Biden / Harris Focused Discussion

[wunksta]

Pull on these while you're at it.

Oh man, I remember using those.

[cubby]

Not too much of a surprise. They've been talking about this plan since Jan. 6. It's more a matter of people listening to the Dems themselves. Or getting secondhand opinions from a wormbrain on twitter. Or Jeff Stein just making up quotes.


Theoretically they're limited to 2-3 reconciliation actions per year. So it's an interesting question where healthcare fits into this.

Also, expect a dumb online fight over "healthcare expansion". Very Online people demanding M4A represent a small faction IRL. But will cry the most.
With a slim 51-50 vote, it's more realistic to either see a Medicaid expansion as part of ongoing Covid relief. Which is less sexy for middle class twitters. But simply gets more people covered.
If we're really lucky we get a Medicare buy in (public option), which could be styled as more budget neutral and win over the marginal Dems.

I was surprised how quickly Manchin got in line though - in a good way. People were talking about him blocking everything, but so far those very online people are 0-1. I'm sure there was some horse trading and perhaps he got some concessions, but it sure went through pretty quickly.

Agreed re M4A and a long-shot hope of a buy-in option. Who knows though - the GOP is currently imploding and the fucking GOP-Lite just came out with that Child Payment (Romney).

- - - Updated - - -

Put on your job helmet and squeeze into the job cannon...

Ha!

You know, when Infrastructure actually comes up, Manchin could go nuts with his "asks" and get a fully funded jobs retraining program for coal workers transitioning to solar and wind turbine farms. Drone piloting is a not-insignificant piece of wind turbine maintenance - that would be the "cool" thing to push.

Holy fuck - I'm actually excited about our country again. I don't know what to do with myself.

[jonnysensible]

lol saw that mayor pete thing, i can only ever think of this when i see him

[wunksta]

You know, when Infrastructure actually comes up, Manchin could go nuts with his "asks" and get a fully funded jobs retraining program for coal workers transitioning to solar and wind turbine farms.

That sounds like Killary talk. In seriousness though, I would look forward to it and only hope that it can have actual voter buy in and support.

[cubby]

That sounds like Killary talk. In seriousness though, I would look forward to it and only hope that it can have actual voter buy in and support.

Lol, right? The whole thing makes 100% sense. It would just some "marketing" to help Manchin sell it to his peeps.

[Breccia]

Hear that reddit? Time to sell gamestop and buy vatican bonds ?

"Stop fucking selling GME"
- actual WallStreetBest forum title

Reddit favorite GameStop (GME) isn't looking so hot this week and some of the stock's biggest backers are freaking out.

After selling off sharply all week, the stock fell another 42% Thursday.

"Stop f---ing selling GME," is the title of a thread on the WallStreetBets forum, home of the Reddit army that boosted the gaming retailer's stock price in recent weeks.

"We have the advantage. All we have to [do] is buy and hold shares," wrote one of the users.

Elsewhere on the forum, another said: "To any [hedge fund] plants in the sub trying to break [WallStreetBets]: F--- you. I'm not selling. We're not selling."

Last week, the short squeeze forced hedge fund Melvin Capital to secure a more than $2 billion bailout from hedge fund Citadel to make ends meet. Making matters more confusing, Chicago-based Citadel Securities, a different entity owned by the same billionaire, Ken Griffin, is under scrutiny over its relationship with trading platform Robinhood that is popular with retail investors.

"Never forget that you were robbed by Citadel. They are, and will never be, your friend or a part of a healthy or just financial system," wrote a Reddit user.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Bassed on the last four years, I get the feeling the people the SEC are going after will try "Well it backfired and we lost money" and get away with market manipulation. Also, while it's possibly illegal, thumbs up to those people who sold at the ridiculously high price. This can't have been an easy trade to sim out.

[Endus]

lol saw that mayor pete thing, i can only ever think of this when i see him

For me, it's always this;







But I think that's a little unfair. To Ben Wyatt.

[shimerra]

The criticism I remember progressive having about Biden's position was the fact it wasn't wiping it out but forgiving it to a certain amount

Which is a really stupid criticism because if I recall correctly the reason why it was only $10,000 was because there are limits to what Biden can do using solely executive power vs what would require congress and going above that amount would require an act of Congress. And in fact there were quite a few provisions such as people who went to public Universities that would have more wiped out but the general consensus was that wiping out 100% of student debt was not something Biden can do alone.



