The Biden Presidency - 2020

[albionmoonlight]

Subtle but smart move by Biden to release his budget. The parties backed themselves into a little bit of a corner. Biden promised not to negotiate over the debt ceiling. The GOP promised to refuse to lift it without negotiations.

Which put both parties in a bit of a rhetorical bind. But now they can negotiate “over their budgets.” And the debt ceiling will, of course, be part of that negotiation. So however it resolves, both parties can say they did not go back on their word. I assume that McCarthy has the sense to pick up on the strategy for what it is, and to start negotiating over “the budget.”

[NobodyHere]

Well that was nice of the drug cartels (assuming that this is true and not faked)

5 Men Found in Mexico With Note Apologizing for Attacking 4 Americans

[JPhillips]

This guy needs a crisis comms advisor.

oh my goodness -- this local TV report about Tennessee Republican Lt. Gov. Randy McNally liking gay posts on Instagram is brutally awkward. You can see the full thing here: https://t.co/QOSVEfrLDC pic.twitter.com/e3PeKskm97

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 10, 2023

[Atocep]

Watching clips of the House Hearings and seeing comments online I'm convinced the majority of Republicans think Biden was president in 2020.

[GrantDawg]

Republicans really don't care about things like "time" or "facts."

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

This guy needs a crisis comms advisor.

Why didn't he just use the "my account was hacked" excuse everyone else uses?

[RainMaker]

This is dumb on the Democrats part.

I’m working with my CA colleagues to address the Silicon Valley Bank crisis. We must make sure all deposits exceeding the FDIC $250k limit are honored. Banking is about confidence. If depositors lose confidence on the safety of their deposits over 250k then we are in trouble.

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) March 10, 2023

[GrantDawg]

Agreed. That shouldn't happen.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

[Edward64]

I guess he’s looking out for his constituents, and he should be doing that.

There may be a chance depending how much is ‘left’ but yeah, not a guarantee like the FDIC $250K guarantee

[Flasch186]

Capitalism isn't capitalism in this country.

[Edward64]

Looks like Biden is about to get some heat next week.

I'd lean towards agreeing with decision as we move towards more renewables and buying us time.

Biden administration to approve major Alaska oil drilling project Willow | CNN Politics

The Biden administration is soon set to approve ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project, a major oil drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope, according to a congressional source familiar with the details. The decision will be announced next week, the source confirmed.

The expected approval is a victory for Alaska’s bipartisan congressional delegation and a coalition of Alaska Native tribes and groups who hailed the drilling venture as a much-needed new source of revenue and jobs for the remote region. It is a major blow to climate groups and Alaska Natives who oppose Willow, arguing the project will hurt the president’s ambitious climate goals and pose health and environmental risks.

The 600M barrels of oil didn't seem that big to me initially as we use 15M+ daily. But then read that Alaska has 2.4B of proven reserves which means this is relatively significant.

The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, the federally owned area where the project is planned, holds up to 600 million barrels of oil. By the administration’s own estimates, the Willow project would generate enough oil to release 9.2 million metric tons of planet-warming carbon pollution a year – equivalent to adding 2 million gas-powered cars to the roads.

“If true, the Biden administration is betraying its core commitment to stop runaway climate change,” Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen said in a statement. “We hope the Biden administration will make the right decision to reject Willow, and if it makes the wrong decision, we are committed to challenging it.”

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

Capitalism isn't capitalism in this country.

Yeah, ironically capitalism in this country is often socialism, especially when it looks like rich people might lose money.

[Edward64]

Joe, I know this was unintentional but still borders on assholeness. I really hope you called Jimmy (& Rosalynn) to personally apologize after that fundraiser.

Jimmy Carter asked him to deliver his eulogy, Biden says | CNN Politics

Former President Jimmy Carter, who remains in hospice care, has asked Joe Biden to deliver his eulogy following his death, the president said Monday.

“He asked me to do his eulogy – excuse me, I shouldn’t say that,” Biden told supporters during remarks at a fundraiser in Rancho Santa Fe, California, according to a pool report.

