Joe Biden 2021

[washparkhorn 9972]

4 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

neo shit libs

the absolute worst

Edited November 5, 2021 by washparkhorn

[Wulaw Horn 19579]

6 minutes ago, mchookem said:

 @TwiceHorn and @Wulaw Horn have cemented themselves firmly in the evil liberal cabal 😄

 

Ha. Not at all. I actually have a heart for people and my bitch against liberalism is that it ignores human nature and as such doesn’t work. I value work, I value honest labor, I value ownership, and freedom, and I don’t truly believe both we have about the greatest country that has ever been and we have a country that can do things better than it does right now for all people without radially transforming it, we need to pull on levers that don’t contradict basic human nature. I think most of y’all are loons ☺️  But that doesn’t mean I don’t like people or want to see them shit on. It’s why W was the last politician I voted for from either major party in a general election and why I hate trump, along with the deranged and lying media and all the people lined up on all sides that actively benefit from tearing us apart. 
not a member of the cabal. But I am open to trying shit that incentivized the best in us and might have actually a chance to work. 

[Wulaw Horn 19579]

26 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

Wulaw is out here trying to get the government to invest in a home for every household. I have seen it all. And for the record, as a progressive, I would not shit all over that plan coming from your or any other Republican. I am hard pressed to imagine it coming from an actual GOP politician, and there's obviously room to change the framework, but those are different things. On a fundamental level, there's plenty of evidence out there that shows keeping things simple is often the most effective solution to societal issues. What's the most cost effective way to address homelessness? Pay for supportive housing. What's the most cost effective way to address healthcare costs? Pay for healthcare. What's the most cost effective way to combat poverty? Give people money. Most cost effective way to reduce carbon emissions? Carbon tax.

Also, there's a .gif button at the far right. Hit it, search for gif, post.

I had a long cat post that I somehow lost on my iPhone. But yeah- you (or at least the bast majority of progressives) would shit on a plan like that coming from someone like Huckabee or Santorum or hawtley or Trump, and those are the types that would be most likely to suggest something like that because they understand the power of cracking that FDR coalition that ran the country for about 7 decades in the house and that guys like Reagan and W and Trump co-opted a bit with Regan democrats, compassionate conservatism and angry nationalism respectively. 
I’ve had my money where my mouth is since the day I opened up my first business straight out of law school at 24 years old- everyone I’ve ever managed and employee has been on profit share and been treated like an owner in the organization (profit shares- productivity bonuses- solicitation of ideas for how things could work better/be better) because that’s they best way to incentivize human nature to make it a force for good as opposed to fighting it and getting steamrolled by it. This isn’t out of character for me. 
It’s just not ever going to happen, nobody is suggesting anything like this, nobody ever will, so the best that can be hoped for is to elect the person likely to do the least amount of harm to the country. 

[Beau Vine 55854]

I am learning on Facebook that Joe Biden has absolutely nothing to do with the record performance of the US stock market, but is entirely to blame for rising gas prices.

[berlinerbaer 692]

50 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

I had a long cat post that I somehow lost on my iPhone. But yeah- you (or at least the bast majority of progressives) would shit on a plan like that coming from someone like Huckabee or Santorum or hawtley or Trump, and those are the types that would be most likely to suggest something like that because they understand the power of cracking that FDR coalition that ran the country for about 7 decades in the house and that guys like Reagan and W and Trump co-opted a bit with Regan democrats, compassionate conservatism and angry nationalism respectively. 
I’ve had my money where my mouth is since the day I opened up my first business straight out of law school at 24 years old- everyone I’ve ever managed and employee has been on profit share and been treated like an owner in the organization (profit shares- productivity bonuses- solicitation of ideas for how things could work better/be better) because that’s they best way to incentivize human nature to make it a force for good as opposed to fighting it and getting steamrolled by it. This isn’t out of character for me. 
It’s just not ever going to happen, nobody is suggesting anything like this, nobody ever will, so the best that can be hoped for is to elect the person likely to do the least amount of harm to the country. 

Bro, Trump's criminal justice reform bill passed the House and Senate with total Democratic support. The only nays came from Republicans. Trump's CARES Act passed overwhelmingly.

