She is not getting the bribes from billionaires that Trump is getting. Money is the only reason he changed his mind.

But in narrow cases they provide a path to bring in a Singularlly skilled Tech Professional. But they have been abused to dampen IT staffing wage levels. For a limited pool of truely world class talent with out an able American to fill the role they are approiate. That is a rare area where this administration isn't too far off the mark, placing a fee that discourages using it for wage supression and only for the very best and brightest that are needed no matter how high the wages and fees which are needed to get them. Even a clock is right twice a day, on very rare occasion this fool might get one policy a little ok, but whomever is handing the applications is likely not the best and brightest and I fear there will be bribes aiding the allocations.

Now I know why Been A Dick Donald likes these visas so much, it's another grift for him.

We ought to be able to agree with her about the abuses of allowing immigrants to come in when Americans should be educated and capable of doing high-tech jobs. If she would be open to allocating substantial funds into educating Americans to do these specialties, I would think we could find common ground. And in the process, perhaps she would also understand the few exceptions where it makes sense to allow a very limited number of people in who have extraordinary skills that are urgently needed in our economy.

Seriously, folks. This may be the first time in over a decade when there has been a prominent Republican whom we could actually work with. I never would have bet it would be MTG. But if she is speaking in good faith, we should meet her where she is.

We don't yet know if she is to be trusted.
Of if she even has an inkling of what she is talking about.

Seems doubtful she would be willing to fund US education programs.

The GOP goal is to dumb down the US and downgrade our economy.

I just keep wondering who's been guiding and coaching her.

Any ideas?

No mention online about the team guiding her, not even any rumors.
I guess people still think Marge magically transformed over night into a normal person.

But it has to be a big team.

She has done a lot of work to her face, hair, make up.
And obviously has a good stylist. Making her look sophisticated.
So one team just for her physical appearance.

Then a speech coach to help ditch her hillbilly twang.
And make her sound calm and measured.
Thoughtful and educated.

Then the political gurus who have engineered her ideological transformation
from a goober from the backwaters of GA to a serious presidential candidate.
Someone who all of a sudden sounds sensible, level headed, with widespread appeal.
Looking and sounding like a real leader.

People from the liberal forums all over are stating they agree with Marge these days.
And are starting to approve of her.

I am wondering if there are some liberal advisors?
Or maybe some disaffected GOP gurus like Steve Schmidt?

Whoever is doing it, we are looking at pure political genius.

It is possible to turn a pig's ear into a silk purse.
We saw it happen right in front of our eyes.

Of course I don't trust Marge any further than I can throw her.
She is a nasty piece of work.

Do you have any ideas Ananda?

So can we presume that some billionaires and
serious rightwing influencers are behind this?

I think of it as interesting, but after all the damage
Trump and co have done, I just don't see it going
anywhere except maybe as a temporary influence
to make liberals think Republican women aren's
quite so crazee.

She is being bankrolled and guided by some sort of group perhaps.

She could probably afford a team on her own, her net worth has skyrocketed since she
came to Congress, all insider trading and bribes. She is said to be worth $25 million now.

So she could afford a team to transform her into presidential material?
But it would be expensive to assemble a team who can identify key issues
and stances with wide appeal. And then coach her within an inch of her life.
It would take a chunk of her fortune.

But does she have the deep connections and gravitas to attract a sophisticated team
of experts? Not really. But perhaps political consultants are desperate these days.

And I give Marge credit. Usually narcissists refuse to listen to advice since they know
better than any expert. But Marge is listening to her advisory team.

I am thinking of something Marge said this year I think.
That she was tired of being made fun of, ridiculed and seen as a stupid clown.
She stated she was smart, very smart and wanted people to see that.

So she hires a team to make her look smart.

my current bridge partner is starting to pull
out of her narcissism.

For the first time since we started playing,
she asked me how I was doing, actually
listened and shared conversation space,
and is being a real friend to me,

Maybe there's something in the water, lol.

By any chance is there something this friend may want from you?

I tend to be wary of narcissists, they tend to be opportunists and transactional.

But sometimes people go through a dark time and get self absorbed.
Then when they are in a better place can start interacting more normally with others.

Well maybe society will learn some lessons about criminals and psychopaths.
Not really a good way to run a country or your life.

