Sen. Elizabeth Warren's bill would end trading in water futures - eviltoast
  • ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    It’s selling hypothetical water that is not there and will never be there. It’s a total scam that is going to bite drought-prone areas in the ass big time.

  • tearsintherain@leminal.space
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    7 months ago

    Never underestimate the ability of banking and finance to invent new financial products and then tell you how it’s beneficial for everyone. (See financial crisis and derivatives for good example of this money making house of cards)

    Thank goodness for polits like Warren, a regular target of repubs and wealthy individuals, greedy corps and crypto bros.

    *As others pointed, like many other polits, Warren too should be called out for insider-trading. We need less cheerleading and greater accountability. Thank you folks for educating me on this.

    • CaptainProton@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Talking about a politician who insider-trades her way to tens of millions in gains each year.

      The real fix here is to ban speculative trading on anything with either industrial or everyday use (like metals and real estate).

      • tearsintherain@leminal.space
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        7 months ago

        You are right, thank you for the education. Congressional stock trading should be banned. And Warren like any other polit should be called out on it as well.

    • QuaternionsRock@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I mean, futures have an effective place in capitalist societies; the onion market is rather volatile because onion futures are banned (for hilarious reasons, I might add). The volatility makes is more difficult to run a sustainable onion farming operation.

      As for these water futures, while the concept does seem repulsive to me, I don’t really understand how they are responsible for anything here. If water futures were illegal, water suppliers would still be charging a huge markup today. Water companies sold undervalued futures years(?) ago, and they’re the only ones really losing out here. No skin off my back.

      (I think that everything I just said is stupid btw. Don’t take this as a defense of the “system”.)

    • melpomenesclevage@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      I dont think she deserves to be held up as high as you seem to want to, but I agree with the rest of what youre saying.

      • tearsintherain@leminal.space
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        7 months ago

        No, you are right not to put any polit on a pedestal, it should be a boring job where everyone is working for the people. Net, net her advocacy for consumers has been positive and ruffled the feathers of big business. Doing something right.

        • melpomenesclevage@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          eh, I think her rep is overblown, but she’s insecure and responsive enough to not be a complete monster.

  • UltraMagnus0001@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    In Mexico there is a town run by Coca Cola and the people literally believe in what I think is Fanta. Everyone dies of diabetes and the undertaker sees what’s going on, but it’s part of the religion. Coca Cola owns the water in that town. I think it’s a Vice report.

    https://youtu.be/hqnUohxXV0I

  • snapoff@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    How can water rights be purchased when most of the western states follow prior appropriation? If this introduces riparian laws to the western US that seems like a terrible idea, in addition to the terrible idea of trading in water futures.

    • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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      7 months ago

      She has been an important figure for decades. Biden’s got Kamala Harris as VP, they don’t need more than that.

      Warren tried to fight a law in 2005 that made it more difficult for consumers to file bankruptcy. From 2006-2010 she worked as a member of the FDIC. Her career really started to take off after she was very vocal and harsh against bankers and financial institutions following the 2007-2008 financial crisis, which lead to reform, and later when she became the first female representative from Massachusetts sent to US Congress, she served as the chair for the Congressional Oversight Panel of the TARP. She then served as very first congressional advisor for the newly established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She repeatedly refused to run for President in 2016 despite strong support at the time.

      So get used to hearing about her until the day she dies, so long as you follow US Politics.

    • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      No she’s the next controlled opposition after Bernie dies. It’s important to have a fake progressive in the Democratic party.

      Reminder that she voted to block UNRWA aid and said “israel had the right to defend itself” for quite a while into the Genocide of Gaza.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        People can have a mix of positions. Being shitty about Israel doesn’t make her controlled opposition.

  • bartolomeo@suppo.fi
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    7 months ago

    If this bill fails we should all go long water and opt for physical delivery instead of cash settlement.

    “Yes, seller of water futures, you have to deliver 800,000 cubic feet of water to my house. That’s derivatives bruh!”

    Seriously you have to talk to these finance bozos in the only language they understand- money. For some reason, “people need water (and housing etc.) to live” just doesn’t get through to them.

  • Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    I wont care about something she wants until she can no longer inside trade and manipulate stocks. No one is that good at the stock market. Just another greedy person who has more than they can ever spend stealing from her people.

