The Biden Presidency - 2020

[Edward64]

Another cabinet position filled. Don't know much about her but the read below looks promising re: China. My sense is using WTO is long, drawn out affair full of political minefields and blah-blah whereas Trump took the more direct approach. But yes, need to get economic allies onboard with whatever strategy we plan.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/10/bide...sentative.html

President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday named Katherine Tai, a trade lawyer with a history of taking on China, as his incoming administration’s pick for the United States’ top trade representative.

If confirmed by the Senate, Tai would inherit a critical, Cabinet-level position tasked with enforcing America’s import rules and brokering trading terms with China and other nations.

Tai, who is Asian-American, would also be the first woman of color to serve as the USTR. She is fluent in Mandarin.
:
:
Though Tai may favor multilateral enforcement mechanisms more than Lighthizer, her leadership as USTR wouldn’t necessarily signal a change to the tougher stance toward China. She has said that China should be addressed forcefully and strategically.

“They both also have a long history of dealing with China’s unfair practices, the most pressing trade issue of our time,” according to former top White House trade negotiator Clete Willems. “Where Katherine’s approach is most likely to differ is on how she uses the WTO system and alliances to pressure China to change behavior.”

From 2007 to 2014, Tai successfully litigated Washington’s disputes against Beijing at the WTO, the global trade organization based in Geneva, Switzerland.

[GrantDawg]

If Biden does anything, can he fix this? Auditing the wealthy would more than pay for itself instead of attacking poor people who can't afford to defend themselves for peanuts.

Congress asked the IRS to report on why it audits the poor more than the affluent. Its response is that it doesn’t have enough money and people to audit the wealthy properly. So it’s not going to.https://t.co/TGsnsUMU7k

— ProPublica (@propublica) December 10, 2020

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

If Biden does anything, can he fix this? Auditing the wealthy would more than pay for itself instead of attacking poor people who can't afford to defend themselves for peanuts.

Congress asked the IRS to report on why it audits the poor more than the affluent. Its response is that it doesn’t have enough money and people to audit the wealthy properly. So it’s not going to.https://t.co/TGsnsUMU7k

— ProPublica (@propublica) December 10, 2020

Well they do have a point - wealthy folks would lawyer up and drag shit out forever. Increasing funding for the IRS would help. Adding to that and changing priorities would as well.

[JPhillips]

This isn't an accident. The GOP has been stripping the resources away in hopes that the IRS will stop working.

[BigDPW]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/09/polit...ion/index.html

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hun...-investigation

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/09/hunt...ver-taxes.html

I'm surprised no one has been discussing this here? Maybe I missed it because I am only checking this forum a couple times per week now.

Seems like the social media probably shouldn't have been censoring this when they did prior to the election. I don't really care to share my thoughts on all of this but I am interested to see where this goes and how the media chooses to cover this.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by BigDPW

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/09/polit...ion/index.html

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hun...-investigation

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/09/hunt...ver-taxes.html

I'm surprised no one has been discussing this here? Maybe I missed it because I am only checking this forum a couple times per week now.

Seems like the social media probably shouldn't have been censoring this when they did prior to the election. I don't really care to share my thoughts on all of this but I am interested to see where this goes and how the media chooses to cover this.

Hunter did come up prior to the election as a possible October surprise but it didn't seem to make any headway with a "corruption/illegal" tie to Biden.

My guess is Hunter did leverage his connections with dad (who wouldn't), probably did something unethical, fair chance it was probably white-collar illegal. Unlikely Biden was a bad guy here.

But agree. This should be investigated and let it all come out.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Well they do have a point - wealthy folks would lawyer up and drag shit out forever. Increasing funding for the IRS would help. Adding to that and changing priorities would as well.

If the IRS could be self-funded, they would easily be able to handle it and have an incentive to target the biggest tax cheats. You can argue the same with the SEC. It should easily pay for itself and then some as a deterrent.

