The Biden Presidency - 2020

[miked]

My insurance does not force me to have physicals, but it is free and I get credits for doing so. Having an annual physical greatly reduces overall costs and improves health, so requiring one should not be that big a deal. I understand that people hate to have these things "forced" on them and want the freedom to be as unhealthy as possible, but it costs all of us money.

[GrantDawg]

So it begins. Requiring two copies of your id is going to make it much harder for poor people to vote, and not make a single thing safer.
Legislation introduced to require photo ID for absentee voting in Georgia

[Edward64]

I look forward to the daily 1pm ET press briefing. However, I know I'll get tired of the novelty of a normal press briefing after 4 years of WTF. And the questions I want answered right now are really more for the coronavirus task force.

Here's a "non-commie" pic of Jen Psaki.

[NobodyHere]

If she's not a commie then explain the red hair.

[GrantDawg]

I think we know Edward's vote on hot or not.

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[Edward64]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I think we know Edward's vote on hot or not.

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Don't be shy ... go ahead and create a HoN thread

I know Tarcone will be first to vote (btw - she is married and have at least 1 kid ... if that matters)

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

So it begins. Requiring two copies of your id is going to make it much harder for poor people to vote, and not make a single thing safer.
Legislation introduced to require photo ID for absentee voting in Georgia

WOn't do shit to stop fraud but will discourage people from voting. Perfect GOP bill.

[CrimsonFox]

Biden Presidency Opens With Approval Rating Higher Than Trump Ever Achieved

[BYU 14]

I always find it kind of amusing they even do an approval ratings less than a week into the job. At this point it will pretty much be Trump voters disapprove and Biden voters/Trump haters approve.

[CrimsonFox]

yeah but you just know that's all trump cares about and it will piss him off

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

yeah but you just know that's all trump cares about and it will piss him off

Trust me, this was not lost on me LOL. He is fuming over this.

[Lathum]

Just more evidence the election wasn't stolen

[JPhillips]

Jesus.

On National Holocaust Remembrance Day Prager University tweets:

The free market will set you free

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Trust me, this was not lost on me LOL. He is fuming over this.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Jesus.

On National Holocaust Remembrance Day Prager University tweets:

The free market will set you free

Kapitalismus macht Frei

[Edward64]

Is Biden using the "kiddie" desk to sign all those executive actions? It doesn't look right and would have hoped they learned something after that awful Trump pic.

[Edward64]

Some stirrings about how Biden may use reconciliation to force the $1.9B through and GOP saying that's not a good sign of bi-partianship.

I am hoping that Biden is reaching out to key GOP and asking "what pork do you want for the $1.9B?". First big test of his bi-partianship skills.

[Lathum]

Until the GOP is willing to hold Trump, MTG, Gaetz, Brooks, et al accountable for the things they have said and continue to say FUCK unity. You can't have one side screaming about unity while members of their own caucus advocating shooting the speaker in the head.

It is impossible to have people with attitudes like that and have unity and bi-partisanship.

[Edward64]

It probably is impossible to have unity and bi-partianship with the most radical right (and left) but there are plenty of others to work with.

I voted for Biden and his message of bi-partianship. So willing to give him some room on the "pork" route (or other machinations) first and see what happens.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Edward64

It probably is impossible to have unity and bi-partianship with the most radical right (and left) but there are plenty of others to work with.

Wrong.

If the moderate ones don't hold the radical ones accountable they are complicit and the radical ones will escalate and grow.

And fuck that both sides crap. The far left wants healthcare for all, clean air, and income equality while putting a stop to black kids getting shot by cops. The far right wants to murder members of congress and thinks Biden is a baby eating satan worshiper.

[albionmoonlight]

I have yet to hear what the GOP wants. The dynamic cannot be Dems keep going to GOP senators for months and months asking what it will take to get 10 of them to sign onto the bill.

10 GOP Senators need to say what they want and ask for it to be included in the bill. They have a ton of leverage right now.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

The dynamic cannot be Dems keep going to GOP senators for months and months asking what it will take to get 10 of them to sign onto the bill.

Biden & team should be doing this? Isn't this how it was done before and (many time) in private one-on-one discussions? Pork is a proven incentive.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Biden & team should be doing this? Isn't this how it was done before and (many time) in private one-on-one discussions? Pork is a proven incentive.

Yes. There should be back and forth, and I hope that there is a lot going on behind the scenes that we aren't seeing.

