Biden / Harris Focused Discussion

[Paranoid Android]

Is this a real change from Biden, not just rhetorical but in terms of actions too? Time will tell.

He is calling for an "immediate ceasefire" (though not permanent) and suggesting U.S. support for Israel going forward will depend on Israel's taking steps to protect lives and allow in aid to Gaza.

Mehdi Hasan post who is on the left of the Israel/Palestine issue. Fyi.

I mean not permanent but at least calling for a ceasefire.

Holy shit this has been the biggest foreign policy disaster since the Iraq War. Biden is doing everything and anything to eff this up and once more looks so stupid helping a right wing government where Netanyahu hates Biden is dumbfounding.

Some in here may not agree with me and what I will call "pro-Israel" and may like his policies. Yet, I'm talking big picture here which 1) Democrat base does not like how Biden has handled this. 2) Edge had a poll in Israel/Palestine thread that Independents have flipped to 60% of acknowledging treatment of Palestinians. Even 53% I believe Republicans agreed(?). Admittedly this doesn't mean a "NO" vote against Biden but once more Biden is really going against his voting base hard.

The starvation, killing of World Central Kitchen and relentless policy is taking a serious turn for people to call for a ceasefire or end of this conflict. Biden trying to appease Israel while shitting on his voting base; we will see in November.

[The Stormbringer]

Maybe I'm just a pessimist, but I think people are going to be more concerned about their own rights than how Biden has handled a foreign situation with another country that he isn't in charge of. I'm not saying this won't have an affect, it already has, but I don't think most women are going to say, "I'm willing to not vote for Biden and lose any chances at abortion and parenting rights because some people in the Middle-East are killing other people in the Middle-East and Biden has arguably made it worse."

[DarkTZeratul]

another country that he isn't in charge of

Given how a lot of people seem to expect him to just "stop the genocide," you'd think they don't know that...

[The Stormbringer]

Given how a lot of people seem to expect him to just "stop the genocide," you'd think they don't know that...

Right? And while I'd love to live in a world where the President of the United States would be willing to throw away decades of goodwill by effectively bullying Israel into not murdering tens of thousands of people because saving innocent lives should be paramount of everything else, unfortunately we live in a world where political concerns have lots and lots of weight.

Israel works as an effective counterbalance to a lot of other countries in the Middle-East, helping keep things stable and giving the USA an "in" to the region. If we cut off all support from Israel and slapped them upside the head until they complied, we would lose that "in", which would also weaken Israel in turn, and potentially lead to tons of instability in the area.

So yeah... maybe he could, theoretically, 'stop the genocide', but the cost would be too great (to the people who deal with geopolitics).

[Benggaul]

Maybe I'm just a pessimist, but I think people are going to be more concerned about their own rights than how Biden has handled a foreign situation with another country that he isn't in charge of. I'm not saying this won't have an affect, it already has, but I don't think most women are going to say, "I'm willing to not vote for Biden and lose any chances at abortion and parenting rights because some people in the Middle-East are killing other people in the Middle-East and Biden has arguably made it worse."

The majority of the US--including Democrats--have been overwhelmingly pro-Israel since WW2. While there's been a shift towards pro-Palestine the past couple of months among Democrats as the atrocities of the IDF continue unabated the slim majority continue to be on the side of Israel. You are correct in that the abortion/IVF issue is likely going to be a much larger factor in November than Gaza. Despite the big "but the DEMS" energy being put on display time and again by the same handful of people the GOP keep proving they're much worse in every regard.

I'm not a fan of the Biden administration's handling of Gaza overall, but given that they're basically following the majority American sentiment here I can't entirely fault them. Among the GOP it's pretty much pro-Israel 100% and among the Dems it's getting closer to 50/50 (still favoring Israel) split between older and younger voters, so the Biden administration--and pretty much all Dems running this year--are in a damned-if-they-do, damned-if-they-don't situation on the issue. I think most will still vote for him regardless because, as I said, the alternative is a fucking horror show and the more mature people recognize that, but the rash, hot-headed youth vote will take a hit, for sure.