While a few like Warren argued that Biden could simply wipe out all debt with an executive order there's not a consensus that that is legal/possible. This was something the Biden team and others pointed out and refusing to say you're going to do something you're not legally sure you can do yet makes sense to anyone who isn't a moron. Low information Progressives then jumped on that clickbait headline "biden refuses to wipe out all student debt" and proceeded to criticize what is still a pretty solid plan that wipes out a huge chunk of debt with no need to act from congress. Making most of said criticism for Biden not planning to do things he potentially legally can't do........stupid.

[Edge-]

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5...id-relief-plan

Welp, the $1.9T stimulus seems well on its way now that Democrats are just ignoring Republican shitheels. I thought the pro-austerity Dems would cave to the pressure and not pass anything, or something.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/0...zd5sr0lSlFYsoY

And Biden's using the DPA for something good for a chance, not just to shield meatpackers from legal liability if they kill their employees - focusing on increased production of vaccines, PPE, and testing including at-home tests.

[Machismo]

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5...id-relief-plan

Welp, the $1.9T stimulus seems well on its way now that Democrats are just ignoring Republican shitheels. I thought the pro-austerity Dems would cave to the pressure and not pass anything, or something.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/0...zd5sr0lSlFYsoY

And Biden's using the DPA for something good for a chance, not just to shield meatpackers from legal liability if they kill their employees - focusing on increased production of vaccines, PPE, and testing including at-home tests.

As a fellow "liberal," I am giggling at how wrong some people have been about things.

[Grapemask]

I'm miffed that Manchin and Collins were successful in adding in the "maybe possibly lowering means testing for stimulus checks" amendment to the stimulus bill. It's non-binding and doesn't even set out a new threshold, saying only that they want to "ensure upper-income taxpayers are not eligible." But the already-established $150,000 for households isn't exactly upper income. Well, maybe in Manchin's West Virginia where the median cost of living is literally a third of the national median, but for those of us who aren't country bumpkins and live in the parts of the country that actually contribute to the GDP, $150k means we're still shopping at Wal-Mart. I'm happy that at least someone will be getting something, but Manchin can go fuck himself with a rake.

[beanman12345]

$15 min wage increase goes into the bill

Adopted, 51-50: S.Con.Res.5, Sanders Budget Resolution, as amended, with the VP voting in the affirmative.

Kamala looks pretty boss casting the final vote. I could (and have to) get used to this.

I gave credit to the wrong people for the votes a few days ago. Its not schumer and pelosi they deserve some credit, they help as many do, it's Dick Durbin and it's James Clyburn who are the ones running a tight ship despite dem's being as big a tent party as they are, they still whip those every vote almost always getting everyone on board. I think there was 1 democrat in the house that didn't vote this.

[Edge-]

https://www.salon.com/2021/02/05/bid...t-do-too-much/

Yoooooo, Biden telling Larry Summers to fuck off with his austerity bullshit.

You fuckin love to see it. And in no small part because there seemed to be a great amount of complaining about how Biden would be doing pretty much literally the opposite of what he's been doing since taking office.

Fuckin weird, yo. Fuck you, Larry Summers.

[Thepersona]

Or that you come from a "bad family". There's so much fatalism in conservatism.

I mean, you should know that a lot of their political ideology comes from hardcore calvinism and prosperity gospel bullshit, with predestination and all of that stupid shit.

[beanman12345]

It's actually not a certainty given that Manchin has been cagey on the subject. He supported a previous hike to 10$ a while back, but his silence on the issue now is deafening.

well you told me so, and now i'm more likely to agree now that i'm fully knowledgeable, it's less likely to pass due to how it's written, it would 15 would go immediately into effect instead of gradual increase up to 15 over a period of a few years, and I assumed it would be the latter but it isn't. So, yeah you are right, it's not as likely as I thought it to be, and I am likely wrong.

[Shadowferal]

Yea...the minwage thing probably won't get through. But aside from that it seems Biden will be signing off on deal in a week or so.

[Breccia]

Biden flat-out says in public that he doesn't see the value of Trump receiving security briefings.

"Ah, because he took Israeli intel and handed it off to Russia personally and directly?"

No.

"Because he'd trade it for real-estate options?"

No.

"Because of the murderous insurrection?"

Yes.

[gondrin]

Wrong, from your own source.

I would say it is more from Trump being a big blabbermouth then anything else. That is why I find it funny he has to get his aides to send out tweets that he writes down for them.

[Breccia]

Wrong, from your own source.

Ah dammit, read it too quickly.

[ProudSecularHumanist]

Lets see that liar Theodarzna handwave this away.

And go bu bu but those neoliberal democrats!!!!!
[Infraction]