Deleted member 87099
Another great update! Sad to see that this TL will be ending soon, though. 
A Different Path: A History of the Kerry Administration & Beyond
- Thread starter Pericles
- Start date
Kind of sad to see the Libertarians getting nearly 10% of the vote seemed to be a flash in the pan thing - one would hope that might have given them enough of a boost nationally to compete for some offices and airtime.
Cool to see independent Kurdistan though.
Cool to see independent Kurdistan though.
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Tom Kean's Romney with minor alterations. If not there's Romney's VP Thune or Jeb!, they could run. Or someone else.
This TL will go until the 2016 election results. The shutdown was a minor battle with People Power and yhe Republicans opposing her deficit-reduction plan. She's not going to be more popular from that shutdown, especially as her budget made cuts to the military and social programs such as Medicare and food stamps, plus having much of the OTL cromnibus in it. Clinton passed this budget because the debt was rising even more than IOTL and she felt she could make the sacrifice.
Cuomo did trump Trump, or to quote Trump and the headline, Cuomo 'schlonged' Trump. 2016 will be interesting, though unfortunately the OTL election is so interesting that anything I add would be like comparing a pond to a lake. Still, there will be twists and turns.
The Libertarian Party has not benfited much. But the Republicans are slowly adoptibg more of their idrs and the strength of Libertarian Republicans is rising. This is especially true without the hysteria about ISIS and terrorism being so big, it's just another Iraqi civil war TTL and no Americans have been killed. Many Republican politicians are becoming more and more non-interventionist, helped by 2 hawkish Republican Presidents in a row losing re-election. Paul may ru n anf even if he doesn't, most of the Republican field are not keen for more war and seeking radival economic solutions after Romney's failed. The 2016 Republican platform might not be too libertarian but the national conservation is shifting in that firection, though its also shifting in the direction of People Power.
Stay tuned for more. Thanks for all the support and the 29 Turtledove votes!
Cuomo did trump Trump, or to quote Trump and the headline, Cuomo 'schlonged' Trump. 2016 will be interesting, though unfortunately the OTL election is so interesting that anything I add would be like comparing a pond to a lake. Still, there will be twists and turns.
The Libertarian Party has not benfited much. But the Republicans are slowly adoptibg more of their idrs and the strength of Libertarian Republicans is rising. This is especially true without the hysteria about ISIS and terrorism being so big, it's just another Iraqi civil war TTL and no Americans have been killed. Many Republican politicians are becoming more and more non-interventionist, helped by 2 hawkish Republican Presidents in a row losing re-election. Paul may ru n anf even if he doesn't, most of the Republican field are not keen for more war and seeking radival economic solutions after Romney's failed. The 2016 Republican platform might not be too libertarian but the national conservation is shifting in that firection, though its also shifting in the direction of People Power.
Stay tuned for more. Thanks for all the support and the 29 Turtledove votes!
I like Mittens.
I'll settle for Kean.
Ok. Maybe Mittens can play some role, such as making an endorsement or gtting a convention speech. Maybe just maybe you can get him at a brokered convention.
EDIT: Btw Alb, what do you like about Romney, as a matter of curiosity?
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So when you started this TL, did you imagine it having a far worse economic situation than OTL? Wonder how bad the next budget's cuts will be. Also there's the consideration of how much austerity will hurt the economy. Massive debt growth is bad then again so is the austerity needed to shrink the debt.
I imagined the economic situation to be worse than IOTL but did not sort out the final details. I like to think I got it just right, unemployment is only really about 2 percentage points higher than IOTL and the debt has another trillion on it round about. Sometimes I thought that it would be worse due to all the things making it worse: auto collapse, worse stimulus etc and other times I thought it was too biased and unrealistic and some of Obama's mistakes might be fixed. I think I got it right. The next budget will feature another battle, that's for sure.
bookmark95
Banned
An extra trillion!
Without ending the Bush tax cuts, I don't see how you can balance the budget.
An extra trillion!
Without ending the Bush tax cuts, I don't see how you can balance the budget.
