Zaktor

it’s just we reached herd immunity

What? No we didn't.

Organized labor sure thinks it is. And it's not like these free-trade jobs are going to organized labor elsewhere, it's going to people being exploited with no recourse.

And yes, I think it's very likely labor is a major component of shipping cost increase from the Jones Act, and would love to see you provide literally any proof otherwise, because I've shown you a study of costs that directly compares them. I am notably not saying it's only cost, but it is almost certainly a major driver, for the simple fact that labor is almost always the major cost in a business and why capital is so desperate to offshore or replace it.

I've answered your question. Why is your position aligned with capital?

I see you've again ignored that your anti-protectionist political philosophy lines up exactly with the desires of capital and against that of organized labor.

I've read this philosophy before, from proud neoliberals. That's why I question your authenticity.

You're arguing that the EC's unfairness is unimportant, not that it's fair. And ignoring the senate imbalance where just a couple extra votes is a massive change.

So since it's unimportant, let's change it to be fair. Except I don't think you really feel it's unimportant and actually care very much about those two extra votes.

What? This response is incoherent. American crews cost more, significantly more than foreign crews, and that has a significant impact on costs. Labor is 2/3 of the operating cost for domestic shipping and 1/3 for foreign shipping. Domestic workers costing more and offshoring being cheaper aren't some new theory, they're the bedrock motivation for global free trade. Are you a real person?

And why do you ignore that your philosophy just happens to align with capital? This just read like a neoliberal screed about supporting the global south through deregulation.

it's still arguable that Republicans have unfair representation in the Senate and EC

LOL, wut? There's nothing arguable about that. Republicans very definitely have an unfair senate and electoral advantage entirely related to being more popular in less populated states (which, with the notable exceptions you've highlighted, tend to also be more rural).

You're cherry picking top ten and bottom ten like the whole swath of states in between don't also have unfair allocation and thus don't matter, while being pretty inconsistent with your battleground state definitions to suit your sorting needs (NH is blue because it only voted R once in 30 years, while every battleground you listed has the same history, and red Florida and Ohio have been 50/50).

While your point about population vs. density is correct, everything else seems to be trying to muddy the waters about the EC rather than just point out an interesting factoid or offer a pedantic correction. There's no serious argument that the EC isn't unfair from an individual voter perspective and biased toward one side from a national perspective.

Easy:

1. Vote in better Democrats
2. Abolish the filibuster
3. Pass law changing the number of justices on the court

Support from the legislature is all that's important. If the justices say "you can't do it", then ignore them because clearly they can. The constitution says very little about the supreme court and its size has been changed multiple times before. This is just doing history again.

Sure, but you're whatabouting an injustice of some people being temporarily detained to FOUR MILLION LIVES. If that was actually all it took, that's a pretty reasonable exchange.

Hawaii isn't in the ten least populous states and Maine isn't a blue state. It's not a straight sort, but Republicans far and away benefit from the unequal representation of the Senate and Electoral College.

Or instead of giving up we could make court expansion and reform a litmus test in future Democratic primaries. And/or normalize the idea that judicial rulings need to be enforced by someone else and they too have agency.

Because allowing this to continue for much of our remaining lives is also decorum. We live in an unjust system, but it's not just how life has to be for the next 30 years.

You can talk all you want about an international brotherhood, but these are people's livelihoods you're dismissing as unimportant.

And requiring American labor IS stipulating working conditions, because there is a very real difference between the working conditions of Americans and foreign sailors. This sounds like all you ever engage in is theory, while capital favors foreign workers because they don't have the same power (and expense) that American workers have.

Much of the American owned fishing fleet is entirely staffed by much cheaper foreign labor unable to leave their ships because their American company can get away with not applying for work visas. They didn't just happen to end up with foreign crews effectively held captive during port calls, they do it because they're cheaper and unable to easily challenge their bosses on conditions.

https://www.ap.org/explore/seafood-from-slaves/hawaiian-seafood-caught-foreign-crews-confined-boats.html

This isn't a case of an open labor market where everyone is on an equal footing and Americans simply choose not to do this work. Americans simply can't work for 70 cents an hour and bosses prize workers that don't have worker protections and can't demand more.

For many boat owners, the fishermen are a bargain: Bait and ice can cost more than crew salaries. Some of the foreign workers in Hawaii earn less than $5,000 for a full year. By contrast, the average pay for an American deckhand nationwide last year was $28,000, sometimes for jobs that last just a few months, according to government statistics. Experienced American crew members working in Alaska can make up to $80,000 a year.

An American crew has recourse and the force of law when an employer just refuses to pay their workers.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Coast Guard routinely inspect the Hawaiian boats. At times, fishermen complain they’re not getting paid and officers say they tell owners to honor the contracts. But neither agency has any authority over actual wages.

When your labor solidarity philosophy leads you to support and defend the position of capital, a position known to depower workers and empower abuse, it feels like that's the point where you should be thinking about what the whole point is.

And nothing in the Bill of Rights says you have an individual right to constantly be armed for personal safety.