[Edge-]

Holy shit this has been the biggest foreign policy disaster since the Iraq War. Biden is doing everything and anything to eff this up and once more looks so stupid helping a right wing government where Netanyahu hates Biden is dumbfounding.

Honestly, nobody could "successfully" navigate this issue, period. There are too many strongly competing interests, complicating factors, and "realities of acting in nations strategic longterm interests means working with some bad people/do bad things".

I think your last line misreads the intent of the support: The point isn't to remain on friendly terms with this current administration, their opinion of Biden is irrelevant and is purely reflective of how supportive he is of them and their longterm strategic goals. It's to maintain a strong/close tie to our strategic ally, the only one we can mostly trust, in the middle east as we have longterm interests there.

This is why many other western nations are slowly walking back their support as well and haven't just dumped it earlier as well, even if they don't have the same "special relationship".

Yet, I'm talking big picture here which 1) Democrat base does not like how Biden has handled this. 2) Edge had a poll in Israel/Palestine thread that Independents have flipped to 60% of acknowledging treatment of Palestinians. Even 53% I believe Republicans agreed(?). Admittedly this doesn't mean a "NO" vote against Biden but once more Biden is really going against his voting base hard.

Yep, this is not popular with voters. Nor are many policies that are actually in the US longterm or policies in general. See Obamacare polling for an example of a beneficial policy that took some time (it was plurality unpopular for quite some time). I don't think this is the same, but I also don't think a POTUS should make policy decisions based on popularity/approval polls from their voters. Even as public support dwindles and sentiment continues to turn as folks see how this war is prosecuted.

And I'd argue the same thing as always: Does anyone think Donald is a preferable alternative on this topic alone? Or that the is the most pressing issue facing Americans in the next four years? This is a major foreign policy issue, yes, but it's still foreign policy. Folks (not implying you, but generalizing) are far too quick to temporarily become single-issue voters when discussing topics that are emotionally charged, which isn't surprising but is kinda telling as well.

The starvation, killing of World Central Kitchen and relentless policy is taking a serious turn for people to call for a ceasefire or end of this conflict. Biden trying to appease Israel while shitting on his voting base; we will see in November.

Official Israeli/AIPAC messaging is "There is no famine", though I don't think anyone that's not paid to say that or a propagandist believes it. And while it's only words, Biden explicitly calling for a ceasefire without conditions matters.



It's been 4 months since Trudeau almost said the forbidden term in this hilarious clip and mangled attempt at a cleanup. Now it's being called for by multiple nations, including the US.

[Endus]

It's been 4 months since Trudeau almost said the forbidden term in this hilarious clip and mangled attempt at a cleanup. Now it's being called for by multiple nations, including the US.

Canada's kind of pissed the fuck off right now; one of the dead WCK workers was Canadian. Things have changed a lot in those 4 months.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/airs...ents-1.6833702

Trudeau's openly calling for a ceasefire too, using exactly that language.

[Milchshake]

I wonder how much the media will cover today's jobs number. I remember this being a thing in electio years....


Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 303,000 mid-Feb to mid-March.+22K jobs in revisions of prior 2 months.

[Edge-]

Canada's kind of pissed the fuck off right now; one of the dead WCK workers was Canadian. Things have changed a lot in those 4 months.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/airs...ents-1.6833702

Trudeau's openly calling for a ceasefire too, using exactly that language.

Yep, I was more getting at how much the entire western response has changed in these 4 months. Trudeau just had arguably the best example of the rhetorical binds that western political leaders found themselves in during the early days of the Israeli response/war. "Ceasefire" has gone from a verboten word, to a word only uttered with "conditional", to a word that even the US is saying.

[Rasulis]

I wonder how much the media will cover today's jobs number. I remember this being a thing in electio years....


Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 303,000 mid-Feb to mid-March.+22K jobs in revisions of prior 2 months.