    • joenforcer@midwest.social
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      7 months ago

      I think you’re confusing her with Nancy Pelosi.

      Elizabeth Warren has introduced legislation to prevent members of Congress from trading stocks.

      • TangledHyphae@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        You sure they aren’t referencing the fact that they all can still do that right now in general? Nothing will change until we take the politicians outside of insider trading.

        • joenforcer@midwest.social
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          7 months ago

          Given what I know about Senator Warren and her political career, especially the fact that she is one of the very few that isn’t actually doing it despite the opportunity and is trying to prevent it at the same time? Yeah, I’m pretty sure.

  • venusaur@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    If Biden stepped down and Warren was on the ballot again I would definitely vote in this upcoming election.

      • melpomenesclevage@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        nope, they’re right. I’d vote for Warren and I’d drop my prohibition against voting blue in any race. I don’t love warren, but I think she has virtues, I’d be voting for something, and I could at least half hope that the things I’m voting against wouldn’t happen if she won. plus she stands a much better chance of actually fucking winning; non-trumpers dont hate her.

        I will not under any condition vote biden, and if the blues run him, a D by your name gets you the same treatment as an R in my book.

        dangling us over a fascist cliff is not endearing behavior. I will not vote for a terrorist.

        • ThunderWhiskers@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          You’re still the problem even if you pretend to be above it. Trying to prop up your argument with the morality of not choosing the lesser evil does nothing but make you feel better about yourself in “refusing to compromise your principals”. This is reality and the reality is we live in a two party system. By not voting for one you are actively supporting the other.

          So rather than three paragraphs of idealistic bullshit you should just truncate it down to:

          “I support Trump” -melpomenesclevage

          • melpomenesclevage@lemm.ee
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            7 months ago

            I’m not refusing to compromise.warren would be a compromise.

            biden is making trump more of a threat to get himself elected. that’s not okay. if he doesn’t step down, he’s okay with that wager, and I don’t want him near power.

            fascist edging is irresponsible and not something I’ll vote for. especially if it doesn’t even stop the genocides!

              • melpomenesclevage@lemm.ee
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                7 months ago

                its not.because of Joe biden.

                again, I don’t even like biden. don’t worry, I’ll stay politically engaged; I just won’t be wasting my time at a voting booth.

                • ThunderWhiskers@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  Cool. So what you’re saying is you are perfectly ok with Trump being president, just so long as you don’t have to vote for Biden. That is the reality we are staring down the barrel of. You might not like having to vote for him, but if there are not enough votes under the Biden column then we will have a second term of Donald Trump. Keep what-ifing and patting yourself on the back.

      • venusaur@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        You’re brainwashed. The system is the problem. They want us peasants playing the imaginary game fighting with each other instead of unifying and making real change. You’re a pawn.

        • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Unifying and making real change means coming together and voting against the fascist that’s going to make everything worse.

          Feeling righteous about not doing the one thing that can actually help is immature and stupid.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            The Democrats aren’t making any real change though. They just patch things up for the next Republican to ratchet us further to the right. If we want change we’re going to need to change the democratic party first.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                Sure. Let me know when Biden is running for my local congressional seat so I can not vote for him there too.

                • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  You really are missing the point. Local elections reach up into higher elections. Vote for more liberal mayors, more liberal DAs, more liberal Congresspeople, and more liberal senators. The more liberal they move, the more liberal the overall party becomes.

          • venusaur@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            Ad hominem. I don’t participate in fear based politics or hate based discussion. Try again.

            • Doubletwist@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              If you’re not either participating in politics by voting, running for office or campaigning; or actively attempting to overthrow the government, then you are accepting whatever government we have and whatever government gets voted in.

              There’s nothing morally wrong in voting for the less-bad of available. options now, while still working toward changes that give us better choices in the future. If nothing else, if you really cared about how this country and world runs, you would at least be voting for whoever you think will give you even a SLIGHTLY better chance of allowing or enabling the change you want to see.

              The absolute least useful thing you could possibly do is throw up your hands and give up and not participate. As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what extremes on both ends of the political spectrum want you to do. The fewer people who participate, the easier it is for them to get away with all the money and power.