Dems will give a Republican president a win if it is good legislation. 

[workswithseed 2203]

12 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

I voted for myself in 2020 as a write in. My wife and her friend said they’d vote for me in 2024 if it was Trump/Biden or Harris. With your vote I’m now up to 4. I would make a terrible president but I would go back to sending the state of the union to Congress by letter delivered by a horseman so that would be at least 4 less speeches you would have to ignore in your life. 

No lie, I will vote for you if you just do this. 

[gmr548 16683]

I had a long cat post that I somehow lost on my iPhone. But yeah- you (or at least the bast majority of progressives) would shit on a plan like that coming from someone like Huckabee or Santorum or hawtley or Trump, and those are the types that would be most likely to suggest something like that because they understand the power of cracking that FDR coalition that ran the country for about 7 decades in the house and that guys like Reagan and W and Trump co-opted a bit with Regan democrats, compassionate conservatism and angry nationalism respectively. 
I’ve had my money where my mouth is since the day I opened up my first business straight out of law school at 24 years old- everyone I’ve ever managed and employee has been on profit share and been treated like an owner in the organization (profit shares- productivity bonuses- solicitation of ideas for how things could work better/be better) because that’s they best way to incentivize human nature to make it a force for good as opposed to fighting it and getting steamrolled by it. This isn’t out of character for me. 
It’s just not ever going to happen, nobody is suggesting anything like this, nobody ever will, so the best that can be hoped for is to elect the person likely to do the least amount of harm to the country. 

If a Republican President came out with a plan for government intervention and investment to facilitate affordable home ownership for every American that wanted one, I think the main reaction from progressives would simply be confusion, to be honest. It would be like Trump coming out with a guest worker program. There would absolutely be some level of “these people never act in good faith and therefore cannot be trusted,” and to be fair that skepticism has been earned by today’s GOP, but opposition would be nakedly partisan, and it error be a vocal minority if it was good policy. The only opposition on a policy level would be if it was designed as a giveaway to Wall Street, or perhaps if it were an environmentally disastrous plan to hugely expand suburban sprawl. But Democrats like suburbia too.

Republican governors in Massachusetts, Maryland, and Vermont, three of the most progressive and lopsidedly Democratic states in the union, enjoy broad public support essentially unheard of in this era because of the way they govern. To say Democrats won’t approve of policy they favor because of the R by someone’s name is verifiably wrong.

[HenryJames 67303]

 

[elfenix 34687]

Youngkin thankful these numbers didn't come out last week

[Incredulity 11873]

[Wulaw Horn 19579]

44 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

This is every single report ever. The revisions never move in the same way and are often times big. Any administration, ever. We are bad at counting how many people are employed. I’m not sure why. Maybe we just shouldn’t even attempt to do so in real time if we are consistently off by 50% of the number in either direction. 

[elfenix 34687]

3 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Any administration, ever.

the admin doesn't affect how the data collection and analysis is done, and for good reason.

[Wulaw Horn 19579]

54 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

If a Republican President came out with a plan for government intervention and investment to facilitate affordable home ownership for every American that wanted one, I think the main reaction from progressives would simply be confusion, to be honest. It would be like Trump coming out with a guest worker program. There would absolutely be some level of “these people never act in good faith and therefore cannot be trusted,” and to be fair that skepticism has been earned by today’s GOP, but opposition would be nakedly partisan, and it error be a vocal minority if it was good policy. The only opposition on a policy level would be if it was designed as a giveaway to Wall Street, or perhaps if it were an environmentally disastrous plan to hugely expand suburban sprawl. But Democrats like suburbia too.

Republican governors in Massachusetts, Maryland, and Vermont, three of the most progressive and lopsidedly Democratic states in the union, enjoy broad public support essentially unheard of in this era because of the way they govern. To say Democrats won’t approve of policy they favor because of the R by someone’s name is verifiably wrong.