This was a conscious decision to allow those in a higher income bracket to not have to abide by the same laws as the rest of us.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Dems aren't allowed to govern.

Just make them all "acting". Precedent has been set by Trump.

I also can't imagine every Senator would go along with this. Romney likely wouldn't. Hard to imagine Murkowski would either. There are still some moderate Senators out there. Don't they just need a couple votes to approve?

[JPhillips]

I'm pretty sure Dems would need 60 votes as McConnell has no reason to kill the filibuster for appointments.

[Lathum]

Seeing Times person of the year is Biden/Harris. Trump gonna lose it.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Seeing Times person of the year is Biden/Harris. Trump gonna lose it.

Kindof was hoping for Fauci. Trump still would have lost it... just differently.

SI

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Hunter did come up prior to the election as a possible October surprise but it didn't seem to make any headway with a "corruption/illegal" tie to Biden.

My guess is Hunter did leverage his connections with dad (who wouldn't), probably did something unethical, fair chance it was probably white-collar illegal. Unlikely Biden was a bad guy here.

But agree. This should be investigated and let it all come out.

Agreed. There is a chance this will turn in to something and it needs investigated. I won’t be surprised if it ends up being more unethical than illegal, though.

I think the reason the story didn’t get much traction is sort of like the boy that cried wolf. Trump and his surrogates throw such a large volume of statements and accusations out, many of them ridiculous and/or patently false, that a majority of folks have tuned it out. So when something is valid, there is no way to discern it from the rest of the BS that is out there.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by BigDPW

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/09/polit...ion/index.html

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hun...-investigation

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/09/hunt...ver-taxes.html

I'm surprised no one has been discussing this here? Maybe I missed it because I am only checking this forum a couple times per week now.

Seems like the social media probably shouldn't have been censoring this when they did prior to the election. I don't really care to share my thoughts on all of this but I am interested to see where this goes and how the media chooses to cover this.

Honestly, why do I care what Hunter did? He is not going to be President. Biden is not going to put him in the administration. He is not going to pardon him, or shut down the investigation. Whether Hunter cheated taxes, or used his name to make money, absolutely has no bearing on whether President-Elect Biden would do his job. The only people who are going to clutch-their-pearls over this, are the same ones who have completely ignore the Trump crimes family making hundreds of millions of dollars off the Presidency. It is not really worth the time unless Biden does do something like pardon Hunter.

[Ben E Lou]

Wise, necessary, and also some A+ trolling on multiple levels.

Biden will have White House disinfected after Trump leaves https://t.co/Jyzeoer5Jc pic.twitter.com/bUGGOB59Jo

— The Hill (@thehill) December 11, 2020

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Honestly, why do I care what Hunter did? He is not going to be President. Biden is not going to put him in the administration. He is not going to pardon him, or shut down the investigation. Whether Hunter cheated taxes, or used his name to make money, absolutely has no bearing on whether President-Elect Biden would do his job. The only people who are going to clutch-their-pearls over this, are the same ones who have completely ignore the Trump crimes family making hundreds of millions of dollars off the Presidency. It is not really worth the time unless Biden does do something like pardon Hunter.

I don't it matters what Hunter did unless Biden assisted/drove it somehow. That's why it didn't stick prior to the election because there was no/little evidence. Biden played it right by being a supportive/protective dad even with Hunter's stupid ass laptop fiasco.

Nevertheless, IMO it's okay to have this investigation. The findings may be embarrassing to Biden, Hunter may get fined etc. and the GOP will try to tie the "corruption" to Biden, but knowing Biden (he genuinely seems to be a straight shooter), I'm not worrying too much about it.

If I was the GOP, I'd start digging up Kamala Harris' past to setup for 2024. Politics.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Wise, necessary, and also some A+ trolling on multiple levels.

True. They need a pic of that happening as well as taking out the trash bags.

[Kodos]

And leaving the gold toilet on the front curb for garbage pickup.

