[Discussion] Welcome to the Biden Administration!

Anything related to Biden and his upcoming administration. May this thread be less active and controversial as that last guys thread.

I see the press still hasn't learned their lesson and are still writing political articles in the same style as sports reporting.

Everything is so very, very f*cked.

Change can come from the establishment, especially in a party that accepts and encourages change over time. It won't come, however, if that party is both actively obstructed and people decide that that obstruction can't be overcome, and just give up.

I see people concluding that because the country is being attacked, it's defenders have already failed, and they should be punished by withdrawing support. That seems to me to be entirely counter-productive. It smacks of the failure of a purity test rather than a pragmatic acceptance of the difficulties we actually face.

WAKE UP! The fact is that the failure of Democratic policies in this administration is down to the actions of Mitch McConnell's Senate, and Joe Manchin, not Joe Biden. If you can't understand that and start from *that* point, then you're following the path that Republicans hope you will.

"...but I could not bring myself to vote Biden again..." will be our epitaph.

The WH doing a deal behind the backs of both Kentucky's governor and house reps to nominate a forced birth advocate to a lifetime federal judiciary appointment would suggest that the Democratic party's problems are not entirely beyond Biden's faults.

e: Established Democrats have this history of promising popular social and legal reforms when campaigning, immediately dumping them when actually elected, such as Obama's immediately dropping the Freedom of Choice Act, which he had promised in the 2008 campaign, when he had no Congressional impediments to doing so.

Moreover, when this is pointed out they fail to deliver on those promises, or simply don't even make an attempt to, they blame the people who voted for them in the first place. This is not a winning strategy if you want to attract younger voters.

Unfortunately Robear, telling people that, regardless of how true you think it is, or even how true it actually is, has no effect. Heck I’m still sullenly turning my absentee ballot in, despite knowing full well my neighbors are probably gonna forcibly raise my taxes to pay for more cops in the public schools.

Hey have we blamed voting based reality shows yet for the f*cked up view people have on democracy? It’s not like whoever wins America’s Next Top Talent Singer has to do a duet with second place.

I mean, also, if Joe Biden, the leader of his party, can not get his party on board with his agenda it doesn't exactly speak well of his abilities as a leader.

Do we have a thread where we can share what we're doing to fix things?

I'd be interested in learning about what's working and how folks are contributing to getting this ship turned around.

I'm still pissed Louis Dejoy hasn't been dumped from USPS yet. The one federal government institution that everyone on both sides approves of and Trump managed to muck it up. It shouldn't take this long to undo. And we're about to have another election with mail in ballots and another chance for him to meddle. And he got that $120 million contract with the company he owns last year so he's already screwed taxpayers out of money. Should have been kicked out before that.

It is truly mind boggling to me that the Democratic party continually points at people under 30, who have been turning out in *increasing* numbers in national elections, and has the nerve to say 'What, you expected us to *actually deliver on our promises and policy agenda?* and people act like this is an acceptable state of affairs, that somehow the Democrats failures both in and out of power must be rewarded with more power.

e:

Do we have a thread where we can share what we're doing to fix things?

I'd be interested in learning about what's working and how folks are contributing to getting this ship turned around.

Honestly, joining your local Food Not Bombs chapter and signing up to bring meals to people is doing to do so much more material good than trying to influence national Democratic politics.

Freyja wrote:

Honestly, joining your local Food Not Bombs chapter and signing up to bring meals to people is doing to do so much more material good than trying to influence national Democratic politics.

100%

The fact is that the failure of Democratic policies in this administration is down to the actions of Mitch McConnell's Senate, and Joe Manchin, not Joe Biden. If you can't understand that and start from *that* point, then you're following the path that Republicans hope you will.

First of all, not wholly, and secondly, they had fifty years. Fifty years to do something about attempts to undermine Roe.

Saw a whole lot of ‮.emit taht ni lla kcuf

For allowing a judge who was already in the system to advance to a senior position, in a conservative state, Biden nets two Democratic Attorneys General confirmed to Kentucky. That's continuing the fight, not abandoning it.

This is called horse trading, folks, it's how politics is supposed to work.

If you're trading one horse that ultimately holds power over the decisions of the two horses you got that seems like a bad trade. And if that's how politics is supposed to work, perhaps it ought not to.

Robear wrote:

For allowing a judge who was already in the system to advance to a senior position, in a conservative state, Biden nets two Democratic Attorneys General confirmed to Kentucky. That's continuing the fight, not abandoning it.

This is called horse trading, folks, it's how politics is supposed to work.

I know what you think you're saying there, Robear, but all I hear is, "The system functions in a way that allows abhorrent people to gain power, and that's how it's supposed to work, so stop complaining."

