customers, so they will always provide the best possible product and never cut costs to allow their product to turn out to harm people, as that would harm their reputation!

[Iliyah]

11. The energy companies are taking advantage of Texas residence . ..

and that is pretty sad.

[PufPuf23]

12. Stephanie Ruhle has become my favorite at MSNBC

Part may because I usually wake up during JoeScar which can be such a wasteland and the contrast with Ruhle usually is what motivates me to make coffee.

Props to Ruhle !!!

[aggiesal]

16. Stephanie Ruhles ...

Had to say it!

[NoMoreRepugs]

13. Smart gal who chooses her words carefully.

Not much double talk from Stephanie. Seldom if ever any bothsiderism.

[littlemissmartypants]

15. Kicked. ❤ nt

[Arthur_Frain]

17. As I point out to anyone who will listen,

90% of the time, a regulation exists because a long time ago some poor schmuck like me was killed, injured or got conned outta something, so we got together and made a law to prevent the unwary from getting screwed again.

Never saw anyone get together to try and make rules to kill jobs, despite what RWers say.

[Caliman73]

41. Yep. And when they say, "kills jobs" what they mean is, "I don't get as much money".

Regulations do not "kill jobs". Yes, they make operating more expensive because instead of allowing your employees to fall in to the vats and become "Durham's Leaf Lard" (as in The Jungle), you have to put guard rails and safety equipment in the vats to make sure people don't fall in. It costs money to make it safer for people to work and Capitalists do not like that.

No one likes spending more money, Hell, I just got a crack in my windshield and I don't want to spend the money to fix it. I do know however, that the crack will get bigger and the integrity of my windshield is compromised, so I have to, plus, it is a violation to drive around with a cracked windshield so I can get a ticket. It is a safety issue.

[aggiesal]

53. To keep your cracked windshield from spreading, here's a little trick I learned...

Take a bic lighter and burn the windshield at the end of the crack. (Works better from inside the car).

It melts the plastic between the 2 windshields and keeps the crack from spreading.
I was skeptical when I was told, but I have to be honest, after I get a crack in my
windshield and burning the end of the crack, I've never seen it spread.

I have a small sample size like 3 times.
It would be worth finding out that actual percentage of spreading, with a much larger sample size.

[True Blue American]

18. I loved the Texas Judge when asked by Stephanie

What about the huge prices, who was going to pay that. The answer,” We need an investigation!”

No, we do not need an investigation, we need a Judge to stop the price gouging!

[ProfessorGAC]

49. Yes, We Do

You can call it gouging, and from a practical standpoint, it is.
But, the system they set up requires no collusion to fix prices, no single supplier to advantageously hike prices in response to a supply collapse, no buying low to sell high.
I don't think a judge can do anything because no laws were broken.
It's a terrible flawed system and an investigation might help resurrect some sound regulations to prevent recurrence.
But I doubt a judge is the answer.

[True Blue American]

56. Haven't the Governor

And Legislature stopped them? I read somewhere they did.

[ProfessorGAC]

69. I Heard That, Too

It was after i posted.
Apparently they have the authority to suspend market trading, so that the price reverts to last rate.
That it took them a week seems to be worse. They knew they could close sales into the market and didn't do it?

[True Blue American]

75. So that is how they stopped it?

If you heard of the Ohio bribery scandal where the Speaker accepted $61 million in bribes for an aging nuclear plant and 2 coal plants the Judge stepped in, stopped the rate hike.

[ProfessorGAC]

77. Different States With Different Rules

I guess.
I'm sure Texas has some screwy laws around this. That's not a criticism of Texas, just based on how they set up this flawed system.
Also, I'll guess that in the case you mentioned, an actual crime was committed. It's probably easily within a judge's purview to prevent law breakers from profiting, which would include the bribing parties.
I honestly don't think anybody needed to break any laws for this to happen in the electrical system in Texas. The way this is set up, it's a free for all and this was the consequence.
I heard what I did on CNN radio, and I switched from Volume during a commercial. So, I didn't get details. But, it seems high Texas officials can simply declare an emergency and tell the generating companies they can't sell to the commodity market and revert to a direct billing process through the emergency.
I didn't hear anything about why they waited a week to do something.

[True Blue American]

78. Thanks!

[FakeNoose]

19. The question is: are the voters of of Texas finally getting it?

It was never about "socialism," or "free-dumb," it was about protecting the people of Texas from the unregulated greed of the utility suppliers. Utilities enjoy a near-monopoly in Texas as they do almost everywhere in the US. The market doesn't get to decide that, just like the market suppliers should not be permitted to gouge their customers during a weather-related disaster.