[Lathum]

Bulk Trash Collection | dpw

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by BigDPW

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/09/polit...ion/index.html

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hun...-investigation

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/09/hunt...ver-taxes.html

I'm surprised no one has been discussing this here? Maybe I missed it because I am only checking this forum a couple times per week now.

Seems like the social media probably shouldn't have been censoring this when they did prior to the election. I don't really care to share my thoughts on all of this but I am interested to see where this goes and how the media chooses to cover this.

I'll take the bait. I am not sure what there is to discuss.

1. Biden Jr. is the one who announced the investigation. That may be just good PR but there is no grand announcement from the The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware probably makes it less of a big deal.

2. I only read the FOX article because I figure they are most likely to give the most fair and balanced coverage. According to that article, the President-Elect is not being investigated.

3. Beyond 1 and 2, there is basically nothing new between the linked article embedded in the story that was published on October 21 and the article published on yesterday. Large passages of the article are almost copied word for word including the copies of documents.

4. I think the vast majority of the board believes that if the President's or President Elect's offspring is taking advantage of their parent's position for personal gain, it should be investigate to see if criminal activity has taken place. If it were not being investigated or road blocks are have been placed to prevent an investigation, well that might generated a bit more discussion, no? The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware is investigating Hunter Biden, good. To this point, the Biden team has not put any road blocks in the way to hamper the investigation. I am hoping this is an investigation about the search for illegal activity and not one meant to distract from the Biden presidency. If it is a sincere investigation of the former, then spend the government resources to gain and indictment, a conviction and dole out punishment. If it is about the latter then it is a disgrace.

[PilotMan]

I think a lot of the board believes that whatever they find, it'll be fine, guilty or not guilty, it should be handled in the correct application of the law. The board also believes that it's rather ludicrous that given the entire nature of trump's own children living their entire lives off of his name, that the shock and disgust that the right feigns toward Hunter Biden is complete and total hypocrisy.

[Ben E Lou]

Anything a not-part-of-the-administration adult child of any President does, be it criminal, charity, or anything in between, is tabloid junk that holds little/no interest to me, unless the President is personally involved or if it happens to affect my family's day-to-day life (highly unlikely.) I didn't care about Chelsea, the Bush daughters, Obama daughters, or the Trumps who aren't in the White House. Put that stuff where it belongs: in People Magazine.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Anything a not-part-of-the-administration adult child of any President does, be it criminal, charity, or anything in between, is tabloid junk that holds little/no interest to me, unless the President is personally involved or if it happens to affect my family's day-to-day life (highly unlikely.) I didn't care about Chelsea, the Bush daughters, Obama daughters, or the Trumps who aren't in the White House. Put that stuff where it belongs: in People Magazine.

exactly.

" OMG, kids with rich and powerful parents get preferential treatment based on their last name!!! Story at 11."

[JPhillips]

There's a huge overlap between people who believe Hunter Biden's taxes should lead to prison for him and Joe and people who believe Trump should pre-emptively pardon his children for any crimes that might have been committed.

[Edward64]

Speaking of cognitive decline, Diane Feinstein has been in the news. Assume this is real.

If she ultimately resigns soon, it doesn't hurt Biden because Newsome will be appointing a Dem replacement? If Newsome was a Rep, this would be more interesting (and Harris for VP may not have happened).

[Edward64]

I guess no surprise but disappointed. Big immigration reform is not a top-top priority. I'd do big immigration and small climate change myself.

Biden Immigration Plan May Fall Short Of Activists' Demands : NPR

While Biden promised to reverse Trump's most restrictive immigration policies, he did not include immigration among his four top priorities: the coronavirus pandemic, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change.

That was intentional, said a person familiar with transition discussions. He told NPR that the Biden campaign and then the transition team felt that immigration activists had become too adversarial.

"There are a number of people within Team Biden who are just uncomfortable with a lot of the policy initiatives that they recommend, which is why when you saw Biden's four core issues immigration was not one of them," he said.

