3 ms·

I don't want to be glib, but hey what the hey. This is how you can see that the United States is in decline; it can no longer discontinue a coin through legisla

I don't want to be glib, but hey what the hey. This is how you can see that the United States is in decline; it can no longer discontinue a coin through legislation.

dmix 11mo ago
Congress seems like the most dysfunctional branch of government going on a couple decades now. They poll worse than the most unpopular presidents
- hamandcheese 11mo ago
  > They poll worse than the most unpopular presidents I would expect this to be the case generally since congress is at all times 99.5% people who you have no say in electing/recalling.
  - abustamam 11mo ago
    I happen to live in one of the few districts in CA that has a republican representative. I was looking forward to voting him out but then CA got gerrymandered and now we'll likely have a Democrat representative next term. I didn't like our republican representative but it seems kinda shitty that the folks who did like him and voted for him suddenly didn't get a say in who their representative ought to be. I mean, sure they probably voted No on 50 but most of the yes votes came from outside of our district. Edit: I strongly hate gerrymandering but I also acknowledge the need for the democrats to play dirty because the Republicans are, and "being the better person" doesn't seem to be a viable political strategy anymore.
    - kasey_junk 11mo ago
      The voters did get a say in California which at least had the process require a referendum. The other states that have done mid cycle gerrymandering just forced it on their population.
      - abustamam 11mo ago
        Yeah, that's true, never thought of it that way. The way CA did it is certainly better, but I think it's still solving the wrong problem though — political power should not be able to be swayed by politicians moving borders around, with or without a vote. Redistricting is important because every district should have equal population, but they should be drawn by independent committees (and in many states they are, just for "some reason" a bunch of states decided to do it with a partisan spin).
kmeisthax 11mo ago
The last time America discontinued a coin legislatively was the half cent about 150 years ago. That's a pretty long decline.
- philistine 11mo ago
  The US needed to discontinue the penny since at least the early 2010s; before you could argue it wasn't worth it. That's 25 years.

I don't want to be glib, but hey what the hey. This is how you can see that the United States is in decline; it can no longer discontinue a coin through legislation.

dmix 11mo ago

Congress seems like the most dysfunctional branch of government going on a couple decades now. They poll worse than the most unpopular presidents

hamandcheese 11mo ago
> They poll worse than the most unpopular presidents I would expect this to be the case generally since congress is at all times 99.5% people who you have no say in electing/recalling.
- abustamam 11mo ago
  I happen to live in one of the few districts in CA that has a republican representative. I was looking forward to voting him out but then CA got gerrymandered and now we'll likely have a Democrat representative next term. I didn't like our republican representative but it seems kinda shitty that the folks who did like him and voted for him suddenly didn't get a say in who their representative ought to be. I mean, sure they probably voted No on 50 but most of the yes votes came from outside of our district. Edit: I strongly hate gerrymandering but I also acknowledge the need for the democrats to play dirty because the Republicans are, and "being the better person" doesn't seem to be a viable political strategy anymore.
  - kasey_junk 11mo ago
    The voters did get a say in California which at least had the process require a referendum. The other states that have done mid cycle gerrymandering just forced it on their population.
    - abustamam 11mo ago
      Yeah, that's true, never thought of it that way. The way CA did it is certainly better, but I think it's still solving the wrong problem though — political power should not be able to be swayed by politicians moving borders around, with or without a vote. Redistricting is important because every district should have equal population, but they should be drawn by independent committees (and in many states they are, just for "some reason" a bunch of states decided to do it with a partisan spin).

kmeisthax 11mo ago

The last time America discontinued a coin legislatively was the half cent about 150 years ago. That's a pretty long decline.

philistine 11mo ago
The US needed to discontinue the penny since at least the early 2010s; before you could argue it wasn't worth it. That's 25 years.