Biden / Harris Focused Discussion

[Paranoid Android]

"

Fury at the Biden team among senior Pentagon officials escalated after WaPo published a @jdawsey1 @NickMiroff story revealing how much money would be saved if Biden halted construction of Trump's border wall... 1/2 https://t.co/swM0wx2GN8

For reference and because of the turd stil in the White House, there may need to be a bill (possible amendment?) about the transition from November election until Inauguration.

Some rules such as incoming access to transition, the hiring and firing of government officials, etc.

[Omega10]

https://www.usnews.com/news/election...on-cooperation

Huh, surprisingly the Biden team said they in no way, shape, or form mutually agreed to a pause in transition cooperation.

Once more, the Trump administration is doing everything they can to ratfuck this government and the incoming administration. Would love it if there was some tool to punish these fucks.

- - - Updated - - -

https://time.com/5923135/dr-jill-biden-title/



The nontroversies of this past week that have nearly completely consumed conservative media, despite having a 9/11's worth of Americans die nearly every single day due to the administrations lack of leadership through a pandemic, are just a taste of how pathetic and banal the nontroversies of the next 4 years will be.

The one good thing I take away from that is more and more republicans are starting to push back against this crap.

These nontroversies are not benign. The nontroversies from the Obama years had a role to play in Trump defeating Clinton. That's 300k people that would not be dead now, and we'd have an economy that would be doing MUCH much better right now.

[JohnBrown1917]

The one good thing I take away from that is more and more republicans are starting to push back against this crap.

These nontroversies are not benign. The nontroversies from the Obama years had a role to play in Trump defeating Clinton. That's 300k people that would not be dead now, and we'd have an economy that would be doing MUCH much better right now.

They only push back against it to benefit themselves, they dont care as long as the taxes remain low and workers get less rights.

[Omega10]

They only push back against it to benefit themselves, they dont care as long as the taxes remain low and workers get less rights.

For the most part this is true. Especially the "workers get less rights" (and much less pay) part. A few specific examples have been documented in these forums, with Trump supporters giving full throated support to the corporations.

Right now, corporations have been so successful at keeping workers compensation low that workers can't afford to buy enough of their goods to keep their profits up. Low wages for Americans also reduces imports, which reduces our power over other countries (to the benefit of EU and China) since our country's consumers are supporting fewer jobs in other countries.

The problem throughout all of 2021 will be that the huge number of unemployed people will make it very easy for companies to keep wages down. This is made much worse by the fact that companies have already promised to move virtual jobs abroad, and also to move the jobs leaving China to other Asian countries rather than back to the US.

So it will get quite a bit worse before it gets better. The reason I think it just MIGHT get a bit better is that corporate America will be left with two choices with respect to American workers: pay them higher wages, or implement a UBI system so that people don't starve, but more importantly so that people have money to buy their goods. Walmart COULD be profitable by getting annual multi-billion dollar bailouts. But not for very long.

So the short term prognosis for American workers is very grim. And, at this point, I don't really see a way out.

[Paranoid Android]

Mitch McConnell started at $0 on a weekly boost to unemployment benefits, and Democrats secured $300. McConnell started at a 4-week extension of additional benefits, and Democrats secured a 11-week extension. https://t.co/R8OTQg84a1

https://twitter.com/RonWyden/status/...869325825?s=19

Who is from Oregon? Your Senator.

Dems are such pussy cats. They take this is a victory and great compromise. Yes, he does say the good ole 'I will still fight'. Yes, some will say it's help or a start.

For reference the Republicans rammed through a $1.5 trillion tax cat. No hyperbole, remember they cut Committee hearings, wouldn't let the Dems what was going in the bill and rushed the bill.

To be fair Oregon, my Senators from Minnesota are not tigers either.

[Omega10]

https://twitter.com/RonWyden/status/...869325825?s=19

Who is from Oregon? Your Senator.

Dems are such pussy cats. They take this is a victory and great compromise. Yes, he does say the good ole 'I will still fight'. Yes, some will say it's help or a start.

For reference the Republicans rammed through a $1.5 trillion tax cat. No hyperbole, remember they cut Committee hearings, wouldn't let the Dems what was going in the bill and rushed the bill.