She's actually getting some of my humor and wit, too.

I'm not as well versed in the psychology as you are,
and of course, she does want something from me...
a good bridge game. But of course, I want the same
thing from her.

The magic ingredient is probably her husband... a
totally good, kind, calm person.

Anyway, I'm just very happy with her right now.

Often times narcissists will mirror other people's traits.
She enjoys the game and interaction, wants to please you and keep it going.
Which is fine. It is ramping up in a good way.
And she is used to being with another good person, her husband.

You are saying that narcissism is incurable.
I didn't know that.

Truth is I always thought of her as a goodhearted narcissist.
But until now, she's always made every single thing about
her and I've had to set serious boundaries on the way she
talks about mistakes, harping on mine, defending herown
or making light of them. That's improved too.

What I did was refuse to play f2f bridge with her. We only
play bbo bridge in our separate houses. I don't even read
her chat remarks. That way I can yell at the screen, lol.
and nobody gets in trouble.

However sometimes people can enter treatment and learn better ways of coping,
and more normal social interaction. And if there is also a mood disorder that can be treated.
Which helps.

Typically however the personalty disorder does not enter therapy, everyone around them does.

Yes setting boundaries/limits is the way to go with her.

She has always been a difficult partner.

I had to ghost her for awhile, but then
I decided I liked her game enough to get
her back.

She plays conventions that I can't get anyone
else to play, and we score a lot.

And now that she's a real friend to me, it's not
so difficult.

Also, you might be surprised at how good bridge
is for you, both physically and mentally. I had
a teacher who said studies have shown this.

I think it really helps keep older brains like mine
sharp.

The brain is like other parts of the body, use it or lose it.
And anything that requires brain cells to learn something new or strategize helps build new neural pathways.

This is why PhDs have lower rates of dementia. They have had to develop so many
new neural paths in the brain.

Before Covid I played dominoes at the senior center. I loved it and was good at it.
At the same time right next to us were many tables of bridge players.
Periodically a fight would break out at the bridge tables. Often there were some bad words flying.
Once there was some pushing and shoving. Sometimes they are screaming and shouting for joy.

We don't do that at all in domino games.
So I thought bridge was a bit too rough, too much excitement for my tastes.

Bridge can get pretty wild and woolly sometimes.

I'm very competitive, and sometimes I would lose
my temper and start yelling.

This current partner can really set me off, so I
much prefer playing with her online.

Well, I mean, if she'd just shut up at the table,
we'd be fine... but she is who she is, if you get
my drift. And yes, I blame her for the way she
comes at me over every little thing.

But see, with online bridge, you can yell at the
screen; and if we're on the phone afterwards, I
can yell at her safely or better yet, hang up.

We're still on very good terms, and she's actually
able to hear me explain some bidding practices
to her that she couldn't listen to before... so we're
doing better and getting along better.

Win win.

Very competitive and like to win.

Same with Bingo, I won all the time there too.

They cut down on some of the bridge drama by separating the players into two groups.
Social bridge and competitive bridge.
So the slow learner players could play by themselves.

I don't understand why the bridge players are always yelling at their partners.
Why the heck do you chose loser partners?
Get yourself some higher octane partners for god's sake.

Dominoes involves no partners thank god.
But there are the slow learners and social chit chat players.
Instead of playing they are chatting about their latest hair style, christmas list, and latest dumb stunt by hubby.

I played with dementia people way too long.
It took to h me forever to figure it out.

Then last February, one died and I ditched
the other two and picked up my current
partner again.

She's also competitive, but got into some
bad playing habits that her narcissism made
it hard to admit were bad. That's been the
real drama until I just decided, fuck it, I won't
confront her on it any more.

What I'd do is just ignore it, until finally she
settled down some. Her first tactic was to tell
me she wanted us to hire a pro to help us. I
told her he better be affordable and set a price
limit. You know, agree just to get her off guard
until she's ready to hear me talk.

So now she's coming around and actually hearing
me, so we're doing better. We really don't need a
pro; I'm good enough to even carry her when she
goes off piste with her stupid bidding.

Still, I think I'll let the pro observe one of our
games in January. It can't hurt, and it'll make her
feel good. He's a nice guy who was the first director
I met at the bridge club.