The amazing part is that inflation rates have been holding steady at 3.1 and 3.2% in January and February. The one weakness of the current US economy is housing cost. Hard to feel good about the economy when you are paying over 50% of your income for rent.

[Edge-]

The amazing part is that inflation rates have been holding steady at 3.1 and 3.2% in January and February. The one weakness of the current US economy is housing cost. Hard to feel good about the economy when you are paying over 50% of your income for rent.

I mean, and the general price of everything still being artificially inflated because of corporate greed. Who was the, the FTC that just came out with that report being all surprised that sustained inflation is actually down to corporations not reducing prices for consumers as their own costs have decreased because they can just keep making even more money.

The months/years of economists scratching their heads and trying to understand why prices and inflation weren't dropping because all the models say it should are just gobsmacked by the existence of greed and there's no way their models could account for that!

[Milchshake]

The amazing part is that inflation rates have been holding steady at 3.1 and 3.2% in January and February. The one weakness of the current US economy is housing cost. Hard to feel good about the economy when you are paying over 50% of your income for rent.

Ya, only if boomer landlords would go fuck themselves and stop being such NIMBYs. Housing wouldnt be so bad.

But dividends tee hee!

[Poopymonster]

Ya, only if boomer landlords would go fuck themselves and stop being such NIMBYs. Housing wouldnt be so bad.

But dividends tee hee!

In 20-30 years, when all those boomers are gone, and their kids/grandkids can't afford to keep a second or third house, you'll see prices drop like a rock.
Or be bought up by investors, which seems more likely in this country.

[Edge-]

https://apnews.com/article/overtime-...1f13b903fa9119

The Biden administration has finalized a new rule set to make millions of more salaried workers eligible for overtime pay in the U.S.

The move marks the largest expansion in federal overtime eligibility seen in decades. Starting July 1, employers will be required pay overtime to salaried workers who make less than $43,888 a year in certain executive, administrative and professional roles, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That cap will then rise to $58,656 by the start of 2025.

“Too often, lower-paid salaried workers are doing the same job as their hourly counterparts but are spending more time away from their families for no additional pay. That is unacceptable,” acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su said in a prepared statement.

She added that the administration was “following through on our promise to raise the bar.”

Tuesday’s news marks a significant jump from the current overtime eligibility threshold of $35,568, which was set under the Trump administration in 2019 — just three years after a more generous Obama-era effort was ultimately scuttled in court after facing pushback from some business leaders and Republican politicians.

Under the federal law, nearly all hourly workers in the U.S. are entitled to overtime pay after 40 hours a week. But many salaried workers are exempt from that requirement — unless they earn below a certain level.

The new rule also expands overtime eligibility for some highly-compensated workers. According to a Labor Department FAQ, the current $107,432 annual threshold for highly-compensated workers is set to increase to $132,964 on July 1 and $151,164 by the start of 2025.

The Labor Department estimates that 4 million lower-paid salary workers who are exempt under current regulations will become eligible for overtime protections in the first year under the new rule. An additional 292,900 higher-compensated workers are also expected to get overtime entitlements.

The July 1 increases update the current salary thresholds using methodology put in place under the Trump administration’s 2019 regulation. The new rule’s methodology takes effect Jan. 1, the Labor Department said, with salary thresholds set to update every three years based on the latest wage data.

The Biden administration first announced plans for its new rule in late August, and submitted a proposal in September. The Labor Department said it “conducted extensive engagement with employers, workers, unions and other stakeholders” and considered more than 33,000 comments as it developed the final rule.

Critics have argued that the new regulation could saddle companies with new costs and add to persistent labor challenges. In a statement, U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican and chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said that employers “are staring down the barrel of billions in annual costs to comply with the rule” while calling the regulation “excessive and heavy-handed.”

Meanwhile, advocates applauded the administration’s rule — with some noting that such a move is overdue. The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute says that the overtime threshold has not been updated properly for almost 50 years — leaving millions without such federal protections.