Rowed in laugh for first sentence alone. Made me chuckle. 
the GOP govs in Prog states being popular is simple.  They talk like Dems. They act like Dems. They exist to just veto the most batshit crazy stuff that the legislatures can come up with. It’s a popular job doing nothing but saying no to the most extreme 20% faction of one side in your state. That’s no evidence of the ability to build a joint coalition to get things done. 
when trump tried infrastructure it was a non starter because they didn’t want to give him a win (and the gop didn’t really want it bc it would mean spending and the government actually doing something). I imagine that’s how something like this would go over if suggested by a GOP populist or faux populist. 

[Wulaw Horn 19579]

3 minutes ago, elfenix said:

the admin doesn't affect how the data collection and analysis is done, and for good reason.

Agreed. Was just strictly pointing out this was in no way a partisan critique or anyone in any administration to be blamed. It’s apolitical. 

[Pancho 46174]

Uncle Joe really needs to fire his Comms team:

 

[Longhorn_Fan68 34100]

3 hours ago, Pancho said:

Uncle Joe really needs to fire his Comms team:

 

#ThankYouBrandon is trending on Twitter right now. The People are his comms team

Edited November 5, 2021 by Longhorn_Fan68

[DonkeyCigars 143]

7 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

#ThankYouBrandon is trending on Twitter right now. The People are his comms team

Is that good or bad? We are in the part of the simulation where I am confused if ThankYouBrandon is a GQP iteration on LetsGoBrandon or if the left has successfully co-opted and taken back the meme and it's done a 180 to where ThankYouBrandon is a self-referential and wink-wink-nod-nod positive thing for the left.

[HornOnTheBayou 9061]

23 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

I voted for myself in 2020 as a write in. My wife and her friend said they’d vote for me in 2024 if it was Trump/Biden or Harris. With your vote I’m now up to 4. I would make a terrible president but I would go back to sending the state of the union to Congress by letter delivered by a horseman so that would be at least 4 less speeches you would have to ignore in your life. 

I don't know if I would vote for you, but I am intrigued by your ideas and would listen. Of course I am opposed to your anti-infrastructure stance. Your opponents are saying that you would ban all bridges. Is that true?

[mchookem 16764]

39 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

#ThankYouBrandon is trending on Twitter right now. The People are his comms team

that's actually...kinda genius lol

 

[StassneyHorn 6763]

I’m late, but Cory Booker proposed “baby bonds” awhile back.

[brakeman 28736]

 

oh buddy.

good stuff right there.

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by brakeman
#ThankYouBrandon

[elfenix 34687]

after 5 years infrastructure week finally comes to a close

Edited November 6, 2021 by elfenix

[WhatTheBuck 28927]

Hey! The House passed the Infrastructure Bill overnight! Not sure yet what’s in it. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13724]

6 House Dems voted against it but the 13 GOP yes votes got it passed. I would be curious on the timing of the Dem No votes. Did they wait until it had the requisite votes to pass or did they vote no earlier?

I never understand No votes when some believe the bill provides benefits but it doesn’t go far enough. But I guess you sometime have to follow up your threats with action.

[Biff Tannen 46145]

17 hours ago, mchookem said:

that's actually...kinda genius lol

 

Also very childish to stoop to their level, but maybe that’s what it takes these days. 

[workswithseed 2203]

17 hours ago, mchookem said:

that's actually...kinda genius lol

 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19280]

9 minutes ago, workswithseed said:

Post less.

[Bobby Layne 274]

On 11/4/2021 at 3:03 PM, elfenix said:

alaska's been doing this for decades, although the amount isn't a guarantee figure and can dip below $100/month

(i forgot that, ironically, alaska is the most socialist state in the country)

Funded by oil and gas income. 

[workswithseed 2203]

Just now, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

Post less.

Nah...

[Hank Kingsley 21664]

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

6 House Dems voted against it but the 13 GOP yes votes got it passed. I would be curious on the timing of the Dem No votes. Did they wait until it had the requisite votes to pass or did they vote no earlier?

I never understand No votes when some believe the bill provides benefits but it doesn’t go far enough. But I guess you sometime have to follow up your threats with action.

My guess is the 6 Dems knew it would pass before voting no. 

