Biden / Harris Focused Discussion

[Rasulis]

(While I say it's "good" she is coming home, but in the context, I think it'd be better if she stayed in prison in Russia over giving up an Arms Dealer in exchange)

Viktor Bout already spent 14 years in prison and scheduled to be released in 2029. I think it is a fair trade.

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This is the kind of BS that Biden & Democrats have to deal with.

A GOP Senator Is Stalling a Bill to Let Pregnant Workers Take Bathroom Breaks

On Thursday, Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) spoke on the Senate floor to seek unanimous consent to advance the bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) for a roll call vote. But the common-sense bill, which affords pregnant workers basic protections, is now being held up by a lone Republican senator: Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

According to Tillis, the bill—which would ensure pregnant workers receive accommodations like water bottles, stools, and bathroom breaks—is akin to government-funded “abortions on demand.” “As the husband of a wife who had two children while she was working and the grandfather of two grandchildren with a daughter who’s a nurse, I absolutely want to make sure those sort of reasonable accommodations are accounted for,” Tillis said. “However, in its current form, this legislation before us would give federal bureaucrats at the EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] authority to mandate that employers nationwide provide accommodations such as leave to obtain abortions on demand, under the guise of pregnancy-related conditions.”

I almost have to give Tillis points for creativity, because… where did he get that from? In Murray’s floor remarks, the Washington senator explained that the bill is about ensuring no one is forced “to choose between their job and a healthy pregnancy.” Per the bill’s language, it requires companies to offer “reasonable accommodations to the known limitations” extending from “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.” PWFA doesn’t even mention abortion. And, considering anti-abortion Republicans like Tillis are the reason exponentially more people will be forced to remain pregnant, and by extension, become pregnant workers, his opposition to the bill is especially cruel.

“It is outrageous that pregnant women in our country have been pushed out of their jobs by their employers because they asked for an additional bathroom break, because their doctors say they need to avoid heavy lifting, or because their employer can’t be bothered to provide a stool so they can sit down,” Murray said on the Senate floor. She called PWFA “a fundamentally bipartisan bill,” which she worked closely on with Senate Republicans like Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Richard Burr (R-NC). PWFA also overwhelmingly passed the House across party lines.

Unfortunately, Tillis isn’t the only one spreading misinformation about PWFA. The anti-abortion group CatholicVote has also erroneously claimed it could “force” employers to pay for abortion-related expenses. In the House, Rep. Virginia Foxx of (R-NC) expressed similar concerns, as did Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in a statement to the anti-abortion publication Catholic News Agency on Wednesday. A spokesperson for Paul claimed the bill “could force religious employers to provide accommodations that arise from an abortion, which could violate the free exercise of their religious beliefs.”

I, personally, would love for legislation to provide paid leave to workers who have abortions, and in general. Last year, Portland, Oregon, became the first city in the nation to offer workers paid leave for miscarriage, stillbirth, or any other pregnancy loss, including abortion. That is, however, not even remotely what PWFA is.

In their bonkers, galaxy-brained opposition to PWFA, Senators Tillis and Paul and other anti-abortion activists seem to be referencing companies that have spoken up about covering abortion-related costs for employees. Notably, these company-specific policies tend to fall short and leave too many pregnant people behind. And as we’re seeing in Texas, some state-level legislation is already cracking down on them, opening the door for civil lawsuits and other penalties.

So, not only do these company policies hardly present a solution to the crisis of post-Roe America but, mind you, they also have nothing to do with PWFA. And for as long as the bill is stalled, thanks to Tillis, pregnant workers risk being fired for needing to pee on the job.

[Templar 331]

You don't get it.
The unions will get the blame. And should Biden pull a Reagan and terminate those four unions, recalling the military rail road workers, he'll be cheered by the middle class.

Then this country be rightfully damned. If you are afraid to stand up and support what is right for fear of losing it all then we should have nothing.

Who are they going to be angry with, and what will the consequences of that be?

I mean shit, we've already seen some unions break for Republicans in recent years despite Republicans consistently working against union interests short of the "WE WANT TO BRING BACK MANUFACTURING TO AMERICA!" platitudes that leave us with a huge taxpayer funded deal to bring thousands of jobs to in a Foxxcon plant in Wisconsin alongside a $10B investment, which ends up falling apart like always.

