Joe Biden 2021

[gmr548 16,580]

Nursing homes are leeches and federal investment into healthcare programs to provide more comprehensive care at home or with a family member are likely to be very cost effective.

[gmr548 16,580]

Y’all think republicans are going to let Biden pass an infrastructure bill? Lol that’s cute

A tax and spending bill can be passed through reconciliation. This is about keeping Democrats on board. If you get a vote or two from a moderate in a blue state/district, all the better, but it isn’t necessary. The end result is probably West Virginia and Arizona projects getting a weirdly large amount of money.

[gmr548 16,580]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/31/business/economy/biden-infrastructure-plan.html
$115b for roads and bridges
$85b for public transportation
$80b for Amtrak and freight rail
$42b for ports and airports
10,000 bridges would be repaired, along with the 10 most economically significant ones (cough Lake Charles Bridge cough) 

Well if I can’t make fun of the Lake Charles bridge being about to fall apart, fuck this bill.

[Js1 85,337]

6 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

A tax and spending bill can be passed through reconciliation. This is about keeping Democrats on board. If you get a vote or two from a moderate in a blue state/district, all the better, but it isn’t necessary. The end result is probably West Virginia and Arizona projects getting a weirdly large amount of money.

The future Joe Manchin Bridge

[MaybeACoordinator 8,349]

1 hour ago, DonkeyCigars said:

People ride Amtrak?

Obviously you've never been to the East Coast. 

If this country wasn't so stupid and greedy we'd have Amtrak everywhere. I don't understand why we are so set on either high-speed rail or nothing. Plain old trains are fine, and who in Houston is in such a hurry to get to Dallas, anyway? I guess since we are starting from scratch with new tracks they might as well be high-speed, but torpedoing passenger rail in this country was a typically American short-term profits over common sense blunder. 

[RDCanecutter 26,443]

4 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

The right is going to lose their minds over this.

It'll give them the courage to come out.

[Hank Scorpio 17,729]

Any politician who runs on a platform of creating a national or even just regional high speed rail transit system gets my vote. I’m a single issue voter and it’s trains. Imagine getting on an easily accessible train in downtown Houston and being in downtown Dallas in a couple of hours. 

[Biff Tannen 45,685]

1 hour ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Any politician who runs on a platform of creating a national or even just regional high speed rail transit system gets my vote. I’m a single issue voter and it’s trains. Imagine getting on an easily accessible train in downtown Houston and being in downtown Dallas in a couple of hours. 

Figured you would be a monorail guy.

[RDCanecutter 26,443]

1 hour ago, DonkeyCigars said:

People ride Amtrak?

The ones through here used to be quite crowded before World War Z. 

The trick is to upgrade to a roomette so you're not down in the hold with the Irish.

As for high speed trains, that's boring. I'd rather have twice as many regular speed trains.

[NWBuck 8,566]

2 hours ago, DonkeyCigars said:

People ride Amtrak?

Y'all realize that our current President is "Amtrak Joe", right?

Edited March 31, 2021 by NWBuck

[BradInATX 9,208]

Well if I can’t make fun of the Lake Charles bridge being about to fall apart, fuck this bill.

If they fix and expand the I-10 bridge over Baton Rouge I'll put a goddamn Biden statue in my yard.

[NWBuck 8,566]

1 hour ago, gmr548 said:

Well if I can’t make fun of the Lake Charles bridge being about to fall apart, fuck this bill.

Found one option:

 

[gmr548 16,580]

If they fix and expand the I-10 bridge over Baton Rouge I'll put a goddamn Biden statue in my yard.

Eh. I like the thrill of not knowing whether I’m going to survive

[Aqua Buddha 14,596]

2 hours ago, DonkeyCigars said:

People ride Amtrak?

In a parallel universe, the Acela is usually packed full.

[mdmost 43,001]

2 hours ago, DonkeyCigars said:

People ride Amtrak?