 

[Bobby Layne 274]

On 11/4/2021 at 1:48 PM, Dbeasy said:

If the support for the programs was truly what you’ve described, then the Democrats would be winning a much larger percentage of votes than they are. I know you will post all of these polls that show the support is there, and yet all of these races come down to 50/50. 

I have a different viewpoint. I believe a huge chunk of the population don’t trust Democrats because they promote several very controversial programs that are explained and framed incredibly poorly. The programs themselves may not be bad, but because they’ve done such a horrible job of communicating, it scares away voters. Here is a laundry list of poorly communicated programs:

Defund the Police

Free college

Student debt cancellation

Green New Deal

Critical Race Theory

These programs have been explained at various times by sponsors. But because we live in a soundbite society of Idiocracy, the points have to be made over and over and over. 

Look at what the Republicans did on Hillary emails, Benghazi and Tax cuts.   Hammer hammer hammer with the vocabulary of a five year old  

 

So you are saying all the media to the left of Fox isn’t selling it right? 

[Fudge Nuggets 19420]

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

6 House Dems voted against it but the 13 GOP yes votes got it passed. I would be curious on the timing of the Dem No votes. Did they wait until it had the requisite votes to pass or did they vote no earlier?

I never understand No votes when some believe the bill provides benefits but it doesn’t go far enough. But I guess you sometime have to follow up your threats with action.

Or the easier explanation is politicians are shitbags.

[Bobby Layne 274]

On 11/4/2021 at 1:54 PM, washparkhorn said:

Shitlibs shut it down in fealty to their wealthy masters. 

Meet the new boss; same as the old boss.

Let’s guess who FaceBook, Amazon, Microsoft, wealthy voted for in 2020. Add in Musk, and Warren Buffett. Confiscate, er tax them, at 90% of their wealth. Then you’d have enough for 20% of the “Build Back Better” bill. Or do the math. What size UBI could you give to whoever the Dems decide. Why don’t these things happen? 

[Bobby Layne 274]

On 11/4/2021 at 3:15 PM, Bateshorn said:

I think you have a point here, but that’s sort of middle class ennui you are discussing.

 

 One of my favorite articles I read years ago and can’t find was by a writer who has been desperately poor after a bad divorce.  And she wrote about the constant calculator in your head at the grocery store: if I get this, can I afford that.  Anyone who has been stuck behind somebody with kids on food stamps has watched the agonizing interaction with the cashier has they try to make the numbers balance.  The TV show Maid has a few moments like this where the main character is running numbers in real time trying to keep her head above water. 
 

The author realized she wasn’t flat busted one day when she tossed a couple of things in the cart without thinking about price. There are relative scales to resource scarcity.  Being underpaid is vastly different than being poor.

Wow. Middle ground. Is it possible some can seek comity instead of hyperbolic disagreement? 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19280]

I feel like Chip Roy has opened himself up for an attack.  The Democrat running against him should hammer home that Chip is ok letting infrastructure in Texas crumble.

 

That messaging should be being hammered home against all the GOP crazies who are bleating about socialism.

[Bobby Layne 274]

On 11/4/2021 at 4:15 PM, Wulaw Horn said:

So, if you guarantee loans at 80% of median house prices with no down you will have a lot more affordable houses being built, and they will damn sure come in at that number b/c it will be easy to sell them to poorer people. Since it's a guarantee from the government on the loan at a higher interest rate than market (but not in an unduly burdensome way) you wouldn't have people go to this loan that could get taken care of the in the market, so it would be a select crowd of people fucked up in their finances. Might this lead to some foreclosures?  Sure.  Do foreclosures disrupt the market place?  Sure.  But probably not near as many as you'd think b/c some of these people would be getting housing subsidies like the government already does to section 8- so the government is paying some/all of their mortgage already.

Putting people's money into investment accounts would provide more liquidity to the market, but not a huge deal. Total market cap right now in the US market is 50 trillion ).  Total EITC payments a year are 70 billion.  That's not enough money to spook the market, (it's about what .15% of the market) and after a certain amount of time when people get to retirement in the system (or have a life even that you could get money out of a 401k for) it would probably be about net with money entering the market vs exiting the market being essentially the same.  Call it some initial minor inflation in asset prices but that's not enough money flowing in as a percent of what's going out to really move the needle.