I used to play bingo when I was young, at the church
and my dad's work picnics. I won' some cool prizes too.

Dominoes was fun too. My grandmother taught us to
play 42 and 84. Those were the best, lots of fun.

Fun is good, especially these days.

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And then you can reference him in your future suggestions.

Once you pick a partner it is not easy to switch?
Are you stuck with them?

Why don't you look around and find a better partner?

It is interesting how clueless some players are.
One gal in particular just talked the entire game about nonsense.
It was hard to concentrate with her incessant chatter.
But she was still able to play a reasonable game without actually paying much attention at all.
And even won occasionally.

One day I looked at her and said, you know Suzy if you got serious about this game you could
win every round, every time. You could even beat those of us who win all the time.
She looked shocked like she had never considered this before.
Next week she came and settled down and played a real game.

All of that said, I have no problem with people who just come to socialize.
I just think they should be in a different group from the competitive players.

I was also surprise at the number of people who show up to the book clubs
and don't actually read the book. Or don't come prepared to say anything about the book.

Not long ago a very rich lady asked me to mentor her
and paid for our games.

The only thing is... she talked every waking minute...
no quiet time whatsoever.

I explained to her how classist that was, and that
knowledge surprised her.

I said classism is about space... owning the space...
and that includes conversation space.

I ended the partnership, but we're still on good terms.

She is a goodhearted person, and a Democrat.

Sorely needed it sounds like.

when Trump blocked her move to run for Senate in GA, at least according to AOC. I see no reason for AOC to make this up.

The rumor mill says that the great majority of Republicans in the House and Senate absolutely loathe Trump. And the fact is that Trump's "touch" is turning poisonous. All Republicans will have to game out how to separate from Trump. MTG just got out ahead of the pack. She obviously feels like her House seat is safe, even publicly turning against Trump, and maybe this new image of national alternative to Trump will make her seat even safer than before.

She may be jockeying to replace Johnson, although I would question that career choice if we are heading into a wave election. Much better to let Johnson, Trump, and Vance take the fall for a wave election, and she can position for a Presidential run and to take the MAGA base away from Trump and keep that faction alive.

I am not saying she has a good chance of being President, but stranger things have happened.

We know this is a woman who stalked the victims of school gun violence.

This is a woman who had chronic public affairs cheating on her husband.
He finally had enough. Her affair with Gaetz was the final straw for hubby.
And I suspect Marge is a long time steroid abuser and perhaps other drugs as well.

She is a nasty piece of work.

This is what she does in public. What does she do behind closed doors.

I agree, AOC is an honest reporter. Trump blocking Marge's political ambitions
must have infuriated Marge after she carried the water for him for so long and so
tirelessly. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and Marge is doing payback now.

Don't get mad, get even is her new motto.

But we can see what happened to Liz Cheney who had the same strategy. Liz was positioning
herself as the new leader of the GOP, she thought separating herself from the toxic Trump brand
would be a winner. Instead it destroyed her.

She too thought her seat was safe in Wyoming.

Going up against the Putin/Trump/MAGA machine is quite dangerous.
This is why the GOP congress will be happy to let Marge flail away at Trump.

Of course often timing is everything. Maybe there is blood in the water Trump wise with
the Epstein scandal.

At one point Marge did want to be speaker. But as you say it is a political hot seat right now
with no upside.

It is clear to me that with her total and expensive make over she is running for president.
I think she might have a clear shot at it.
If Trump does not destroy her first.

In all of these cases, I look for uncharacteristic behavior. It is often what is not said that reveals the most. Why is Trump NOT attacking MTG?

Trump is one of the most insecure people ever to walk this planet. All bullies are. Everything he says is power this and power that. He has no ability to deal with people on a human level. He views every interaction as a zero sum game where there is a winner and a loser. And he associates that with being powerful. His worst fear is being seen as not powerful, or worse, irrelevant.

And he equates his power to the 20 million (or so) hard core MAGA people. Yet, he sees that the MAGA base may be more aligned with MTG than Trump now and that is devastating to him. He cannot attack her without attacking his MAGA people. And at this stage, with her apparent Presidential aspirations, she is not in the mood to be bought off. Trump buys off people when he can punch down, like Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. Any attempt to buy off MTG would only make her stronger, and one notices MTG was NOT invited to the situation room. That was no accident. Trump fears MTG.