Ever been to the Northeast? It's actually really kickass. Did it a bit when I worked up that way a few years ago getting around from NYC to Boston/Providence if you don't want to hop on a plane with the massive beating/cost that entails. Also did it during the Herman abortion in Maryland. Took the Amtrak from DC to Philly and caught a Phillies/Cubs game the day after. It was great. Then flew back to Dallas from Philly.

It doesn't work well in some parts of the country but when you have massive cities within a few hours of each other or a big city where people commute in, Amtrak can be the lifeblood for that region. 

Edited March 31, 2021 by mdmost

[elfenix 34,240]

Biden wants 100/100 internet and it's making at&t nervous


https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/att-lobbies-against-nationwide-fiber-says-10mbps-uploads-are-good-enough/

[StassneyHorn 6,576]

Lived in Chicago 3 years, Indiana and the north and west suburbs absolutely used Amtrak. If the west coast/ Phoenix or Texas did a regional thing as well I’d cream myself.
 

Would love to see a San Antonio to Austin, or Houston to Dallas regional setups.

[mdmost 43,001]

6 minutes ago, StassneyHorn said:

Lived in Chicago 3 years, Indiana and the north and west suburbs absolutely used Amtrak. If the west coast/ Phoenix or Texas did a regional thing as well I’d cream myself.
 

Would love to see a San Antonio to Austin, or Houston to Dallas regional setups.

People want to put in a Dallas>Houston bullet train. Dallas to Houston in 90 minutes. I'd imagine a triangle would be built down the road which is funny as that was the original cocktail napkin idea that Herb Kelleher had when he decided to launch Southwest Airlines. 

[SydneyCarton 48,106]

1 minute ago, mdmost said:

People want to put in a Dallas>Houston bullet train. Dallas to Houston in 90 minutes. I'd imagine a triangle would be built down the road which is funny as that was the original cocktail napkin idea that Herb Kelleher had when he decided to launch Southwest Airlines. 

Give me a train to San Antonio in an hour or less and we’re spending 1-2 weekends a month in the hill country 

[mdmost 43,001]

I'd come down to watch my Rangers lose to the Astros quite a bit. 

[elfenix 34,240]

train should go from tulsa or maybe fayettenam down to okc, then dfw, then triangle, then over into cajun country for a ride to new orleans from houston that only takes a couple-few hours. 

edit: here's what that looks like compared to a place that does have trains that work:

Edited April 1, 2021 by elfenix

[pyrohornIII 4,814]

 

1 hour ago, StassneyHorn said:

Lived in Chicago 3 years, Indiana and the north and west suburbs absolutely used Amtrak. If the west coast/ Phoenix or Texas did a regional thing as well I’d cream myself.
 

Would love to see a San Antonio to Austin, or Houston to Dallas regional setups.

The Eagle is back to 7 day service.  https://austin.culturemap.com/news/travel/03-30-21-amtraks-seven-day-a-week-service-in-austin-getting-back-on-track/

Edited April 1, 2021 by pyrohornIII

[Bama Chick 28,596]

Very nice.

[Biff Tannen 45,685]

1 hour ago, Bama Chick said:

Very nice.
 

[B00M 6,416]

3 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Any politician who runs on a platform of creating a national or even just regional high speed rail transit system gets my vote. I’m a single issue voter and it’s trains. Imagine getting on an easily accessible train in downtown Houston and being in downtown Dallas in a couple of hours. 

 

[Post Oak 20,213]

1 hour ago, Biff Tannen said:

I'd be ecstatic with about half that rail

[Homercles 10,205]

4 hours ago, Js1 said:

The future Joe Manchin Bridge

JFC I though that was FitLump for a moment.  

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19,101]

Ever been to the Northeast? It's actually really kickass. Did it a bit when I worked up that way a few years ago getting around from NYC to Boston/Providence if you don't want to hop on a plane with the massive beating/cost that entails. Also did it during the Herman abortion in Maryland. Took the Amtrak from DC to Philly and caught a Phillies/Cubs game the day after. It was great. Then flew back to Dallas from Philly.
It doesn't work well in some parts of the country but when you have massive cities within a few hours of each other or a big city where people commute in, Amtrak can be the lifeblood for that region. 