You have to play the hand you're dealt within the rules of the game, not the hand you wish you were dealt in the game you wish you were playing.

You have such a defeatist attitude. How many advances to this country have been made by men and woman who didn't "play the hand they've been dealt?" How many rights were fought and died for by people who didn't stay in the lines? The right to vote, the right to be free, the right to be equal. How many advances have been made in the history of this country by just sitting on your hands and doing nothing?

Like I said, they should be angry. And it should be up to the Democrats to show them the right thing to be angry with. If they can't do that then Republicans will keep doing what they've been doing for decades and get people angry at Democrats.

[unfilteredJW]

Guy actually being affected by this being told by a bunch of fart sniffers that they should sit down.

[Shadowferal]

Then this country be rightfully damned. If you are afraid to stand up and support what is right for fear of losing it all then we should have nothing.

You mean "you" and the few that want everyone to get fucked over. If it comes down to pissing off the few or pissing off millions of registered voters I promise "you" you’ll lose. You're not going against a company, you're going against the US government.

[Cthulhu 2020]

I got a question; during prisoner swaps between two countries (in this case, USA and Russia) would the President need to sign off on the exchange?

Because I don't think this will be good in the long term for the Democrats (or, at the very least, the Biden administration):
https://news.yahoo.com/griner-bout-w...130827148.html

Oh yes, lets exchange a very notorious arms dealer for a basketball player, that is totally a fair exchange!

Yes, it is good Brittney is coming home, but the price paid was too great IMO.

(While I say it's "good" she is coming home, but in the context, I think it'd be better if she stayed in prison in Russia over giving up an Arms Dealer in exchange)

Brittney was a basketball player who kneeled for the national anthem (so I'm told) and thus why she's being accused of being "anti american". She had a THC pen, and was arrested for it. The punishment for possession is normally a fine or 15 days in prison. She was put away for months. Hmmm...

The former marine was caught in a Russian hotel with 4 or 5 passports, $80k in cash, and a USB stick in his pocket with confidential FSB information he'd received from a double agent in Russia. He was a CIA asset.

The arms dealer was sold out 14 years ago by his buds in the arms industry. He's been out of the game for 14 years, and Russia's not exactly selling arms these days as much as they're trying to get their hands on any they can afford.

Think about all of these people and their CURRENT/FUTURE value, not their pasts. If the US wants the former marine, they're going to need to offer up a far more high value target.

[Edge-]

The arms dealer was sold out 14 years ago by his buds in the arms industry. He's been out of the game for 14 years, and Russia's not exactly selling arms these days as much as they're trying to get their hands on any they can afford.

Wouldn't be surprised whatever is left of the inventory he'd find falling off the back of a truck is probably in Ukraine right now.

[Shadowferal]

Why America’s Railroads Refuse to Give Their Workers Paid Leave

Yes, workers certainly should receive paid sick days. Yes, railroads should hire more people...
There's definitely a fight here, but the perspective needs to change...

[gondrin]

This is probably the only thing you've said that was right. Yes, I want a general strike across this nation. I want the U.S. middle class to stand up and show who has the power. I want a middle class that can live, not just survive. I want social programs in place that will help people like my mother who had to suffer from a crippling disease and couldn't work. And the first step in that course is for unions and Democrats to move for stronger worker's rights, higher wages and pension protection. Not just sign checks or play middle man in contract disputes. Get something set in stone! Something that not even the Republicans would dare fight against. Go all fucking out! Because we are generations behind on this shit something has to start in order to rectify this mess.



The world's not going to collapse. Even if the Republicans get all three branches again and push for some hellish labor laws or strip what rights we do have, the world will continue on. The difference will be in how much suffering the majority of us will have to endure.

Biggest issue isn't getting the middle class more money, it is telling those who charge more money that they cannot do so. It is putting rent controls in place, price controls in place for essential goods.

If the price of things just goes up, a raise will do very little in the long run as it is a game of cat and mouse.

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Why America’s Railroads Refuse to Give Their Workers Paid Leave

Yes, workers certainly should receive paid sick days. Yes, railroads should hire more people...
There's definitely a fight here, but the perspective needs to change...

Honestly, they would have a better chance to fight for the removal of points if PTO is used. Right now, if you use PTO in the rail industry, as I understand it, you get points and if you use too much, you get fired.