If Texans don't understand it now, they never will. It means they're hopelessly brainwashed.

[aggiesal]

21. Yes, electricity, gas & water were once public utilities ...

and protections (i.e. regulations) were put into place to prevent exactly what happened in Texas, throughout the U.S.

These companies are pure monopolies in most places and you can now include Cable/Internet service providers.
And since 1980's, these public companies have been Profitized (instead of Privatized because words matter) to the point where we can't go anywhere else for these services.

These companies own the last mile to our houses.
That means no competing company can charge a lower price because the owner of the last mile can fee them to the point where the competing company can never offer the best price.

If you don't know what the last mile is, here is a wiki page.

[FakeNoose]

26. There have been efforts to do the same thing in Pennsylvania

I don't think people are falling for it though.

Maybe some are, but now that this has happened in Texas, the entire rest of the country can see why it was never a good idea to "let the market decide" when it comes to essential utilities pricing.

[aocommunalpunch]

20. It's funny how folks think socialism is so bad when

we have socialism for the corporations and wealthy. They get their protections all the fucking time.

[aggiesal]

22. Privatize the profits and socialize the debt ...

Watch who ends up paying for this in Texas.

[Klaralven]

23. Whether regulations mean protections depends on what the regulations say.

There are all kinds of regulations.

[jaxexpat]

24. I'm glad the subject of deregulation and privatization is the focus of attention for so many.

It's way about time. It is to the predominance of these two philosophical concepts and their subsequent poisoning of American politics that its current state of devolution need be attributed. It's in the backlash from the "silent majority" due to their inability to process the "new math" that they got traction.
Way too many folks these days believe that somewhere in the constitution it's written how patriotism is tantamount to a sentimentality for medievality, that the blessings of subliminality were best manifest in the age of lords and ladies and serfdom. It explains, perhaps, the contradiction revealed by our tacit acceptance of engrained and unfair social class distinctions in a nation founded, in writing and reputably, on the concept of a brotherhood of man wherein all are created equal.

[Permanut]

27. K & R for an important subject, and a great thread from DU'ers.

[central scrutinizer]

28. GQP wants the good old days back

12 year old kids working in the mines and fields, 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, no minimum wage, no overtime, no workplace safety, dumping of waste into rivers, no required accommodations for the alter-abled. All those pesky “regulations” that cut into profits.

[AllaN01Bear]

29. old saying, letting the fox rule the henhouse .

[BobTheSubgenius]

30. This is one of the most blatant examples of greed gone....what's a more powerful word than 'wild?"

[BobTheSubgenius]

32. Clicked "Post" instead of clicking into the text field.

That's what happens when I try to operate heavy machinery before my first coffee is in me. It's almost like drunk driving.

Anyway, what I was going to say was that the "regulatory" board in Texas (read "price fixer&quot mandated an increase from 12 cents per kwh to $9 per kwh. This is an increase of SEVENTY-FIVE times the "normal" rate. How can that possibly be justified???

Abbot's got the backs of the consumers, though; he says the power companies can't pass the costs of rebuilding whatever parts of the infrastructure need rebuilding. While obviously a step in the right direction, the word "obvious" applies to the idea behind that decision.

Perhaps it's "Beyond Obvious" that customers shouldn't be levied to pay for their negligence, lack of maintenance and greed - running the system so close to 100% capacity so as to not have to add more power generation.

That customers should not be getting billed up to $5000 (highest I've seen - there could be higher) for 19 days of power use is about at the level of "Power companies have been forbidden to pump the carbon monoxide they produce into the homes of consumers."

One of those things you would think never needs to be written down. Apparently, you'd be wrong.

Here, in the most liberal part (SW Coast of BC) of Canada, every appliance and fixture I have is electric. My bill is set at $110 per month. Our electrical system was "nationalized" (by the province) in 1962, and we often have enough surplus to export it.

Here, on Vancouver Island, our grid used to be vulnerable to weather. BC Hydro laid a new undersea cable and attached it to a brand new distribution center in the early 80's and we haven't had a blackout, barring downed trees, and similar, more or less unpredictable events.

I'm not trying to lord it over the unfortunate, gouged Texans. I want them to see what is possible. Everything and everyone in this world is dependent to some degree on everything and everyone else. Why not join us?