Even the regional aren't bad in the NE. It would be nice to have real high speed rail. Like France. Paris to Marseille in less than 3 hours and 20 minutes. That is a trip of about 480 miles, or roughly Austin to Amarillo (which driving takes about 8 hours).

[bolverk 29,672]

30 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

4 hours ago, mdmost said:

Ever been to the Northeast? It's actually really kickass. Did it a bit when I worked up that way a few years ago getting around from NYC to Boston/Providence if you don't want to hop on a plane with the massive beating/cost that entails. Also did it during the Herman abortion in Maryland. Took the Amtrak from DC to Philly and caught a Phillies/Cubs game the day after. It was great. Then flew back to Dallas from Philly.
It doesn't work well in some parts of the country but when you have massive cities within a few hours of each other or a big city where people commute in, Amtrak can be the lifeblood for that region. 

Even the regional aren't bad in the NE. It would be nice to have real high speed rail. Like France. Paris to Marseille in less than 3 hours and 20 minutes. That is a trip of about 480 miles, or roughly Austin to Amarillo (which driving takes about 8 hours).

Yeah. I was an exchange student going to high school in Chantilly, which is about 20-25 north of Paris back in 1989-1999, and rode the rails into the big city almost every weekend with new-found friends it seemed like. I also rode the TGV numerous times visiting other parts of the the country. Later in 1993, I spent a summer in Germany and rode the train to Braunschweig, Cologne, Liege, Brussels, and then Paris. It was so easy to get around.

When the Texas TGV was being discussed in the early 1990s, you can imagine my disappointment and disgust after it was killed by Southwest.

[Doc Sam Beckett 5,793]

11 hours ago, Bama Chick said:

Very nice.
 

Yes please LA to Vegas and Phoenix 

[bad_teammate 13,195]

12 hours ago, elfenix said:

Biden wants 100/100 internet and it's making at&t nervous


https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/att-lobbies-against-nationwide-fiber-says-10mbps-uploads-are-good-enough/

It would be cool to have the entire AT&T board in a room with a drain in the floor.

[Mrs Whiggins 13,050]

3 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

It would be cool to have the entire AT&T board in a room with a drain in the floor.

This is maddening. One of the issues my neighbor complains about is rural tech (lack thereof). She's the one who is GOP and cannot fathom voting otherwise. I have pointed specifically to this issue and to the people who are supportive of it in Congress and funding, etc.

It actually moved the needle but then five minutes later it's right back to the white men are bullied mantra. Drives me insane.

How on earth did rural electrification occur with this mindset one wonders; I can't imagine this type of thinking just developed overnight or am I being obtuse? Is it the propaganda?

[GopherRock 1,765]

9 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

13 hours ago, mdmost said:

Ever been to the Northeast? It's actually really kickass. Did it a bit when I worked up that way a few years ago getting around from NYC to Boston/Providence if you don't want to hop on a plane with the massive beating/cost that entails. Also did it during the Herman abortion in Maryland. Took the Amtrak from DC to Philly and caught a Phillies/Cubs game the day after. It was great. Then flew back to Dallas from Philly.
It doesn't work well in some parts of the country but when you have massive cities within a few hours of each other or a big city where people commute in, Amtrak can be the lifeblood for that region. 

Even the regional aren't bad in the NE. It would be nice to have real high speed rail. Like France. Paris to Marseille in less than 3 hours and 20 minutes. That is a trip of about 480 miles, or roughly Austin to Amarillo (which driving takes about 8 hours).

Also, the Italian Frecciarossa kicks all kinds of ass. Rome to Naples in an hour, Florence in an hour and a half, Venice and Milan in 3.5 hours. 

[bad_teammate 13,195]

The Democrats hate them and offer them nothing. The Republicans hate them and at least offer them culture war loyalty.

The late 80s/early 90s remaking of the Democratic Party shifted focus away from working people and towards corporations and the wealthy. That is the Democratic Party we have today. Woke and rich. The rural areas are neither of those.