“The rule is an important step toward correctly valuing one of the most precious resources workers have — their time,” EPI president Heidi Shierholz said Tuesday. “This rule is an essential milestone in creating a stronger, fairer economy.”

Boring Biden administration delivering on more commitments that help everyday working Americans. Between support for and expansion of unions and added protections and benefits like these this has been one of the more pro-worker administrations I can remember in my lifetime. Which is sure weird and unexpected, but nice!

[Masark]

Boring Biden administration delivering on more commitments that help everyday working Americans. Between support for and expansion of unions and added protections and benefits like these this has been one of the more pro-worker administrations I can remember in my lifetime. Which is sure weird and unexpected, but nice!

Another good item - Noncompete agreements are now illegal.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ftc-non...agreement-ban/

[Ivanstone]

https://www.npr.org/2024/04/23/12466...ents-lina-khan

TLDR:
*Non compete clauses are mostly banned. Yes, they were being applied to lower wage earners.
*Some senior positions are excluded because it’s assumed that their contracts are better negotiated.
*Chamber of Commerce plans to sure because they’re sore losers.

Editorial:
Reason #1627377 why Trump and Biden are different.

[Edge-]

Another good item - Noncompete agreements are now illegal.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ftc-non...agreement-ban/

That too! I was chatting about it earlier because even if they're largely not really enforceable to begin with they're still annoying as fuck. I'm technically bound by a few non-competes and they're stupid as fuck.

[Benggaul]

https://apnews.com/article/overtime-...1f13b903fa9119



Boring Biden administration delivering on more commitments that help everyday working Americans. Between support for and expansion of unions and added protections and benefits like these this has been one of the more pro-worker administrations I can remember in my lifetime. Which is sure weird and unexpected, but nice!

This administration has been quietly chipping at these types of things the entirety of the past couple years but almost all of it gets shoved to the side in the public eye in favor of "OMG ISRAEL" or "OMG INFLATION" or whatever other single-issue items people are willing to die on their hill for (without realizing Biden realistically had/has little to do with them). And that's not really the fault of "Democrat messaging problems" so much as it is the fucking sensationalist MSM that wants to throw the clickbait issues into everyone's faces 24/7.

I've said it before and it stands true today: Biden is not my choice for myriad reasons...but I'll be voting for him again come November (actually October since I have to do absentee/mail-in) because when it comes down to it his administration has been a net positive by a wide margin, not just because they aren't the GOP who are...I honestly can't choose between shitshow and clownshoes so I guess it's a clownshitshow, but because they've actually been sneaking through some really, really great stuff in the face of opposition, sometimes from both parties.

[Edge-]

This administration has been quietly chipping at these types of things the entirety of the past couple years but almost all of it gets shoved to the side in the public eye in favor of "OMG ISRAEL" or "OMG INFLATION" or whatever other single-issue items people are willing to die on their hill for (without realizing Biden realistically had/has little to do with them). And that's not really the fault of "Democrat messaging problems" so much as it is the fucking sensationalist MSM that wants to throw the clickbait issues into everyone's faces 24/7.

I've said it before and it stands true today: Biden is not my choice for myriad reasons...but I'll be voting for him again come November (actually October since I have to do absentee/mail-in) because when it comes down to it his administration has been a net positive by a wide margin, not just because they aren't the GOP who are...I honestly can't choose between shitshow and clownshoes so I guess it's a clownshitshow, but because they've actually been sneaking through some really, really great stuff in the face of opposition, sometimes from both parties.

The biggest crime of this administration is that it's delivering on its core promise: Largely it's fucking boring. It's doing boring government things that boring, effective governments do. Is it all sunshine and roses and surprisingly progressive shit? Absolutely not. But I remain surprised/impressed by how effective and overall progressive this administration has been on a lot of fronts, with agencies quietly getting back to doing a lot of really great work that didn't even really happen under Obama.

Not to mention that the most scandal-ridden member of the West Wing isn't Joe Biden or any of the Cabinet members. It's fucking Major, the rescue german shepherd, biting secret service all the time. I think he's actually a smarter dog than he looks though.