Which is why it's a good thing Clinton managed to get a repeal of both the Bush and Romney tax cuts through her first budget
The national debt now IOTL is $19 trillion, so TTL in March 2016 it would be over $20 trillion. the deficit would be larger, but still shrinking as IOTL. While definitely not ideal, it probably won't be apocalyptic immediately. With the tax cuts repealed, what's propping up the debt is the fact that with a worse economy, the government is getting less tax revenue. Politically though, such nuance has no place. When the debt hits $20 trillion, talk of debtpocalypse will blare from TVs and savage austerity will become the wise, prudent, necessary course that those dastardly politicians are too cowardly to enact. You'll see.
bookmark95
Banned
Which is why it's a good thing Clinton managed to get a repeal of both the Bush and Romney tax cuts through her first budget
The national debt now IOTL is $19 trillion, so TTL in March 2016 it would be over $20 trillion. the deficit would be larger, but still shrinking as IOTL. While definitely not ideal, it probably won't be apocalyptic immediately. With the tax cuts repealed, what's propping up the debt is the fact that with a worse economy, the government is getting less tax revenue. Politically though, such nuance has no place. When the debt hits $20 trillion, talk of debtpocalypse will blare from TVs and savage austerity will become the wise, prudent, necessary course that those dastardly politicians are too cowardly to enact. You'll see.
I used to think that way too. I still kind of think that way. But than I read a Cracked article that explained that while the national debt is not ideal, America still has enough assets that it most likely will not end up like Greece.
I think that debt is dangerous and should be avoided, especially wasteful spending, but there is a large margin of error, especially with the USA. Hopefully President Clinton will be able to begin setting the US finances back from the brink.
Any other thoughts and predictions?
Another great update! Sad to see that this TL will be ending soon, though.
Thanks. Don't worry theev, I'll take this til the 2016 election results and a quick summary. That will take a while, especially with real life in the way. I have less time to do updates but I'll still try to get one a week at a bare minimum, if not 2 or 3 or more. Stay tuned the climax is coming.
Btw for alb, I might give you one update or two summarising what would have happened if Romney got a second term.
EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION COMES INTO EFFECT; RUSSIA, KAZAKHSTAN, BELARUS, ARMENIA AND KYRGYZSTAN FORM SINGLE MARKET-JANUARY 1, 2015
NEW CONGRESS INAUGURATED, SPEAKER BOEHNER TAKES THE GAVEL-JANUARY 3, 2015
ROMNEY DECLINES TO RUN OR ENDORSE THUNE-JANUARY 7, 2015
FORMER VICE-PRESIDENT JOHN THUNE FORMS EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE, SAYS "THERE'S ABOUT A 75% CHANCE I'LL RUN"-JANUARY 12, 2015
SUPREME COURT TO HEAR CASE ON GAY MARRIAGE
CONSERVATIVES TERRIFIED 'LIBERAL COURT' ABOUT TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE-JANUARY 16, 2015
CONSERVATIVES TERRIFIED 'LIBERAL COURT' ABOUT TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE-JANUARY 16, 2015
PRESIDENT CLINTON DELIVERS STATE OF THE UNION
President Clinton gave her State of the Union address today, and staunchly defended her record while warning Republicans against overreaching on their midterm victories. The President declared " In the last two years, we have reformed our broken immigration system, created a fairer tax system and are reviving our economy. The Great Recession is coming to an end, unemployment is falling, growth is up." She called on voters to "Reject the calls of doom and gloom. America is growing, America is reaching ever greater heights. We are undoing the failures of the past administrations and reviving prosperity for all." Yet, "there is still work to do. We need universal healthcare. We need to finish the recovery. We need to reform our financial system. We need to bring our debt down and avoid the fates of nations such as Greece." She also issued a thinly-veiled threat to Republicans, saying "There are people sitting here who want to bring down the stability of our government for political purposes. I warn you, you tried this before. You lost. We need to enact new solutions, solutions that work, not the failed policies of the previous administration. And until January 20, 2017, and hopefully January 20, 2021, I am President and I have a mandate from the voters to make this country work." The Republican response, coming from new Senator Joni Ernst, disdained Clinton's policies as "failed" and her as "part of a cadre of partisans who must be stopped." Senator Ernst warned "A political revolution is coming."
ALEXIS TSIPRAS, FAR-LEFT SYRIZA ELECTED GREEK PM, VOWS END TO AUSTERITY-JANUARY 25, 2015
Yes. It's the most recent so he looks the oldest. Is there something about that picture that interested you or makes you want to make a point? And do you know where I can get a picture of him looking even older so I can use it, given the presidency ages people? Cool that you noticed.
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bookmark95
Banned
That State of the Union speech is really cool.
It would pretty funny if Clinton OTL is elected this year, and she says the exact same things you wrote her saying ITTL.
It would pretty funny if Clinton OTL is elected this year, and she says the exact same things you wrote her saying ITTL.
Oh yes. You could totally see her saying those words. However she of course wouldn't insult the record of the previous administration IOTL
. That's a good point though.