[kevwun 15,788]

ATT can't even offer 10/10 in a good chunk of their territory.  They still run shitty dsl in lots of places.

[Mrs Whiggins 13,050]

32 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

The Democrats hate them and offer them nothing. The Republicans hate them and at least offer them culture war loyalty.

The late 80s/early 90s remaking of the Democratic Party shifted focus away from working people and towards corporations and the wealthy. That is the Democratic Party we have today. Woke and rich. The rural areas are neither of those.

The rural areas are not a monolithic thing though, are they? Economically it seems like they vary widely. For example, rural Oklahoma has abject poverty alongside some very wealthy landowners in some areas. The very small section of the economy that supports the few (the wealthy) gets by but without much to show for it. In other parts of the state, it is even more poor, but with corporate landowners (like forestry co) the tax base can be wholly dependent upon whether the state gave them a 'deal.'

Not arguing your point as much as noticing that there are differences that need to be addressed when developing strategies to help. Otherwise one ends up with a boondoggle like the Opportunity Zones that helped the rich and did nothing for the people who lived in the blight.

[Js1 85,337]

I mean, I watched Warnock and Ossoff run up margins in rural areas in Georgia - rural black areas.  Democrats still win these areas in the South.  You don't find them in the upper Midwest so the media ignores them, because if it ain't Wisconsin, Michigan or Pennsylvania, who cares.  WWC is the only group that matters. 

Rural white areas are gone.  Even Joe Biden's attempts to raise the minimum wage and support for more union jobs with better benefits through shovel-ready infrastructure jobs aren't going to win them back.  The culture war, white aggrievance politics have infested their brains. 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19,101]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

I mean, I watched Warnock and Ossoff run up margins in rural areas in Georgia - rural black areas.  Democrats still win these areas in the South.  You don't find them in the upper Midwest so the media ignores them, because if it ain't Wisconsin, Michigan or Pennsylvania, who cares.  WWC is the only group that matters. 

Rural white areas are gone.  Even Joe Biden's attempts to raise the minimum wage and support for more union jobs with better benefits through shovel-ready infrastructure jobs aren't going to win them back.  The culture war, white aggrievance politics have infested their brains. 

This right here.  And the reason it has infected their brains is that it is easier to believe that someone else is to blame than looking in the mirror and realizing it is your own shortcomings that cause it.  

[gmr548 16,580]

Even the regional aren't bad in the NE. It would be nice to have real high speed rail. Like France. Paris to Marseille in less than 3 hours and 20 minutes. That is a trip of about 480 miles, or roughly Austin to Amarillo (which driving takes about 8 hours).

This is what we really need HSR for. This is a big country with a lot of connected cities/regions where driving is a pain because of time/distance, but flying is brutally inefficient from an emissions standpoint, and often not cost/time effective due to connections and having to be at the airport early. Cutting those 4-8 hour driving trips into a 1.5-3 hour train trip would do a lot.

[bad_teammate 13,195]

3 hours ago, bad_teammate said:

The Democrats hate them and offer them nothing.

 

1 hour ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

This right here.  And the reason it has infected their brains is that it is easier to believe that someone else is to blame than looking in the mirror and realizing it is your own shortcomings that cause it.  

 

[DonkeyCigars 143]

17 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

 

 

Haha exactly, man!

Democrats: "It's your own fault you aren't an associate marketing director overpaying for a studio apartment in "the city" and saving 10% of every paycheck for Peloton's new Bike+. It's like GQP don't even know who Alex Toussaint is, which is like, also probably racist."

Edited April 1, 2021 by DonkeyCigars

[jimmyjazz 45,953]

3 hours ago, Js1 said:

Rural white areas are gone.  

I grew up there.  Small town, 13K people, plus another 7K students at one of the best undergrad engineering schools in the country.  I lived in Mayberry.  Everyone was kind, smart, believed scientists, etc.