To be fair Oregon, my Senators from Minnesota are not tigers either.

To be fair, he did not take it as much of a victory. Here is his followup tweet.

Congress is poised to avert financial catastrophe for millions of families, but let’s be clear: this is not the bill I would have written. Every step of the way, Mitch McConnell sabotaged help for jobless workers in exchange for handouts for his friends and donors.

The problem is: McConnell would do ok if no bill at all were passed. Biden and democrats not so much as they would get blamed for the consequences of it not passing.

[Paranoid Android]

To be fair, he did not take it as much of a victory. Here is his followup tweet.



The problem is: McConnell would do ok if no bill at all were passed. Biden and democrats not so much as they would get blamed for the consequences of it not passing.

Yes, the Republican hate cause they had to give out $600 checks.

A good take I heard which is great is I guess the Republicans, well the normal joes, who hate giving out checks are really effin STUPID. They don't realize that the rich and corporations will take it in a heart beat. They take government money all the time. Shoot many businesses took PPP when they shouldn't have. It's such a great con that they have the masses convinced not to take money, while they take it.

[Blur4stuff]

Mitch and a number of other republicans have proven they can fuck over regular people as much as they like and suffer no consequences. No reason for them to stop now. The beauty of it is when dirt poor conservative Kentuckians get only $600 (or nothing) they'll blame democrats.

There's a lot of good Biden can still do without the senate for the next two years, but it's 100% guaranteed that Mitch will do whatever he possibly can to make people's lives worse and prevent any dem accomplishments.

[Milchshake]

If you're wondering why the gun nuts are super animated today.



Once again, Fox is threatening me with a good time. And please, no one shoot your eye out over Christmas.

[Felya]

Once again, Fox is threatening me with a good time. And please, no one shoot your eye out over Christmas.

How do armor piercing bullets align with blue lives mater?

[Bodonius]

Biden cant rule for shit, harris will be the next president. Biden have bagage like a ton and the is senile.

[PACOX]

Mitch and a number of other republicans have proven they can fuck over regular people as much as they like and suffer no consequences. No reason for them to stop now. The beauty of it is when dirt poor conservative Kentuckians get only $600 (or nothing) they'll blame democrats.

There's a lot of good Biden can still do without the senate for the next two years, but it's 100% guaranteed that Mitch will do whatever he possibly can to make people's lives worse and prevent any dem accomplishments.

Right now it's not Biden but the party in general. Im willing to let Biden surprise but it would be foolish to think he will be anything but the same old Biden when he gets into office.

Why does the current COVID19 bill feel like people in need have been sold so certain key players on both sides can say they got a win? The bill is nasty and short-sighted, once again primarily bailing out the 'too big to fail' versus the people who have been laid off or struggling to physically/financially to keep their heads up. Overworked and underpaid health care workers, essential workers like the greeter at a Walmart who has to face anti-maskers threatening and exposing them, people who can afford their kid suddenly being at home more often (increased food, utilities, school supply costs), the unemployed - especially the ones trying to do their part and not work in industries that further the spread, even landlords who aren't trying to evict people but have no money coming in themselves.


Those people get $600. Some people would cry if their check only had $600 and not because they were trying to live lavish. Social problems barely expanded or ignored. Local governments that are collapsing ignored. People who had their aid shut off for months "here's $600!". Hey but here or loans that...magically often don't find themselves in the hands of employees...thats if a humble small business doesn't actually get screwed over in the first place. Meanwhile some exec somehow able to charter a private plane to a safe vacation spot in the middle or a pandemic while Dale and Mary are hoping the food bank isn't empty.

Not really sorry for the rant.

Also in the bill that's almost worth $1 trillion? Don't understand copyright laws? Well fuck you a bored predatory lawyer can put you behind bars, debt, or both. Money funneled to countries exercising US foreign policy and proxy wars.

Some Dems would want a pat on the back on back because "yay we did it". Some Republicans want a pat on the back because "hey look I'm not a heartless monster", while the are saying laughing "look we we got the Dems to agree too "


Hey but at least American taxpayer that paid for the bill gets $600.