So again, we are on the same page about not trusting that woman an inch. However, politics makes strange bedfellows. Setting MTG aside for a moment, we must not let the GOP have the H1B issue. While there are some limited cases where this makes sense, it is heavily abused and a gift to corporations at the expense of American workers. We must get out ahead of this issue. And if some cooperation with MTG keeps us at the leading edge of that issue, that's a win. We must position Democrats clearly on the side of American workers. And we can do this by doubling down on MTG's position.

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that the people Trump endorses lose about 90% of the time. Clearly MTG has decided we have passed the inflection point where being close to Trump is now a DISadvantage. Certainly that will be the case in her district.

And notice he won't say this to her face. He did not invite her to the war room meeting. Or if he did, she told him to go screw his degenerate pedophile self.

There are signs everywhere that, while the MAGA sentiment may remain as a political philosophy, millions of people are deciding that Trump is a really bad guy.

Again, looking at his actions versus his words, trump had around 80 public rallies during his first term. He thrived on these ME-fests.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Donald_Trump_rallies_(December_2016%E2%80%932022)

Now, he is afraid to have any rallies, because crowds are small and more than half the crowd walks out while he's still doing his 90-minute diatribe of personal grievances. He has done only 4 little ones in the second term and stopped doing them in July. He's afraid to face the public. He's afraid of MTG. Just a scared little fat man now and MTG knows it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Donald_Trump_rallies_(2025%E2%80%93present)

Not just by making primary threats.

Not much else I respect about her.

But Can Trump destroy her? 5 years ago, he could. Now, I'm not so sure.

And this is driving Trump crazy. He really MUST destroy her, because if she survives, there are 100 more who would like to break with Trump. We have seen Thune stand up to Trump in small ways, but that is somewhat expected from his position.

He already screwed up her ambition of a Senate seat. I don't think there would be a serious primary threat. Will he push Mikey to take her off committees? Will he try to kill projects in her district? He probably will try. But MTG is calculating this will backfire on Trump and work to her advantage.

It is a fun one to watch.

He can unleash his flying monkeys on her.
The ones tanked up on drugs and booze who are pure psychopaths.

Sue her endlessly on cooked up charges.
Go after her shady past in the media.

The ways he can go after her are numerous.

Yep we have to admire Marge's guts.
She knows what Trump is capable of.

But of course Marge is a narcissist and thinks she is the smartest one in the room.
And she can slay dragons. So maybe it is false courage.

Oh yes she is driving him bananas. She is hitting paydirt and needs to keep it up.
He cannot stand what she is doing to him.

Oh yes make no mistake. All eyes are on the MTG/Trump feud.
If she succeeds, there will be a long line waiting their turn.

I believe Marge is getting excellent political advice from people who are master DC strategists.
I think from both parties perhaps. Higher echelon I believe.
Yes I would not count her out, she is making great progress.
(ETA Marge is not smart enough to think up all of this on her own,
she has help. Big gun help.)

Trump is scared shitless of MTG. Bullies are cowards.

Trump may eventually do all those things that you listed. He is doing those things on a daily basis to Democrats and others he considers his personal enemies. It is different to do this to a sitting Republican, and one who is in good standing with the MAGA cult.

After these elections, I'd say at least 3/4 of the Beltway Republicans are just about to the point of throwing Trump overboard, and an unfair attack on MTG could set that in motion. Trump had better watch his back. MTG may be his best friend. At least she says where she stands.

It appears they have increased now and the threats are more serious.

Trump is gunning for her.

Trump did it to Liz Cheney.

And some of the women who used to work for him in the first term and have flipped to the good side.
And other women who have spoken out against him.

But yes attacking Marge may backfire. She has the public's attention, and the media likes her.
She is good drama.

Yes you make a good point.
At least Marge is talking trash to Trump right to his face.

The ones Trump should worry about are the ones shaking his hand, kissing his ass, but plotting
behind his back.

These must be taken very seriously. Trump has always been a gangster. Bannon made a threat against Kirk and he was dead 2 days later.

We don't need any more shootings so I pray that all representatives stay safe.

But these Trump-on-GOP threats cannot sit well with Republicans.

Especially a woman.