              • venusaur@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                It’s the opposite. They need your participation to keep the machine churning. The more you care about red vs blue the more money they make and the longer the system prospers with little real change. Another 4 years of Trump is what the Democratic Party needs to get off their asses (no pun intended) and actually give us somebody who’s gonna make real changes.

                It’s all business, you’re the consumer and our lives are the currency. If you’re not buying what they’re selling, they’re gonna need to give you what you want.

                • zbyte64@awful.systems
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                  7 months ago

                  So close but still framing it as “Blue needs to save us so we need to punish them with Red”, which is still red vs blue thinking

                • ThunderWhiskers@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  They need your participation to keep the machine churning.

                  You are 100% incorrect about this. The system will continue regardless of your participation. Sitting on the sidelines and pouting about the rules being bad does nothing but make you look like a child.

          • venusaur@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            I’ll vote for any candidate who wants to change the voting system. RCV or some other alternative voting method. Changing the electoral college vote. I’ll vote for that. Not about fear-based voting. Good luck in this upcoming election!

            • cori <3 (she/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              7 months ago

              Trump’s first term resulted in abortion bans that are actively making women die. Next targets on the list will be banning birth control and GAHT. These will also cause people to die. That’s not to mention how much worse Trump’s positions are on Israel/Palestine and Russia/Ukraine. Is it worth it to you to stand by and watch innocent, marginalized people die in the name of your personal political ideals? Elections are about way more than the idiosyncrasies of the political process. Literal human lives are on the line.

                • venusaur@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  I’m pretty sure you only care about the political circlejerk you subscribe to. Cum-stained high fives all around with your cronies. Demand real change. Don’t play into fear politics.

              • venusaur@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                Neither candidate cares about people’s lives. Biden could have expanded the court but let Roe/Wade happen. His foreign policy is going to put us in the middle of a war. No different than Trump. We could have already had RCV or some other voting system that allows us to vote for who we actually want instead of fear based voting. Biden could have stepped down and given people a candidate they wanted to vote for. Anything that happens is theirs and your own faults for letting them spin you in hamster balls or decades and scaring you into demanding change. They’ve forced your hands every time and now you’re crippled by the system. Demand change. Don’t play the game. I don’t subscribe to fear politics. Good luck.

            • njm1314@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              You think first past the post voting is something that gets changed in a presidential election? Really?

              • venusaur@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                No. I’ll vote for somebody who wants to change it while in office. Surprised you would think otherwise…

                • njm1314@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  Well now I’m even more confused, no you don’t think a president’s going to be the one to change first past the post, but yet you want to vote for someone who will? So you’re just straight up saying you’re never going to vote? This makes no sense.

                  When you stop letting anything excuse your apathy, maybe you’ll be able to start understanding that to change first past the post you have to work at the local levels first. Which I’m sure you don’t do because apathetic people don’t get involved in local politics passionately.

        • jeffw@lemmy.worldOPM
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          7 months ago

          Vote for not criminalizing human being? Vote for not giving tax breaks to the wealthy?

              • interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml
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                7 months ago

                Two flavours of dying neolibs, a system designed to keep everyone else out, it’s good cop bad cop washington consensus edition, don’t like demoxracy you russian traitor ?

          • venusaur@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            You can vote based on fear. I’ll sit this one out until there’s a candidate I actually want to lead our country.

            • HandMadeArtisanRobot@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              It sounds like you’re looking at this like you’re choosing someone to marry. I’ll wait for the one. I don’t want to settle. Etc… but you may never, ever get a candidate you like. Instead, I suggest you think of it like picking a city bus. Is this one going where I want to go? Probably not but it’s closer. And unfortunately, in this metaphor, you have to get on a bus anyway. “Sitting this one out” just means getting on someone else’s bus.

              • chingadera@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                It’s okay, when the Nazis come, they’ll realize that he is a purist and will not do anything bad to him.

  • Fredselfish@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Fuck cunt she fucked over progressive for her career. Anything she claims to want to pass that even sounds progressive, either isn’t really progressive or she knows it won’t pass and she uses it as a prompt.

    This cunt would vote against Healthcare for all if it had a chance to pass. Remember she "capitalist to her bones’