“I spent time with Jimmy Carter, and it’s finally caught up with him. But they found a way to keep him going for a lot longer than they anticipated, because they found a breakthrough,” the president continued.

[sterlingice]

I don't get how that's asshole-ish? I suspect Biden is honored to be doing it but let slip something before he should. Like there's no political gain for Biden here. He didn't do it to be a jerk. He's not stepping on Carter's grave to get something out of it. He let a secret out that he shouldn't have because he doesn't have a filter. Careless, maybe. Also, not really newsworthy.

SI

[Edward64]

I did say "borders on". Because he let something out prematurely that was deeply personal to Jimmy & Rosalynn, and likely said in confidence.

Similar analogy to me is would you want a friend to tell the world that you are getting a divorce before you made it public?

I don't disagree it's not newsworthy (there's alot of that stuff out there), but there it was on CNN.

[miked]

He's in hospice, this may be a newsflash but that means he is close to dying. Unless we want to get in to the definition of hospice and dying, it seems quite inevitable.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by miked

He's in hospice, this may be a newsflash but that means he is close to dying. Unless we want to get in to the definition of hospice and dying, it seems quite inevitable.

I don't disagree.

A friend is going to divorce (and likely friends know there's marital issues) and shares it with you. Should you publicize it before he/she does?

[Edward64]

I really like Joe doing this executive action. I wonder if this was in the plans when they passed the Act last year. Always good to be clarifying definitions.

I'm sure it'll get challenged but its a good start and let's see what SCOTUS says.

Biden will bypass Congress as he tries to tamp down gun violence - POLITICO

President Joe Biden will sign an executive order aimed at expanding background checks during his visit Tuesday to Monterey Park, Calif., where 11 people were gunned down in January.

The executive action will direct Attorney General Merrick Garland to address a background check loophole by clarifying the definition of “engaged in the business” of selling firearms, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters late Monday ahead of the announcement. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act passed last summer updated federal law, requiring anyone who sells guns for profit to be licensed and conduct background checks on buyers. By clarifying who qualifies as a gun dealer, the federal law will require a greater number of sellers to conduct background checks on prospective buyers.

[JPhillips]

Maybe we need a thread for crazy shit the GOP is doing at the state and local level.

Oklahoma lawmakers have rejected a bill that would have banned corporal punishment for kids with disabilities in schools.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Maybe we need a thread for crazy shit the GOP is doing at the state and local level.

I started making a "State and Local Politics" thread but then thought it probably fits just fine in the national threads or something like the Florida bill thread where the parties (yeah, especially the GOP) like to show their ass to remind us what they would like to do when given power at a national level.

SI

[SirFozzie]

How about the State Legislators (S. Carolina) who filed a bill to make getting an abortion a death penalty offense.

[Mota]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

How about the State Legislators (S. Carolina) who filed a bill to make getting an abortion a death penalty offense.

If that's the case, any convicted rapists should also be killed. Imagine the rapist going to jail for 5 years, and then the woman who gets an abortion after being raped is put to death.

[JPhillips]

We would need to check to see what she was wearing.

[Ghost Econ]

Knowing the men in the SC legislature, most of them probably committed plenty of rape and paid for plenty of abortions in college.

They respect women in the way pollen respects my car.

[JPhillips]

TX Gov Abbott announced that he's taking control of the Houston school district.

Local government for me, but not for thee.

[Edward64]

Conceptually, I like prioritizing as it's what households would do in a cash crunch (e.g. pay mortgage & electricity before car insurance). I guess the argument is this allows a process to default on "some" debts but not others, and therefore makes defaulting more likely.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/16/debt...ellen-say.html

House Republicans are holding up a bill to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, which hit its $31.4 trillion borrowing limit in January. They want any agreement on the debt limit to be paired with spending cuts on social programs.