As far as the money to kids for school or to do whatever the fuck they want with it- this would probably lead to schools raising tuition or being created to get some of that sweet sweet money from 18 year olds going to school.  Might have to look at putting a cap on this in some way at the public schools at least. I don't know- does this send an extra 10% of kids to college or trade school?  15%? 20?  yeah- that inflation would suck- and we wouldn't see run away educational inflation without that.  Maybe- and this would be a cost saving thing on a government side along with keeping a lid on tuition inflation it could come with a corresponding decision by the government to not guarantee student loans anymore. WIth the assumption that we don't have to guarantee federally student loans anymore b/c everyone has $40k to go to school with and the free market can take care of the rest.  
As far as every kid that waits until 25 having a rolling group of 25 year old 1.5 million strong every year getting a free roll at 80K?  Price of hookers and blow would likely sky rocket.  Is that enough extra money entering the economy to have any kind of actual affect on it?  I don't know. My instinct would be know.  Maybe the right thing to do would be to just say that once you turn 18 you can use the money between 18 or 25 for school or school related expenses whenever- if you turn 25 you don't get the check but it's opted to continue in your account, you have to proactively withdraw it, you can only withdraw 10-% at a time unless you have a justifiable capital expenditure.  But I don't think you'd have to do any of that shit, honestly, to worry about it. I don't think a bunch of people newly turned 25 could swamp the economic system getting 5 figures turned over into them.
I bet the wedding industry would fucking love it.  Tourism industry.  Hookers and blow.  Housing (but we've already fixed that). But the market would see this happen as a whole- you don't have the danger of rebates targeted directly to electronic car companies affecting prices- b/c that's a 1/1 swap this is 1/infinite (kid can buy anything they want in the marketplace that is life). 

Go on. 

[Incredulity 11873]

2 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

6 House Dems voted against it but the 13 GOP yes votes got it passed. I would be curious on the timing of the Dem No votes. Did they wait until it had the requisite votes to pass or did they vote no earlier?

I never understand No votes when some believe the bill provides benefits but it doesn’t go far enough. But I guess you sometime have to follow up your threats with action.

I watched the vote on C-Span.  So this commentary is based on the tally posted on the screen.  I assume it is real time because there was applause by people on the House floor when 218 yes votes got reached.

The Dem No votes were in before the 218 number of yes votes to pass were in.  They came in closely together when the yes vote was at about 180-200.

[TwiceHorn 32045]

2 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Also very childish to stoop to their level, but maybe that’s what it takes these days. 

While true, I think it's very necessary.  Just be a leeeetle more mature about it.

"Let's go Brandon, indeed" might have been nice, but maybe a bit too subtle.

Edited November 6, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19280]

Countdown to Madison Cawthorne and other Republicans taking credit for monies for their Congressional District that they voted against begins now.

[mchookem 16764]

2 hours ago, workswithseed said:

that's literally what i thought of lol,  that and Obama claiming the title 'Obamacare' 😄 turn the stupidity on the stupid. 

[washparkhorn 9972]

Sprawling, preposterous, and rage-filled suburban drama. ~Virginia Gubernatorial Election, 2021

[Pancho 46174]

 

[washparkhorn 9972]

Progressives - keep this quiet. Don't want to worry suburban women while they brunch:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/06/democrats-election-victory-loss-media-republicans?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

As for this week’s election, it swept in a lot of progressive mayors of color. The most prominent was Michelle Wu, who won the Boston mayor’s seat as the first woman and first person of color. Elaine O’Neal will become Durham, North Carolina’s, first Black woman mayor, and Abdullah Hammoud will become Dearborn’s first Muslim and Arab American mayor. Aftab Pureval will become Cincinnati’s first Asian American mayor. Pittsburgh elected its first Black mayor, and so did Kansas City, Kansas. Cleveland’s new mayor is also Black. New York City elected its second Black Democratic mayor, and Shahana Hanif became the first Muslim woman elected to the city council (incidentally, New York City and Virginia have about the same population). In Seattle, a moderate defeated a progressive, which you could also phrase as a Black and Asian American man defeated a Latina. A lot of queer and trans people won elections, or in the case of Virginia’s Danica Roem, the first out trans person to win a seat in a state legislature, won reelection.