Remove the points for using said PTO. Only give points when you run out and start to call of then.

[Muzjhath]

You mean "you" and the few that want everyone to get fucked over. If it comes down to pissing off the few or pissing off millions of registered voters I promise "you" you’ll lose. You're not going against a company, you're going against the US government.

You don't seem to understand what a General Strike is. In a General Strike people from every field joins in. Teamsters, Factories, Sales, Medical (with room for emergency treatment), Hospitality, broadcasting, across the board. Everyone. Until 1-2 million people are on strike (in the case of a country the size of the USA).
I doubt it'd last 2 days before the US crapped it's pants at the quarterly losses.

[Endus]

But you're not.
Most of the middle class is struggling today. They aren't in unions, most are living paycheck to paycheck. And making it more difficult to get the basics by striking workers is only going to make them angry.

Why is the middle class struggling? Because they've been sold this bill of goods by capitalists. That unions standing up for the rights of workers poses too much of a threat to the middle class, because that middle class is so impoverished by unchecked capitalism that they even are struggling. Because the capitalists hope that if they keep the craps hungry and desperate, they'll keep pulling down any crab that tries to claw its way out of the bucket.

This is fundamentally a lie. It's propaganda people have been sold to make them too afraid to stand up for themselves. It's an entirely intentional systemic abuse of the entire working population by the capitalist elite.

This is why it's like the lead-up to the French Revolution. A kicked dog only stays cowed for so long. Eventually, it's gonna bite back. Because at some point, the workers will realize that they're being slowly choked to death, and the threat of being choked a little harder will stop seeming so meaningful.

That's what history shows. Time and time again. When you attenuate wealth too much, eventually the people rise up. Whether in a relatively peaceful strike, or violent revolution. And if you suppress those strikes long enough, you're just guaranteeing said violent revolution. Quashing a looming strike because you've intentionally created a system where those same workers and their families can't risk losing wages or rising prices just exposes that you've intentionally put them at that risk, that you've crafted this system to create that struggle, to keep the workers too busy scrabbling to unite. And that is a strategy that has a time limit. It always breaks down, and often in incredibly ugly ways for those at the top.

And it's incredibly tiresome to see people constantly try to blame the workers suffering in these circumstances for the effects any strike would have. That's not taking a balanced perspective. That's siding with the capitalists. If you deny them their right to strike, you're denying them any real say. It's edging into wage-slavery territory, particularly as the options for the unemployed are so bleak, and thus act as duress against anyone seeking to stand up for themselves.

[Captain N]

Sometimes I swear we have a portion of our population that just want others to suffer because they themselves are just barely scraping by. We've seen it for years about minimum wage hikes, and how workers don't deserve more money for (insert ridiculous reason here). We've seen it more recently with Quiet Quitting where workers are deemed lazy because they've had enough of being exploited for free labor by businesses that aren't going to reward their extra effort. Now we're onto blaming the workers for the results a massive strike. Yes there's going to be consequences but that's the point -- to get everyone to see how crucial these folks truly are to the function of society. That they should be rewarded for what they do instead of a handful of people sitting in an office collecting dividends and buying back company stock then claiming that they can't afford to offer anything to the boots on the ground.

Stop blaming workers for reacting to being repeatedly kicked while they're down.

[Shadowferal]

You don't seem to understand what a General Strike is. In a General Strike people from every field joins in. Teamsters, Factories, Sales, Medical (with room for emergency treatment), Hospitality, broadcasting, across the board. Everyone. Until 1-2 million people are on strike (in the case of a country the size of the USA). I doubt it'd last 2 days before the US crapped it's pants at the quarterly losses.

You're dreaming if you think that will ever happen here.

[Paranoid Android]

This feels like the union sick days vs. economy paralysis debate again. I think we can all agree there is no objectively correct answer to this one, and that the situation sucks.

But if I had to pick a side, I'd go with "the United States does not negotiate with terrorists". Then someone would point out Trump and the Taliban and I'd say "well yeah, that's why not".

Funny you should mention this. As much I shitted on Biden and still do for the rail workers, I hope people fight for Biden on this one. If you have half belief Biden did the right thing here for Griner, then on this you better defend and give him all the credit. In short this is a political landmine that while almost all are duds the pundits are going to hammer Biden on this.