[Brian Swartz]

The people who passionately want immigration changes by and large didn't vote for Biden. Climate change has a zillion times more impact on the world so I think that's the right priority.

[GrantDawg]

The rumor now is Mayor Pete for Secretary of Transportation.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[STK]

Based on what I have seen over the past several months Hunter is clearly the most degenerate presidential family member I can recall off hand in my lifetime. Roger Clinton and Neil Bush rounding out second and third.

[Edward64]

The $908B is broken out into 2 bills. Unsure why but my guess is so each can be voted separately as the second one may be the most contentious. Let's pass them and move on for now, add on if needed or if there is political will after Biden becomes President and new Congress is sworn in.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/14/coro...-released.html

Democrats have backed the $908 billion proposal as the framework for a final deal. The larger of the two bills unveiled Monday would cost $748 billion.

The proposal puts about $300 billion into small business support, including restaurants and entertainment venues, according to a summary released by the bipartisan group. Independent companies have struggled to survive, and the window to apply for PPP loans expired earlier this year even as funds remain in the program.

The proposal would extend provisions to expand unemployment insurance set to expire the day after Christmas for 16 weeks. It would add a $300 per week federal jobless benefit supplement for four months. If the jobless benefits expansion lapses, about 12 million people would lose insurance.

The bill would temporarily extend an eviction moratorium through Jan. 31 and put $25 billion into rental assistance. The measure would also put $6 billion into vaccine development distribution, and another $10 billion into testing and contact tracing.

It would also put $82 billion into education funding and extend federal student loan forbearance through April 1. The legislation would also direct $45 billion to the transportation sector and $10 billion into broadband access.

This is where the state & local aid vs liability protection is handled. Don't know what "nationwide gross negligence standard" means though. I'm all for it just as long as it's reasonable.

The second piece of legislation would send $160 billion in state and local aid, according to a summary. The federal government would dole out part of the money based on state population and a portion of it based on relative revenue losses during the pandemic. States could not increase the amount of money they put into pensions if they receive aid.

The measure would also set a “nationwide gross negligence standard” for Covid-related claims.

[Ksyrup]

Billy Carter!

Yes, I'm old.

[Swaggs]

It’s sad when stealing charity money from cancer patients doesn’t even land Eric Trump in the top 3. I guess he’s still young and has time to climb the list.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

It’s sad when stealing charity money from cancer patients doesn’t even land Eric Trump in the top 3. I guess he’s still young and has time to climb the list.

If making money based on your family name and then being less than completely honest gets you on the list...

[cuervo72]

"Based on what Newsmax and OAN are saying..."

[Ksyrup]

McConnell officially uttered the "P-E" word.

[Ghost Econ]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

McConnell officially uttered the "P-E" word.

Penis Envy?

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

If making money based on your family name and then being less than completely honest gets you on the list...

At least the Trumps are winners on the most corrupt and dirty relatives of Presidents (some respect for Tiffany for being like nope on the [direct?] grift factory, though)!

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

Penis Envy?

Pink Epidermis?

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

"Based on what Newsmax and OAN are saying..."

I think he might be talking about the picture with the hooker and cocaine. Hunter did like to party.

[Edward64]

And now getting back to the topic at hand ...

Second stimulus check doesn't look good. But I found Buffet's interview interesting. Never thought to compare it to imminent domain.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/15/kell...ck-update.html

Warren Buffett pleaded for help for small businesses, and restaurants especially, on CNBC this morning. “We’ve shut down a lot of people in this particular induced recession, and others are prospering,” he said. He compared the situation to eminent domain; when the government takes your property, they have to compensate you. If they close your business, Buffett said, they should also compensate you.

It’s a difficult process that, yes, can involve a lot of waste and fraud. But if business owners at least know that help is coming, they can try to keep holding out until it finally arrives.

[Edward64]

And we now have a Transportation Secretary. I guess a good, relatively low key, stepping stone for Mayor Pete.