[tblue37]

61. I've seen $17,000 bills reported.

[Poiuyt]

31. The Democratic Party is the party that protects Americans

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/8/30/1882483/--Donny-Deutsch-has-marketing-advice-that-could-win-it-all-for-the-Democrats

Say what you will about Donny Deutsch, but he's spot on here.

[BobTheSubgenius]

33. That these distinctions have to be written down and disseminated is ridiculous, IMO.

How can people not know this, even just by sensing it, without all the data that backs it up?

[Poiuyt]

65. I agree, but he was speaking about marketing

The Democrats should definitely use these points in their marketing schemes.

[Mabel]

34. Regulations are like a cop on the beat

Capitalism is a great thing but there are always crooks, regulations just like a cop, enforce boundaries and help to keep the game honest.

[aggiesal]

38. Cops are PROTECTIONS ...

That is why any time someone uses the word REGULATIONS or I see a statement that uses REGULATIONS,
I substitute the word REGULATIONS with the word PROTECTIONS.

Used to drive the RWNJ's I know crazy.
They would complain about the REGULATIONS and I would respond with "You mean PROTECTIONS?"

[certainot]

35. thanks!

[calimary]

39. And that's what we should call them. PROTECTIONS.

NOT “regulations”. PROTECTIONS!

The bad guys have turned “regulations” into a dirty word. For years they’ve worked that dirty mind-games trick and unfortunately it’s been effective.

So we have to brand it differently. We have to use the word “protections.” Cuz that’s what regulations do. They protect.

They protect the little guy from bullying and overreaching and attempted domination by the big guy.

Btw - I think that domination thing is what made trump so attractive to the MAGAts. They’re all swiveling resentful little nobodies who found a Big Bad Tough Guy to glom onto, and thereby gaining those same attributes for themselves. They side with that big bad-ass, and they feel like big bad-asses too.

[aggiesal]

45. Exactly why I always say, substitute REGULATIONS with PROTECTIONS ...

and watch how the meaning changes drastically.
Words matter!

Also, people hear PROTECTIONS and they'll feel more self assured that it will benefit themselves, because they are protected.

As far as the "big bad-asses too", they're IDIOTS!

[Blue Owl]

42. K&R

[flying_wahini]

51. I see big class action lawsuits in Texas over this.

People in Texas are pretty pissed about getting $15 THOUSAND dollar electric bills.

And the direct pay paid the bills in full. Gotta hurt.

[patphil]

52. Stephanie Ruhle rules!

Deregulation requires honesty, integrity, and a true regard for what's good for the people as a whole.

Unfortunately those conditions can never be met since those who do not have these characteristics are often all in on acquiring money, power, and control.
It's like putting brakes and steering on a car...kinda necessary to get the car to stay on the road and not slam into people and stuff.

[aggiesal]

54. Here is something funny ...

Last edited Mon Feb 22, 2021, 08:27 PM - Edit history (2)

I took my car in to get a brake job done.
When it was complete, the manager handed me the keys and said,
"Here you go. All done. We stand behind our work".

I immediately responded with,
"Maybe you should stand in front of your work."

His eyes lit up.

[Hortensis]

57. ? This is not a new idea. The essence of regulation is to

protect the people, both directly and indirectly as in environmental issues, from being hurt by entities too strong for individuals to control. That's most business.

Basically, right out of "What Is Liberal Democratic Ideology 101."

[aggiesal]

66. My purpose is that we, as liberals should use the word ...

Protections whenever someone write or says anything about Regulations.
I know RWNJ's that spout crap about regulations and I immediately say, "You mean protections?"

It either shuts them up or they start thinking about how it protects them.

I'm just happy that Stephanie Ruhle said the exact thing I've been advocating.

[Oldem]

68. I endorse posts that stress semantics.

"Regulations" suggests restriction. "Protections" is positive: we all want protection. Words matter. From the moment the government used the word "regulatory," the door was open for repugs to eat our lunch. We have to be smarter.

[doubleplusgood]

70. say "regulatory safeguards"

...in response to the GOP's tiresome "burdensome regulations" mantra.

[aggiesal]

72. say "Protection safeguards" ...

remove any word that is a derivative of the word Regulate.

QOP's tiresome "burdensome regulations" mantra, turns into "burdensome protections".
Have the QOP try to defend that, "I'm against burdensome protections!"

It would really make them look like the heartless, soulless people that they are.