But I was wrong.  I was surrounded by the KKK and an even larger group of racists who just didn't want to pay the dues.  My little bubble of kids whose parents taught at the university was truly that -- a bubble.  We didn't recognize anything on the outside.  In our world, everyone studied hard, gave to Unicef, and went to church every Sunday.

As it turns out, the KKK goes to church on Sunday, also.

In the 35+ years since I left for Austin, social media has made it quite clear that I had not the foggiest idea of the political and social leanings of the majority in my town.  They are emoldened now, and they are pigs.  I forget the exact number, but it's something like 83% of residents in my county voted Trump.

It is depressing, but I have no family left there, and very few friends, so I simply will never go back.  I am a Texan now, and more to the point, an Austinite.  Fuck the rural white midwest.  It's nothing but a vast sea of ignorant, bad people.

[DonkeyCigars 143]

Also should add, thanks to those who responded and for the education on Amtrak-- had no idea that was a meaningful thing as I have not and would never use it when traveling in the NE or in California because I have Airline status to defend and have to book flights, even for short destinations, because Airlines are smart and know that my fragile, low self-esteem and puny identity is now intricately intertwined with their ability to seat me in first class or not. 

Edited April 1, 2021 by DonkeyCigars

[bad_teammate 13,195]

6 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I grew up there.  Small town, 13K people, plus another 7K students at one of the best undergrad engineering schools in the country.  I lived in Mayberry.  Everyone was kind, smart, believed scientists, etc.

But I was wrong.  I was surrounded by the KKK and an even larger group of racists who just didn't want to pay the dues.  My little bubble of kids whose parents taught at the university was truly that -- a bubble.  We didn't recognize anything on the outside.  In our world, everyone studied hard, gave to Unicef, and went to church every Sunday.

As it turns out, the KKK goes to church on Sunday, also.

In the 35+ years since I left for Austin, social media has made it quite clear that I had not the foggiest idea of the political and social leanings of the majority in my town.  They are emoldened now, and they are pigs.  I forget the exact number, but it's something like 83% of residents in my county voted Trump.

It is depressing, but I have no family left there, and very few friends, so I simply will never go back.  I am a Texan now, and more to the point, an Austinite.  Fuck the rural white midwest.  It's nothing but a vast sea of ignorant, bad people.

bad post alert

[jimmyjazz 45,953]

Just now, bad_teammate said:

bad post alert

WTF does that mean?

[bad_teammate 13,195]

2 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

WTF does that mean?

that your post is bad

Self-aggrandizing. Ignorant. Spiteful.

[jimmyjazz 45,953]

1 minute ago, bad_teammate said:

that your post is bad

Self-aggrandizing. Ignorant. Spiteful.

So admitting that I had no fucking clue what was going on around me is "self-aggrandizing"? 

You need to pick up a fucking dictionary.

[JimmyJames 12,271]

2 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

that your post is bad

Self-aggrandizing. Ignorant. Spiteful.

Actually the last couple of your posts have been ridiculously bad. What are you the surly good/bad post monitor? 

[bad_teammate 13,195]

3 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

So admitting that I had no fucking clue what was going on around me is "self-aggrandizing"? 

you went from one stupid extreme (I lived in utopia!) to another stupid extreme (those people are pigs).

This is college kid shit. and it sucks.

1 minute ago, JimmyJames said:

Actually the last couple of your posts have been ridiculously bad. What are you the surly good/bad post monitor? 

most of my posts are bad so this is nothing new

[bolverk 29,672]

4 hours ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

This is maddening. One of the issues my neighbor complains about is rural tech (lack thereof). She's the one who is GOP and cannot fathom voting otherwise. I have pointed specifically to this issue and to the people who are supportive of it in Congress and funding, etc.

It actually moved the needle but then five minutes later it's right back to the white men are bullied mantra. Drives me insane.

How on earth did rural electrification occur with this mindset one wonders; I can't imagine this type of thinking just developed overnight or am I being obtuse? Is it the propaganda?

Rural electrification happened before LBJ's Civil Rights legislation was passed, so rural whites were still on board with the Democratic Party and its "socialist" agenda.