Their latest debt ceiling proposal, which passed 21-17 out of the House Ways and Means Committee last week, would prioritize which payments the U.S. Treasury makes first when the U.S. hits the ceiling at which it cannot issue more bonds. The GOP plan places a higher priority on making public debt obligations and Social Security payments than other types of government obligations.
:
“There is a reason that Treasury secretaries of both parties have rejected this incredibly risky and dangerous idea and it’s never been tried before.”

“I cannot give any assurances about the technical feasibility of such a plan,” Yellen told lawmakers. “It would be an exceptionally risky, untested and radical departure from normal payment practices of agencies across the federal government.”

She said lawmakers needed to recognize that “raising the debt ceiling is their responsibility to protect the full faith and credit in the United States.”

[Danny]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

TX Gov Abbott announced that he's taking control of the Houston school district.

Local government for me, but not for thee.

I'm a school psychologist in California but I've seen some posts in my fields fb groups that they are behind in evaluations by several thousand. I imagine they are getting sued left and right just from this. Must be a real mess.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

TX Gov Abbott announced that he's taking control of the Houston school district.

Local government for me, but not for thee.

Of course, HISD is one of the better performing large districts in the state - keeping in mind, it's still a large urban district. But there was one high school that was badly underperforming for many years (though it had improved recently) so it triggered a time bomb law set up by the GOP legislature where the state could take over an entire district for one underperforming school. That way they can start breaking the decent improvement job that had been over the past few years, even during COVID.

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03...-isd-takeover/

The TEA, which grades schools and districts each year based on their academic achievement, gave Phillis Wheatley a grade of F in 2019. Last year, Phillis Wheatley got a C, and Houston ISD as a whole received a B. In the last 19 months, HISD has made strides reducing the number of its campuses with a D or F rating from 50 to 10. Ninety-four percent of HISD schools now earn a grade of A, B or C.

SI

[albionmoonlight]

I wonder what the GOP line will be with Xi going to Russia to support the war.

It puts the Chinese Communist Party (which they claim to hate) on the side of Russian Territorial Integrity (which they claim to love).

Will they try to find an intellectually consistent position, or will they just say X on Monday and Not X on Tuesday and count of people not noticing/caring?

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I wonder what the GOP line will be with Xi going to Russia to support the war.

It puts the Chinese Communist Party (which they claim to hate) on the side of Russian Territorial Integrity (which they claim to love).

Will they try to find an intellectually consistent position, or will they just say X on Monday and Not X on Tuesday and count of people not noticing/caring?

They are going to say this shows how weak the US is that China is taking control over world politics. It is literally what DJT has already said about it. Remember the GOP never goes into specifics, just the easiest soundbite. Just say "Biden is weak" as often as you can.

[Atocep]

Why do we have people that can't work a smart phone determining whether or not to ban tik tok? Or make any tech related decisions for out country?

I'm watching clips of these hearings and the questions they're asking the tik tok CEO are some of the dumbest shit you could imagine. Like, forwards from grandma level stupid shit.

[JPhillips]

Between the First Amendment and IP hosting in other countries, how the hell would the U.S. even go about banning Tik Tok?

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Between the First Amendment and IP hosting in other countries, how the hell would the U.S. even go about banning Tik Tok?

Banning it from the Apple and Play Store would effectively kill it off. It would still be on current phones and there would ways around it, but it the inability to push updates or install it from either of those stores would be the end of tik tok.

Watching some of the hearing was painful. It's clear Zuckerberg has put a ton of lobbying money into this. But the talking points and attempts at 'gotcha" moments were awful.

An example was the Tik Tok CEO was asked if the app accesses your home wifi. He said yes, if you're using your home wifi on your phone the app uses it for internet. You could tell the person asking thought he scored a huge blow and uncovered something.

He also asked about how they keep children off the app. They said the same as any other app, they ask. But then they also check your public videos and content, which the congressman that asked the question replied, "that's scary". Implying that accessing their public videos is somehow nefarious.

They then went into questions about scanning for pupil dilation, whether the word china is banned on the app, and the fact that videos with guns exist on the app.