What the Dems can't wait around for is a GOP Senator saying "There is something you can do to this bill to get my support, but I cannot tell you directly what it is. To learn the answer, you must solve the following riddles three . . . :

[Swaggs]

The problem is that neither side wants the other to have any legislative victories and have not in a long time. The GOP, when they have the slightest majority, legislates like they are coming off of landslide wins and have a mandate. The Democrats, whether they have a filibuster proof majority or a razor thin one, always seem to try to compromise and end up pissing off the Republicans and annoying their own base causing them to lose interest in voting for them.

Look no further than the Affordable Care Act, where Dems had all three branches of government and (briefly) a filibuster proof majority in the senate. The Democrats tried to compromise, ended up with a program that looked like one the Republicans wanted (and led the debate on) in the 90s rather than universal coverage, and then no Republicans voted for it (and spent the next ten years trying to eliminate it).

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Don't be shy ... go ahead and create a HoN thread

I know Tarcone will be first to vote (btw - she is married and have at least 1 kid ... if that matters)

I find that she looks better in videos than she does in still images.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I have yet to hear what the GOP wants. The dynamic cannot be Dems keep going to GOP senators for months and months asking what it will take to get 10 of them to sign onto the bill.

10 GOP Senators need to say what they want and ask for it to be included in the bill. They have a ton of leverage right now.

One thing they want is time to see what effects the last trillion dollar stimulus has had before passing another package that is twice as large. That's not unreasonable IMO.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

One thing they want is time to see what effects the last trillion dollar stimulus has had before passing another package that is twice as large. That's not unreasonable IMO.

Much better to over play the game and keep the ball in the air, than to wait and see if your shot was good enough and let it drop. Getting things moving again from the bottom is much more inefficient than just keeping everything running well enough in the short term until it does.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

One thing they want is time to see what effects the last trillion dollar stimulus has had before passing another package that is twice as large. That's not unreasonable IMO.

Which is totally reasonable. I disagree with it. But it is reasonable

But then the framing isn't "Biden needs to work with GOP to get something to pass." The framing becomes "GOP won't sign on no matter what b/c they fundamentally disagree with spending the money, so should the Dems do it anyway"

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

I find that she looks better in videos than she does in still images.

And we are missing a bikini shot.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

One thing they want is time to see what effects the last trillion dollar stimulus has had before passing another package that is twice as large. That's not unreasonable IMO.

What would that mean in practice? Six months? A year? Other metrics?

Meanwhile, we're almost at a year of every week unemployment claims being higher than the worst week of the Great Recession. 2/3 of the economy is fine, but the remaining third is suffering a catastrophe, a third that generally doesn't have much visibility in our system. I'd be fine with more targeted relief, but too much is far better than too little at this point.

edit: Albion is right, too, what does the GOP want? Get 10 GOPers together and offer a counter-proposal. Without that, they can stop bad faith process complaints.

[albionmoonlight]

White House Covid senior adviser Andy Slavitt: “I want to call out seven states that have already provide first vaccinations to more than 10% of their populations: Alaska, West Virginia, New Mexico, Connecticut, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. Well done.”

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 29, 2021

I love that the WH is praising the states doing well without regard to whether they have D or R governors.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Edward64

And we are missing a bikini shot.

I'm glad we're both focused on the important things of this presidency

[BYU 14]

Such a contrast

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

I'm glad we're both focused on the important things of this presidency

Well ... it is Tarcone's fault by pointing out he has a ginger fetish (nothing wrong with that) so was trying to accommodate him.

[Lathum]

Just saw a woman who is a friend of a friend say she misses Kayleigh and Psaki is just horrible.

It will never cease to amaze me how people can see the same thing and take away two totally opposite conclusions.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Just saw a woman who is a friend of a friend say she misses Kayleigh and Psaki is just horrible.

It will never cease to amaze me how people can see the same thing and take away two totally opposite conclusions.

That old axiom, 'we see what we want to see'

[BYU 14]

and dola, I saw a friend post today that she just realized that Enrique Tarrio identifies as Afro-Cuban, so how can the Proud Boys possibly be a white supremist group.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

and dola, I saw a friend post today that she just realized that Enrique Tarrio identifies as Afro-Cuban, so how can the Proud Boys possibly be a white supremist group.