Trump thinks nothing of having someone killed.
He tried to kill Pence, his own VP.

The other R's have probably been threatened as well.

Don’t trust her one bit. She still blames President Biden for nonsensical things. Typical rw bs. Maybe vote for something she proposes, but trust? That would be a big Hell No. She has a long way to go to gain Dem’s trust.

She is a very nasty piece of work.

Everything she says and does is performative.

She must have watched Orange Psychopath at a function and concluded he's on his last legs. Now she's looking to gather up his cult following.

…China or India than for China and India to benefit. We definitely benefit from such a brain drain to us, but there is real abuse.

The H1B program was supposed to be for very unique and specialized cases (as you mention), but--shocker!-- corporations abused it to get cheaper labor, particularly in IT. Worse still, US workers are often forced to train their replacements first. How is that adhering to the whole point behind the H1B visa, which is to recruit talent that can't be found in the US.

It's tough on the H1B workers, too, as they are often exploited by their own companies. They get locked in and paid slave wages. Or these huge "talent recruiting" firms will do a "bait and switch". The person on the phone interview will be very knowledgeable. But the person who shows up is not the same person. This has happened at our company. We posted a job for a particular technology. The person on the phone interview sailed through with flying colors. However, the candidate who showed up (a young kid) had no clue. It was so obvious that we caught onto it within an hour. I felt sorry for the guy; he was so nervous that he almost fainted. Not a good position to put him in. However, these huge consulting firms don't care; they just want the money. Both US corporations and outsourcing corporations are complicit; it's the US worker and H1B worker who get screwed.

Are mostly fraudulent. Our tech workers are constantly getting laid off and made to train a replacement supposedly more skilled. Fuck that! Get rid of em for tech, leave em wide open for medicine though.

The “US workers are dumb and lazy” canard has about run its course. Even she knows which way the wind is blowing in this case.

I agree, temporary visa is just that. Temporary. Once your time is up, back home or another country you go. Medical Professionals, those who wish for more than Visa, should get citizenship. Common sense.

but those who are the lower-level healthcare workers - nursing assistants or aides/nurses/physical therapists, etc., working in nursing homes, rehab facilities, long term care facilities. You see quite a few Filipinos and Haitians doing that type of work (changing bed pans, bathing patients, feeding them, etc).

Medical workers are not Medical PROFESSIONALS. Big difference....

Medical workers could range from medical billing to nurses aides.

Medical PROFESSIONALS are those that a degree of some sorts and those should be offered citizenship.

and believe it or not, some qualify for H1-Bs too with certain certifications and if they have a job lined up (sponsored). There are other types of Visas that they could also qualify for as well - https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/health-care-worker-certification

They are much more prolific in those medical settings than your typical "doctors" (many of whom have come from India or Nigeria).

That Mailorderia came to the US on an H1B visa? This may be a personal F you to the corpulent orange miscreant for scuttling Empty G’s hopes to run for the Senate. Maybe she is implying that Mailorderia should go back to Slovenia.
Another H1B went to that Canadian model/actress/playmate of the month who was passed around to Trump, some wealthy MAGA fundraiser, and Hugh Hefner. Can’t remember her name but Michael Cohen negotiated an NDA like the one done for Stormy Daniels. Incidentally this model was a ringer for Ivanka.
Yeah, it is time to reign those H1B visas in. I wonder who was selling then and for how much?

...there is a need for H-1B visas. We just are not producing enough scientists and engineers. Crypto! Bitcoin!!

I remember a story about Ford recently, where CEO Farley said Ford was short 5,000 mechanics. They just cannot find enough Americans to fill those jobs.

The H1 ans it stands now is a mess. It has been abused, and while there is definitely some great talent on the visa, a constant influx is definitely not needed as unemployment is rising. We’re facing challenges as it with AI eating away at tech jobs.

I’d prefer those already in line for a green card however, have it expedited since the backlog is ridiculous and in my opinion unjust, while phasing out the existing program.

I disagree with her about sending those back right away who have been here legally for many years (some well over a decade) . But I think some of them can also be give a more exclusive visa if their talent permits.

If a qualified American citizen or permanent resident cannot be found for a position, after an extensive job search has taken place, then it makes good economic sense to use an H-1B visa.