[Edward64]

Seems to be escalating. We have about 900 troops in Syria.

Missiles slam into ANOTHER US base in Syria: Iran-backed militants retaliate hours after Biden ordered deadly 'precision airstrikes' on their positions following suicide drone attack that killed American worker
:
Missiles slam into ANOTHER US base in Syria: Iran-backed militants retaliate hours after Biden ordered deadly 'precision airstrikes' on their positions following suicide drone attack that killed American worker

What the heck are we still doing in Syria? It could be regime change, anti-ISIL operations but below article was interesting.

Regardless, it doesn't seem that we have an exit strategy and we should have one.

https://www.politico.com/newsletters...syria-00053898

Which brings us to the unofficial reason for why the U.S. is still in Syria: To stop other countries from filling the vacuum. “The situation is not one in which there is a force that would be ready to fill the vacuum were we to simply leave,” the senior administration official said.

While there are concerns about Russia and Iranian-backed militias gaining a greater foothold in the country’s center and east, a major reason for the U.S. presence is deterring Turkey from launching an attack against the SDF — a group it considers terrorists. A U.S. military withdrawal, then, would leave American anti-ISIS partners targeted by a NATO ally, giving space for the once-prominent terrorist group to reconstitute itself. Such an event would destroy any chance of a long-needed political settlement to the war, even if one remains far off.

That scenario would also likely lead the SDF to abandon the prisons holding tens of thousands of ISIS prisoners to deal with the Turkish threat —something that happened during Ankara’s invasion in 2019.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Why do we have people that can't work a smart phone determining whether or not to ban tik tok? Or make any tech related decisions for out country?

I'm watching clips of these hearings and the questions they're asking the tik tok CEO are some of the dumbest shit you could imagine. Like, forwards from grandma level stupid shit.

Facebook has been spending a lot of money lobbying those people because they are struggling to compete.

As for a ban, there is probably some crap they can pull about "national security". By the time it made its way through the courts, the company would be essentially dead which is probably the goal of Facebook and others anyway.

[JPhillips]

Idaho Republicans blocked a bill to provide free feminine hygiene products in schools saying it was a woke, liberal idea.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Idaho Republicans blocked a bill to provide free feminine hygiene products in schools saying it was a woke, liberal idea.

Yeah I watched some of the debates on this. One of the key points they brought up was they already provide water, toilet paper, ect. Where does it end? Are they going to start providing showers at school too? Because sweat is a bodily function.

[Ghost Econ]

They don't have showers in the gym locker room?

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

They don't have showers in the gym locker room?

No, it might turn the kids gay. Or worse, communist.

[GrantDawg]

There is another "third party" group that has suddenly appeared with suspicious amount of funding. "No Labels" is calling itself a centrist party that is trying to fight against the extremes on the right and the left. But it seems they are only really interested in going on the ballots in swing states. Curious.

[Edward64]

Interesting WSJ poll. Just shows how much things have changed since 1998 and the differences now between Dems-Independents-Reps.

America Pulls Back From Values That Once Defined It, WSJ-NORC Poll Finds - WSJ

Patriotism, religious faith, having children and other priorities that helped define the national character for generations are receding in importance to Americans, a new Wall Street Journal-NORC poll finds.

The survey, conducted with NORC at the University of Chicago, a nonpartisan research organization, also finds the country sharply divided by political party over social trends such as the push for racial diversity in businesses and the use of gender-neutral pronouns.

Can't post the poll graphics but have the titles below.

#1 Percent who say these values are ‘very important’ to them

Patriotism, Religion, Having Children, Community Involvement are all significantly down. Money is up

#2 Percent who say these values are ‘very important’ to them, personally, shown among the youngest and oldest age groups

I guess no surprise here. But good to see "hard work" are majorities for both younger & older.

#3 Percent who say these values are ‘very important’ to them, personally, shown among the youngest and oldest age groups

Broken out by party affiliation. Independents seem to be more aligned with Dems than Reps.