In Philadelphia, Larry Krasner, who in 2017 was the first of a wave of ultra-progressive district attorneys to take office across the country, swept to a second term with 69% of the vote. “I want to congratulate him. He beat my pants off,” said his Republican rival. In Cleveland, Austin, Denver and Albany, citizens voted in police-reform measures, and while a more radical measure in Minneapolis lost, it got a good share of votes. 2021 wasn’t a great election year for Democrats but it’s not hard to argue that it wasn’t a terrible one, and either way it just wasn’t a big one, with a handful of special elections for congressional seats, some state and local stuff, and only two gubernatorial elections.

It is true that the Democratic Party is large and chaotic with a wide array of political positions among its elected officials, which is what happens when you’re a coalition imperfectly representing a wide array of voters, by class, race, and position from moderate to radical on the political spectrum. It’s also true the US is a two-party system and the alternative at present is the Republican party, which is currently a venal and utterly corrupt cult bent on many kinds of destruction. It’s the party whose last leader, with the help of many Republicans still in Congress, produced a violent coup in an attempt to steal an election.

A friend who is an independent Democratic party organizer remarked to me: “Democrats are analyzed completely differently from Republicans, mainly because Democrats try to govern and to enact policies that affect the entire country. The media don’t cover the fact that Republicans don’t govern and can’t seem to report on what a party doesn’t do and doesn’t talk about.”

Looming in the background, of course, is the fact that Republicans themselves believe they are losers, because they’ve hitched their wagon to the shrinking demographic of angry white suburban and rural voters. Their efforts to suppress votes and undermine voting rights, control or replace election officials, gerrymander like crazy and overturn election results are the moves of a party that doesn’t believe Republicans can win fair elections.

Edited November 6, 2021 by washparkhorn

[Fudge Nuggets 19420]

4 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

I feel like Chip Roy has opened himself up for an attack.  The Democrat running against him should hammer home that Chip is ok letting infrastructure in Texas crumble.

 

That messaging should be being hammered home against all the GOP crazies who are bleating about socialism.

I hope Pop survives the surgery then dies in a bridge collapse on the way home.

[Goofyboy 3429]

I hope Pop survives the surgery then dies in a bridge collapse on the way home.

Troy Nehls is our Congressman and he’s fallen in line with Chip and other Trumpers. He was an OK Sheriff, but sucks shit as a Congressman.

[fattyflattie 4640]

1 hour ago, Goofyboy said:

Troy Nehls is our Congressman and he’s fallen in line with Chip and other Trumpers. He was an OK Sheriff, but sucks shit as a Congressman.

Same.  Dude seems to have went Trumpy overnight, too. 

[JimmyJames 12271]

On 11/6/2021 at 10:41 AM, washparkhorn said:

 It’s also true the US is a two-party system and the alternative at present is the Republican party, which is currently a venal and utterly corrupt cult bent on many kinds of destruction. It’s the party whose last leader, with the help of many Republicans still in Congress, produced a violent coup in an attempt to steal an election.

Reposted for truth. Anyone who supports the Republican Party at this point is a supporter of overthrowing democracy so their team can rule like apartheid in South Africa. 

[hobbes2702 13393]

1 minute ago, Bravo said:

That's a lot of hyperbole even for you. 

I guess you missed the attempted overthrow of the democratically elected president

[JimmyJames 12271]

2 hours ago, Bravo said:

That's a lot of hyperbole even for you. 

No it’s the truth. Hope you someday figure that out.

[F250 29193]

On 11/6/2021 at 8:27 AM, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

I feel like Chip Roy has opened himself up for an attack.  The Democrat running against him should hammer home that Chip is ok letting infrastructure in Texas crumble.

 

That messaging should be being hammered home against all the GOP crazies who are bleating about socialism.

Are you familiar with this district that is loaded with GOP crazies?