Biden / Harris Focused Discussion

[Kellhound]

At this point it is not reasonable to expect WV to do anything but re-elect Senator Manchin by a very large margin. I would go so far as to say that it would be downright stupid for democrats to do anything but have him go unopposed in the primary.

He is an excellent spokesman for the moderate wing of the democratic party, and is getting himself set up to be the conservative spokesman for the whole country should the republican party implode. Trump has ruined any republicans that are not 100% submissive to him, and should the republicans implode all the remaining republicans will go down with the Trump ship. Senator McConnell was their best shot of returning to normalcy, but he has been marginalized so badly that he can't do it anymore.

Conservatives leaving the republican party may very well find that moving the democratic party to the right in tandem with Senator Manchin might very well be their best shot at maintaining some semblance of power and influence moving forward. Apparently the business community is throwing their lot in with Senator Manchin, and no doubt many others will take notice.

From what I have seen, Senator Manchin is definitely up to the task of becoming a national leader. If circumstances break right for him, he could become one of the most powerful people in the US.

Oh there is no doubt that he is safe for re-election unless he votes for the wrong things.

[Edge-]

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-...worse-n1264668

Wanna see how bad the GOP arguments against DC statehood are?

"D.C. wouldn't even qualify as a singular congressional district and here they are, they want the power and the authority of being an entire state in the United States -- and they want that power."

That's from Rep. Nancy Mace, Republican of SC. She has a point, DC is at 692K residents and the average size of a Congressional District is around 700K residents.

However, if we take her argument seriously...

The trouble is, two states -- Wyoming and Vermont -- have fewer people that D.C. By Mace's reasoning, those states "wouldn't even qualify as a singular congressional district," either. The fact that the South Carolina congresswoman was standing a few feet from House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney -- Wyoming's sole representative in the House -- made the circumstances a bit more ironic.

Vermont and Wyoming would both lose their statehood, including their Reps. and all four Senators.

Democrats need to keep pushing this, because the Republican arguments opposing it are transparently pathetic. I'm not gonna dredge up some of their older hilarious arguments like, "They don't need representation because they can put out political signs that every elected official sees!", which yes, was a serious argument from one of the brilliant minds at the Heritage Foundation.

[Elegiac]

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-...worse-n1264668

Wanna see how bad the GOP arguments against DC statehood are?



That's from Rep. Nancy Mace, Republican of SC. She has a point, DC is at 692K residents and the average size of a Congressional District is around 700K residents.

However, if we take her argument seriously...



Vermont and Wyoming would both lose their statehood, including their Reps. and all four Senators.

Democrats need to keep pushing this, because the Republican arguments opposing it are transparently pathetic. I'm not gonna dredge up some of their older hilarious arguments like, "They don't need representation because they can put out political signs that every elected official sees!", which yes, was a serious argument from one of the brilliant minds at the Heritage Foundation.

I'd be down for rescinding a few statehoods for insufficient population if that's their complaint.

[Howel]

"They don't need representation because they can put out political signs that every elected official sees!"

Is there some state right I am unaware off here, that disallows a none state from putting up political signs?

[Edge-]

Is there some state right I am unaware off here, that disallows a none state from putting up political signs?

No, but the politicians from all over the country see them while they're in DC, because I guess they just cruise the residential neighborhoods. DC's voice is being heard by people who literally aren't elected to give a shit about their voice or take it into consideration at all!

The depths of how bad the argument was is emblematic of how absolutely braindead the Heritage Foundation is, and how it's a pretty perfect example of a conservative "think tank": Start with a conclusion, search for evidence or justification that backs said conclusion, ignore any information that may indicate the evidence or justification may be exceedingly weak, if not flat out untrue.

[Howel]

No, but the politicians from all over the country see them while they're in DC, because I guess they just cruise the residential neighborhoods. DC's voice is being heard by people who literally aren't elected to give a shit about their voice or take it into consideration at all!

Oh, now I understand. If D.C. had actual federal influence as a state, the notion of the politicians seeing political signs, would be bad.

Yeah that's some trash level argument, since D.Cs federal influence would still be limited to their own representative, and not other states. And those signs can exist with or without a representative

The depths of how bad the argument was is emblematic of how absolutely braindead the Heritage Foundation is, and how it's a pretty perfect example of a conservative "think tank": Start with a conclusion, search for evidence or justification that backs said conclusion, ignore any information that may indicate the evidence or justification may be exceedingly weak, if not flat out untrue.

Hey now, it is the best US conservative think tank, as far as I am concerned. They are pretty decent at their job; that the job of a lot of think tanks are immoral as shit, is another case.

[Edge-]

Hey now, it is the best US conservative think tank, as far as I am concerned.

An exceedingly low bar.

They are pretty decent at their job; that the job of a lot of think tanks are immoral as shit, is another case.