#4 For each of the following, has our society gone too far, not gone far enough, or is it about right? Shown by percentage who say ‘too far’

Independents seem to be more aligned with Reps than Dems.

[Atocep]

My wife does scheduling for UW medicine and one of the questions they have to ask is preferred pronouns. The responses she gets from some are....expected...

[albionmoonlight]

If I were your wife, I'd at least be sure to hit those people with a "Happy Holidays!" at the end of the conversation in Nov-Dec.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Interesting WSJ poll. Just shows how much things have changed since 1998 and the differences now between Dems-Independents-Reps.

America Pulls Back From Values That Once Defined It, WSJ-NORC Poll Finds - WSJ


Can't post the poll graphics but have the titles below.

Patriotism, Religion, Having Children, Community Involvement are all significantly down. Money is up

I guess no surprise here. But good to see "hard work" are majorities for both younger & older.

Broken out by party affiliation. Independents seem to be more aligned with Dems than Reps.

Independents seem to be more aligned with Reps than Dems.

None of this surprises me.

[albionmoonlight]

A little more sabre rattling concerning the debt ceiling. McCarthy sent Biden a letter urging negotiations. The Dems are saying that there's no point in negotiating until the GOP releases its proposed budget. The GOP says that they won't release a budget, but that they will give Biden the details if he meets with them.

McCarthy is accusing Biden of playing politics.

Of course, McCarthy is the Speaker of the House talking to reporters about negotiating a budget with a President of the opposition party. I'm not sure what he thinks that is if it is not politics.

Right now, the Dems seem to have a rhetorical upper hand. Releasing a budge this early was a smart move b/c it makes the GOP presenting one seem like the obvious next move. And the GOP is not ready to do that.

I still think that this works out where we get distressingly close to the deadline, then they suspend the debt limit for a period of time so that it matches up with the budget/shutdown timeline. That lets the Dems say that they negotiated a budget, but that they didn't let the GOP negotiate the debt limit. And it lets the GOP say that they successfully used the debt limit to get concessions from the Dems in negotiations.

[NobodyHere]

Sen. Rand Paul staffer stabbed multiple times in DC, suspect arrested

Other reports say the stabber was released from prison only 24 hours before the attack. I guess he didn't want to try to adjust to life outside prison? He had served 12 years for forcing women into prostitution.

[Edward64]

I'm not sure the Biden deserves much credit but it did happen under his watch and looks like he blessed it. Probably a moral victory, not sure it changes much on the ground. But a good show of bipartisanship so I'll take it.

How Iraq war powers repeal turned into an unlikely bipartisan win - POLITICO

It was hardly a given that Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) would finally notch the votes and time they needed for the Senate to formally repeal Congress’ 1991 and 2002 authorizations for military action in Iraq. After all, Washington is still adjusting to divided government, and the majority of the Senate GOP leadership team continues to oppose repealing the war powers approval.

Now off to the House

Should the Senate war powers repeal pass the House, the Biden administration has indicated the president would support it. But getting it to Biden’s desk requires House passage — and that won’t be easy.

This seems like a good compromise that may allay House GOP fears.

Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) wants to repeal and replace both the 2002 military force authorization and a broad one passed in 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks,
:
McCaul said this week he wants a “counterterrorism-focused AUMF without geographical boundaries” that would end after five years “so it’s not forever war stuff.

Or

Young said he’d want to ensure any revisions to the 2001 war powers measure clarify there will be no gap in existing legal authorities to conduct necessary operations overseas, which he said many members view as a point of vulnerability.

[JPhillips]

Reed O'Connor just ruled that the preventive coverage mandate in the ACA is unconstitutional.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Reed O'Connor just ruled that the preventive coverage mandate in the ACA is unconstitutional.

One of the Texas judges the GOP games the system to get cases in front of for those that don't know.

[JPhillips]

Not sure where to put this. The head of the San Jose police union was busted for being a major fentanyl distributor.