While I won't dispute them being a white supremist group, I always did find it curious that the Proud Boys would follow an Afro-Cuban named Enrique Tarrio. It's like 2 and 2 not adding up to 4.

[GrantDawg]

There are things in this stimulus bill that needs to go now. The money for schools to reopen was needed months ago. The money for the states, for the vaccine, rental assistance, are all months late. None of these things were in the last bill, so how is waiting going to help? Plus, the campaigns promised the increased stinlulus check. Want to lose elections? Don't fight for what you promised.
There are many other things that can be bipartisan. This should be bipartisan, but the GOP doesn't care about the people that are suffering. The bill needs to pass right mow.

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[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

While I won't dispute them being a white supremist group, I always did find it curious that the Proud Boys would follow an Afro-Cuban named Enrique Tarrio. It's like 2 and 2 not adding up to 4.

What's more interesting is that he might be an informer for the Feds.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

While I won't dispute them being a white supremist group, I always did find it curious that the Proud Boys would follow an Afro-Cuban named Enrique Tarrio. It's like 2 and 2 not adding up to 4.

I guess like Rachel Dolezal identifying as black

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

But then the framing isn't "Biden needs to work with GOP to get something to pass." The framing becomes "GOP won't sign on no matter what b/c they fundamentally disagree with spending the money, so should the Dems do it anyway"

Agree 100% with this and the comment on the vaccination tweets. On this, my answer is yes, they should do it anyway if they can. Problem is they don't have the votes to just do it anyway, which ends up throwing it back on 'should there be a negotiation about what lesser package they can pass, or should they vote for what they want and have both parties go on the record with their support/opposition'?

This close after an election, I don't think it matters much. If they don't get some Republican support, nothing will happen because of the moderates.

[Edward64]

Apparently Biden delayed his Fri announcements/executive actions on immigration. Haven't seen anything on MSM as to why.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-i...rders-delayed/

According to the outline of early executive actions, Mr. Biden is expected to sign directives to ramp up refugee admissions, review limits on legal immigration, revoke some of the Trump administration's restrictions on U.S. asylum and establish a task force to reunite families separated by border officials.

One of the orders would address the processing of migrants along the southern border and reverse Trump-era policies that narrowed asylum eligibility and required those seeking U.S. humanitarian refuge to wait in Mexico or seek sanctuary in third countries in Central America.

[sterlingice]

Could it be because the court injunction has messed up some of his plans?

SI

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Could it be because the court injunction has messed up some of his plans?

SI

That could be it. DACA was already done on a prior day but the reuniting families is a pretty important one so wouldn't want to delay too much.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

I guess like Rachel Dolezal identifying as black

Isn't the difference that she lied about being black and falsely represented herself as one whereas Tarrio did not hide being a minority Latino.

It does seem contradictory that he could be a "leader" of the Proud Boys.

[Edward64]

No enough details right now to really compare & contrast right now but I view this as a good sign.

10 Senate Republicans seek meeting with Biden on Covid relief - POLITICO

A group of Senate Republicans is requesting a meeting with President Joe Biden to begin bipartisan negotiations on the next coronavirus relief bill, even as Democratic leaders are prepared this week to go down a path that could pass a new $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package with all Democratic votes.

In a letter to Biden sent on Sunday, 10 Senate Republicans informed the president that they are working on a counterproposal focusing on spending $160 billion on vaccines, testing, treatment and personal protective equipment. Led by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the senators said that if Biden signs off on their framework, “we believe that this plan could be approved quickly by Congress with bipartisan support.”
:
The Republican senators will release more details of their plan Monday, according to a Republican aide. Sunday’s letter indicated it will also extend unemployment benefits that expire in March, match Biden’s request for nutrition assistance and send a new round of payments to “those families who need assistance the most, including their dependent children and adults.” It will also address child care, small business aid and school funding.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Isn't the difference that she lied about being black and falsely represented herself as one whereas Tarrio did not hide being a minority Latino.

It does seem contradictory that he could be a "leader" of the Proud Boys.

It was meant more as a parallel to presenting an image of being something you are not. She did lie, but later insisted that she "identified" as a black woman. Hence the comparison.

[JPhillips]

10% of what Biden is asking for doesn't count as working together. I'm sure the GOP would have laughed at a similar tax cut proposal when they were working on the Trump tax cuts.

[Edward64]

I'm pretty sure that is bad wording. I have to believe it is more than $160B (vs 1.9T) as a starting point.