[Breccia]

Normally, I would say "If you agree with Tucker Carlson, then you know you're wrong". But...in this case, motive matters.

So there’s Joe Biden’s press secretary telling you that Brittney Griner is important because she’s a lesbian woman of color.

In the view of the White House press secretary, those are essential qualifications for a prisoner swap.

Because this is Tucker Carlson, I am just going to assume, with zero research, that he's lying. He's earned that, and I won't feel even a little bad if this turns out to be the one time he's telling the truth...but I find it remarkably unlikely the Biden WH said that was an essential reason for the swap.

[Paranoid Android]

Normally, I would say "If you agree with Tucker Carlson, then you know you're wrong". But...in this case, motive matters.



Because this is Tucker Carlson, I am just going to assume, with zero research, that he's lying. He's earned that, and I won't feel even a little bad if this turns out to be the one time he's telling the truth...but I find it remarkably unlikely the Biden WH said that was an essential reason for the swap.

Was it the essential reason for the swap, politics? Yes.

It was damned if you do and damned if you don't on this. So many people were on Biden for not rescuing Griner. Well, first and this is from my point reading on social was Griner was being ignored because of all the things you mentioned. Should Biden have made half-hearted attempts and let Griner rot in jail? Let's use Tucker and whatever else is saying. This was a political move and politically was it going to hurt or help Biden. I don't think any harm or help either way.



So it was political 98.5%. I saw on Twitter the Biden or WH Twitter showing video of Griner's wife in the Oval getting contact and they made it into a production was cringe to me. I wish that would have been private.

Let's throw some rail news in here too.

I sent a letter today with more than 70 of my colleagues in the House and the Senate urging President Biden to do everything within his power to guarantee rail workers the seven paid sick days that they desperately need.

Bernie gets it. Bernie would have fought. Now does this have a chance and show boating. Well, cynically possible, but I do give Bernie more credit than others here on this.

[Cthulhu 2020]

So Viktor Bout is now doing english interviews on RT that hit all the right wing talking points, like how crime is rampant, America has lost its identity and values, etc.

Russia's courting the right so hard and they're buying it.

[jonnysensible]

So Viktor Bout is now doing english interviews on RT that hit all the right wing talking points, like how crime is rampant, America has lost its identity and values, etc.

Russia's courting the right so hard and they're buying it.

ive said it once and ill say it again, viktor bout was chris cantwells best friend in prision think they were cell mates (although lavrov has been spounting the same nonsense, its for a particular audience obviously (but they also believe it?))

[Kaleredar]

So Viktor Bout is now doing english interviews on RT that hit all the right wing talking points, like how crime is rampant, America has lost its identity and values, etc.

Russia's courting the right so hard and they're buying it.

They're telling them the things they want to hear.

Luckily, the notion that Russia is a "strong, traditional country of manly men" seems to have been pretty thoroughly dispelled by their disastrous incursion into Ukraine. So being exposed as a Russia puppet is probably more harmful in the long run than it might have been in the past... if people continue to point it out, rather than letting it go.

[Gestopft]

Luckily, the notion that Russia is a "strong, traditional country of manly men" seems to have been pretty thoroughly dispelled by their disastrous incursion into Ukraine.

Nah...I'm pretty sure "traditional manly men" get really drunk and punch people when they feel like it. Right?

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Why America’s Railroads Refuse to Give Their Workers Paid Leave

Yes, workers certainly should receive paid sick days. Yes, railroads should hire more people...
There's definitely a fight here, but the perspective needs to change...

Yeah this. The straight wage increases that the railroads have agreed to would probably cost more than the sick leave they are refusing. It's not just about the money. It's for the same reason that most industries oppose socialized healthcare, despite the fact that it would be cheaper for them. Also seeing this kind of scheduling nonsense are a lot of service industry jobs, and it's disgusting.

[Paranoid Android]

By selling oil from the SPR at $96/barrel, we helped reduce the price of gas when it was at its highest.

Now, by refilling the SPR at today's much lower prices, we turn a profit for the taxpayers.

Let's Go Brandon!!

Now this is a spin but hey for all those who cried about Biden selling oil reserves: get Rekt!

So I will just say that being beholding to oil companies and foreign countries price gouging us now and in the past still is not great. Not trying to get off oil and then when we get effed by oil, people just stupidly bitch about the most simple things.