President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Pete Buttigieg to be his transportation secretary, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN, elevating the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to a top post in the federal government.

[Edward64]

Looks like something is going to happen. Great day in the markets. Let's hope it gets done this week.

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/...3035d547478649

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made clear again Tuesday that Congress will not leave without reaching a deal on a Covid-19 stimulus package.

“We're not leaving here without a Covid package,” McConnell said at his weekly policy presser. “It's not gonna happen. We're gonna stay here until we get a Covid package. No matter how long it takes, we’ll be here.”
He reiterated his call to take out the two most controversial provisions – liability provisions, for Republicans, and state and local aid, for Democrats – in order to help passage of Covid relief, when asked ahead of today’s afternoon meeting with congressional leaders whether there will be a deal available with state and local aid.

He said, “It's pretty obvious the way to get a deal, for weeks, has been as exactly what I said… to drop the two most contentious items for the moment. We all know the new administration's gonna be asking for yet another package. It's not like we won't have another opportunity to debate the merits of liability reform and of state and local government in the very near future.”

[Edward64]

$600 stimulus checks are in the works. I can't find details on who would be eligible but assume they will be targeted vs everyone.

[JPhillips]

We don't have the ability to target checks very effectively. For example, it isn't possible to send out checks to people who have lost their jobs because neither the federal or state governments have that info. We could send to people on unemployment, but that misses all the people that are out of work but not on unemployment. I think targeted money would be better, but if we can't do that I'd rather give money to too many people than too few.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I think targeted money would be better, but if we can't do that I'd rather give money to too many people than too few.

This. Send it out. Let folks know that if they've made over X in 2020 it's gonna get taxed heavily as income, and if they've made under Y it's tax-free. It shouldn't be hard, but...politics.

[JPhillips]

The people in the top half of incomes are generally doing fine or even better than before COVID, but the bottom half is getting crushed. Weekly unemployment claims have been worse than the worst week of the Great Recession since March. The unemployment rate is still at the same point as the worst level in the Great Recession. I think this can turn around quickly in the summer, but at the moment we're converting temporary unemployment into permanent unemployment. If we don't help people get past this the results will stick with us for years.

Which, I fear, is the GOP plan/hope.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

This. Send it out. Let folks know that if they've made over X in 2020 it's gonna get taxed heavily as income, and if they've made under Y it's tax-free. It shouldn't be hard, but...politics.

Right send it out. And have it on taxes for those making over $100k or something. Folks need money now. We can sort out the 'targeting' later - heck, if we could have gotten this done a month ago, we could have skipped the targeting with the knowledge that even well off people would likely use the extra funds for Christmas gifts (which would help businesses).

[Lathum]

I say send it to everyone. The people who truly need it will put it to good use and hopefully people who don’t need it put it back into their local economy. For example I needed reading glasses. Usually I would just get a cheap pair at cvs. Instead I bought a $200 pair from my eye doctor to support her.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I say send it to everyone. The people who truly need it will put it to good use and hopefully people who don’t need it put it back into their local economy. For example I needed reading glasses. Usually I would just get a cheap pair at cvs. Instead I bought a $200 pair from my eye doctor to support her.

This, we basically donated our first stimulus checks to local businesses that were closed, or in the form of big tips for employees to split when restaurants could only do pick up, or buying groceries for friends on furlough. I think a lot of people that don't need the money have and will do similar things.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I say send it to everyone. The people who truly need it will put it to good use and hopefully people who don’t need it put it back into their local economy. For example I needed reading glasses. Usually I would just get a cheap pair at cvs. Instead I bought a $200 pair from my eye doctor to support her.

I agree with this. Renters can pay rent, people with student loans can pay their loans, unemployed won't get forgotten etc...

[Edward64]

No mention of Trump's payroll tax relief and making it permanent.

I guess discussions will (has to) happen sooner or later next year with Stimulus III.