[Felya]

Biden cant rule for shit, harris will be the next president. Biden have bagage like a ton and the is senile.

Did you just hit post on something you wrote during primaries?

[Kaleredar]

Right now it's not Biden but the party in general. Im willing to let Biden surprise but it would be foolish to think he will be anything but the same old Biden when he gets into office.

Why does the current COVID19 bill feel like people in need have been sold so certain key players on both sides can say they got a win? The bill is nasty and short-sighted, once again primarily bailing out the 'too big to fail' versus the people who have been laid off or struggling to physically/financially to keep their heads up. Overworked and underpaid health care workers, essential workers like the greeter at a Walmart who has to face anti-maskers threatening and exposing them, people who can afford their kid suddenly being at home more often (increased food, utilities, school supply costs), the unemployed - especially the ones trying to do their part and not work in industries that further the spread, even landlords who aren't trying to evict people but have no money coming in themselves.


Those people get $600. Some people would cry if their check only had $600 and not because they were trying to live lavish. Social problems barely expanded or ignored. Local governments that are collapsing ignored. People who had their aid shut off for months "here's $600!". Hey but here or loans that...magically often don't find themselves in the hands of employees...thats if a humble small business doesn't actually get screwed over in the first place. Meanwhile some exec somehow able to charter a private plane to a safe vacation spot in the middle or a pandemic while Dale and Mary are hoping the food bank isn't empty.

Not really sorry for the rant.

Also in the bill that's almost worth $1 trillion? Don't understand copyright laws? Well fuck you a bored predatory lawyer can put you behind bars, debt, or both. Money funneled to countries exercising US foreign policy and proxy wars.

Some Dems would want a pat on the back on back because "yay we did it". Some Republicans want a pat on the back because "hey look I'm not a heartless monster", while the are saying laughing "look we we got the Dems to agree too "


Hey but at least American taxpayer that paid for the bill gets $600.

So would your suggestion have been that the democrats stamp their feet extra hard, as if that was going to convince the GOP to yield? Or should the democrats have given the republicans more of what they wanted for some amount of stimulus money and progressive policies you think The GOP would have caved to?

I think you misunderstand the absolute stopping block that the republicans are. They have zero pity or empathy or really any reason to capitulate, as they know their followers will just nod their heads in agreement when they blame the enfeebling of the government they caused on the democrats.

You can thumb your nose at the democrats for not being progressive enough all you want, but you have to temper that every single time knowing that they are directly in competition with the GOP on any action they try and take. “The democrats didn’t want it hard enough” is a pretty hollow criticism.

[Felya]

So would your suggestion have been that the democrats stamp their feet extra hard, as if that was going to convince the GOP to yield? Or should the democrats have given the republicans more of what they wanted for some amount of stimulus money and progressive policies you think The GOP would have caved to?

I think you misunderstand the absolute stopping block that the republicans are. They have zero pity or empathy or really any reason to capitulate, as they know their followers will just nod their heads in agreement when they blame the enfeebling of the government they caused on the democrats.

You can thumb your nose at the democrats for not being progressive enough all you want, but you have to temper that every single time knowing that they are directly in competition with the GOP on any action they try and take. “The democrats didn’t want it hard enough” is a pretty hollow criticism.

As Mitch McConnell said... Democrats could have had this deal months ago, if they just conceded sooner. As Palosi put it, the extended benefits and the 600 bucks is not solution. This will help a lot of people, since we know that in a month, there will be additional support from the president for a comprehensive bill and if dems sweep Georgia, Dems can pass any bill they want and won’t have GOP to blame... something that wasn’t known until Trump lost...

[postman1782]

Biden cant rule for shit, harris will be the next president. Biden have bagage like a ton and the is senile.

Fucking hilarious considering how batshit insane Trump is going right now knowing he is going to jail January 20th.

[Kaleredar]

As Mitch McConnell said... Democrats could have had this deal months ago, if they just conceded sooner. As Palosi put it, the extended benefits and the 600 bucks is not solution. This will help a lot of people, since we know that in a month, there will be additional support from the president for a comprehensive bill and if dems sweep Georgia, Dems can pass any bill they want and won’t have GOP to blame... something that wasn’t known until Trump lost...