Not at all. Originally, think tanks were what they currently purport to be: Groups of experts gathered to look at social/political/economic issues/problems, analyze the information, and come up with policy proposals to address those issues. The problem being that for conservatives, these think tanks of well educated experts often came to the conclusion that liberal/progressive policies were the best solutions. So they set up their own "conservative think tanks" to counter what they viewed as partisanship (rather than a shining light on how bad their policies are) by functionally reversing the entire process.

As a concept, at least as originally conceived, think tanks are pretty fuckin rad.

[Howel]

Not at all. Originally, think tanks were what they currently purport to be: Groups of experts gathered to look at social/political/economic issues/problems, analyze the information, and come up with policy proposals to address those issues. The problem being that for conservatives, these think tanks of well educated experts often came to the conclusion that liberal/progressive policies were the best solutions. So they set up their own "conservative think tanks" to counter what they viewed as partisanship (rather than a shining light on how bad their policies are) by functionally reversing the entire process.

As a concept, at least as originally conceived, think tanks are pretty fuckin rad.

Well isn't it the Heritage foundation that also came out with stuff like, Universal care would save billions of dollars and many a lives would be improved, and immigration was pretty vital the US economy and stuff like that?

I at least seem to recall stuff like that, which, kind of shows just how bad they are at even reining in their think tanks, to be purely spin machines.

[Edge-]

Well isn't it the Heritage foundation that also came out with stuff like, Universal care would save billions of dollars and many a lives would be improved, and immigration was pretty vital the US economy and stuff like that?

Nope, anti-M4A - https://www.heritage.org/health-care...king-americans

And bog-standard Republican talking points on immigration - https://www.heritage.org/immigration...rm-should-look

This is one of the two "think tanks" (along with the Federalist Society) that trains activist conservative judges and provides lists to Republicans.

[Howel]

Nope, anti-M4A - https://www.heritage.org/health-care...king-americans

And bog-standard Republican talking points on immigration - https://www.heritage.org/immigration...rm-should-look

This is one of the two "think tanks" (along with the Federalist Society) that trains activist conservative judges and provides lists to Republicans.

Huh, not sure which one I am thinking off then. Edit: apparently it is the Mercatus Center that "embarrassingly" found universal healthcare would save 2 billion over a ten year period.

And yeah, the whole grooming and recognizing activist conservative judges, and then pushes for them, is real freaking concerning on several levels.

[Edge-]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...ys-2021-04-20/

Oh boy, a Republican counter-proposal on infrastructure is on the way. Apparently it will be a "conceptual" idea rather than like, an actual plan.

I thought they had this after four years of delaying "infrastructure" week.

Once again, the Republican party proves that it is not a functional party with a coherent ideology capable of leadership, but a reactionary force that stands simply to oppose Democrats and has no original ideas of their own.

[some guy]

I hope their "conceptual plan" is goddamn steam focused.

[kaid]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...ys-2021-04-20/

Oh boy, a Republican counter-proposal on infrastructure is on the way. Apparently it will be a "conceptual" idea rather than like, an actual plan.

I thought they had this after four years of delaying "infrastructure" week.

Once again, the Republican party proves that it is not a functional party with a coherent ideology capable of leadership, but a reactionary force that stands simply to oppose Democrats and has no original ideas of their own.

The gop has no plans. It is all just feelings they have no intention on doing any kind of governing that is what their judicial picks are for.

[Edge-]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1264672

Eyyyyyyy, Puerto Rico can get the billions in aide that's been held up for years!

[postman1782]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1264672

Eyyyyyyy, Puerto Rico can get the billions in aide that's been held up for years!

Just another thing he should have been impeached for. He had no right to stop the aid, since the purse strings are ran by congress, not him.

[CastletonSnob]

Why hasn't Biden launched an investigation into the Trump administration?

[Edge-]

Why hasn't Biden launched an investigation into the Trump administration?

For what, specifically? If anything does happen, it needs to come from the DOJ without any involvement from anyone outside the department, and even that would be met with Republicans literally losing their god-damned minds and conservative media whipping people into a frenzy.

There are already plenty of investigations on the state level going on, let those play out. Biden needs to stay focused on moving forward and making a strong case for expanding Democratic control in Congress and either re-election for him or election for another Democrat to the White House.

[Breccia]

Why hasn't Biden launched an investigation into the Trump administration?

He hasn't needed to. Individual departments are already running those on their own. Biden doesn't need to micromanage.

[cubby]

He hasn't needed to. Individual departments are already running those on their own. Biden doesn't need to micromanage.

And him coming out publicly calling for an investigation would be bad for the country. At best he can just comment on anything that comes public - "let's just wait and see what the facts tell us" or whatever.

- - - Updated - - -

Murkowski breaks GOP ranks to confirm #3 at the DOJ.

Will be interesting to see how the GOP reacts.

[Edge-]

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021...statehood.html

Seriously, Democrats need a big, hard, throbbing public push for DC statehood to make these frankly pathetic arguments part of the national discussion. These are pathetic arguments to deny people representation, and were we to apply them to most other states many would fail these arbitrary measures that Republicans have set up for DC statehood.

People getting representation in the federal government in return for the taxes they pay to the federal government should be like, automatic.