Any comprehensive reform to anything in the American political system will come only when the GOP is wrenched from power. It has very little to do with the democrats “not wanting it hard enough/not being progressive enough.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, voting reform to enfranchise as many people as possible and make voting as easy as possible should be number one on the Democrat’s agenda to enshrine as concretely and universally as they can. Because EVERYTHING else... climate change, healthcare, education, immigration, energy policy... all of those extremely important things are almost moot points to pursue reforming so long as the GOP exists in any appreciable way to oppose them. Which they can, and do, and will continue to do as a point of contempt so long as they retain power. Flashy politicians and more strongly worded sentiments from the democrats alone won’t get those things done, as some people around here believe to be the case.

[Omega10]

Any comprehensive reform to anything in the American political system will come only when the GOP is wrenched from power. It has very little to do with the democrats “not wanting it hard enough/not being progressive enough.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, voting reform to enfranchise as many people as possible and make voting as easy as possible should be number one on the Democrat’s agenda to enshrine as concretely and universally as they can. Because EVERYTHING else... climate change, healthcare, education, immigration, energy policy... all of those extremely important things are almost moot points to pursue reforming so long as the GOP exists in any appreciable way to oppose them. Which they can, and do, and will continue to do as a point of contempt so long as they retain power. Flashy politicians and more strongly worded sentiments from the democrats alone won’t get those things done, as some people around here believe to be the case.

And the deluge of political attack ads in Georgia targeting Ossoff and Warnock are proof (as if more is needed) that there is a lot of money that is working hard to keep republicans in power. Most of the ads are just bat shit crazy. But there are so many of them. And these ads work much more often than they should.

[Dontrike]

Biden cant rule for shit, harris will be the next president. Biden have bagage like a ton and the is senile.

These were....technically sentences.

[Milchshake]

As someone that deeply cares about public lands in the West, I was super excited to read a summary of some of the bills that Deb Haaland pushed and a congressperson.

One bill, for instance, H.R. 8455, directs Interior to establish an “Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names” to examine renaming geographic features with offensive place names. The 16-member panel would include four members of an American Indian tribe and one representative of a tribal organization.

“Offensive or racist place names are restricting access and prevent many from feeling welcome on lands that belong to all of us,” Haaland said. “It’s past time to change the offensive names of public lands, especially with input from groups who have been discriminated against.”

The existing U.S. Board on Geographic Names is housed within Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey, and if confirmed as secretary, Haaland could set up the new advisory committee without needing congressional approval.

In a similar vein, another Haaland bill, H.R. 8420, would establish a “Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policy in the United States” to study the impacts of a federal policy under which American Indian and Alaska Native children were forcibly removed from their family homes and placed in boarding schools.

As Interior secretary, with a jurisdiction that includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education, Haaland could be in a strong position to organize a commission and investigate a policy whose subjects included her own Native American parents.

“I know not many people are aware of the history of Indian boarding schools, and I know it’s not taught in schools, but our country must do better to acknowledge our real history and push for truth and reconciliation,” Haaland said.

Yet another measure, H.R. 8401, calls upon Interior and the Agriculture Department to complete an interagency report on the use of special recreation permits by recreation service providers serving environmental justice communities.

The bill defines an EJ community as a community with significant representation of communities of color, low-income communities, or tribal and Indigenous communities that experience, or are at risk of experiencing, higher or more adverse human health or environmental effects than other communities.

“Equal access to natural areas and open lands is a right that everyone holds,” Haaland said. “However, low-income communities across the U.S. are consistently denied access to these natural treasures, and the benefits that public lands provide.”

It would be a relatively simple matter for Haaland to order up such a study if she were confirmed as Interior secretary.

Clearly a very progressive pick for the cabinet. Here's to hoping...

THE CASE FOR TAHOMA

Denali was given back its original name in 2015 by executive order, so why not change Mount Rainier back to Tahoma? This has been proposed several times over the past century. In this thoughtful essay, a Tahoma enthusiast argues why it should be considered again.