I don't care if it's how it's supposed to work? A guillotine is supposed to cut off heads, but if you're sticking the head of the guy who stole bread to feed his family in there and not the head of the guy who made it too expensive to buy food, you're doing it wrong.

I understand that Democratic politics is largely based on the premise of being a controlled opposition that hands their opponents victories and then blames The Scary Left, but I disagree that's how it should be.

e: Excuse me, hands your opponents victories, fundraises off of those victories, and blames The Left.

Robear wrote:

For allowing a judge who was already in the system to advance to a senior position, in a conservative state, Biden nets two Democratic Attorneys General confirmed to Kentucky. That's continuing the fight, not abandoning it.

This is called horse trading, folks, it's how politics is supposed to work.

This feels like cherry-picking of the highest order. This is an example of compromise. This is not the norm.

Freyja wrote:

It is truly mind boggling to me that the Democratic party continually points at people under 30, who have been turning out in *increasing* numbers in national elections, and has the nerve to say 'What, you expected us to *actually deliver on our promises and policy agenda?* and people act like this is an acceptable state of affairs, that somehow the Democrats failures both in and out of power must be rewarded with more power.

*Every* age group has been turning out in increasing numbers in national elections. It's not some special thing that the under-30 crowd has accomplished.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/GVWrEbS.png)

But the fact of the matter remains that the under-30 crowd turns out far less than every other age group.

A little over half of the under-30 crowd voted in 2020 while 70%+ of the over 45 crowd did. Millennials now outnumber Baby Boomers. They could outvote them any time they wanted. But the problem is they don't remotely vote at the rate Boomers do.

And don't give me the "what have politicians done to appeal to young voters?" If that group wants to gain the attention of politicians then they have to show up in such numbers so that their wishes cannot be ignored. Instead, politicians rightly view younger voters as a fickle bunch who barely show up to vote so what's the point of focusing their campaigns and messages on their wants and needs? They're better off spending their very limited time and money appealing to the groups they know are going to show up in large numbers.

After string of Supreme Court setbacks, Democrats wonder whether Biden White House is capable of urgency moment demands

Two dozen leading Democratic politicians and operatives, as well as several within the West Wing, tell CNN they feel this goes deeper than questions of ideology and posture. Instead, they say, it gets to questions of basic management.

More than a week after the abortion decision, top Biden aides are still wrangling over releasing new actions in response, despite the draft decision leaking six weeks earlier.

White House counsel Dana Remus had assured senior aides the Supreme Court wouldn't rule on abortion that day. A White House press aide assigned to the issue was walking to get coffee when the alert hit. Several Democratic leaders privately mocked how the President stood in the foyer of the White House, squinting through his remarks from a teleprompter as demonstrators poured into the streets, making only vague promises of action because he and aides hadn't decided on more.

Then, Biden's July 1 meeting with governors to talk about their efforts to protect abortion rights was planned so last minute that none of those who attended came in person, and several of those invited declined to rearrange their schedules to appear virtually.

Multiple Democratic politicians who have reached out to work with Biden -- whether it's on specific bills, brainstorming or outreach -- often don't hear anything back at all. Potential appointees have languished for months waiting to hear if they'll get jobs, or when they'll be done with vetting. Invitations to events are scarce, thank you calls barely happen. Even some aides within the White House wonder why Biden didn't fire anyone, from the West Wing or at the Food and Drug Administration, to demonstrate some accountability or at least anger over the baby formula debacle.

FWIW, when he was campagning, I thought Biden would've been a fine President for 2000. Not 2020.

Even if it were the norm, horse-trading between explicit racists and status quo racists still isn't going to get us anywhere. We need a new constitution to fix the systemic problems, and we're probably not getting one in my lifetime.

OG_slinger wrote:

And don't give me the "what have politicians done to appeal to young voters?" If that group wants to gain the attention of politicians then they have to show up in such numbers so that their wishes cannot be ignored. Instead, politicians rightly view younger voters as a fickle bunch who barely show up to vote so what's the point of focusing their campaigns and messages on their wants and needs? They're better off spending their very limited time and money appealing to the groups they know are going to show up in large numbers.

They already do focus campaigns on those issues, medicare for all, infrastructure and domestic spending, police reform, civil rights for queer people, and then once elected, act like it's impossible to do.

Pelosi just came off campaigning for an incumbent forced birth advocate in Texas over his progressive challenger. It's not hard to connect actions like this to a lack of enthusiasm in under 30 voters when the party is *actively working against them*. And it's not like this is new. I'm old enough to remember Barney Frank throwing a fit over GENDA.

This is just more of 'the Democratic party can never fail, it can only be failed'. Theyre the ones with millions of dollars in the warchest and political power, please come up with another strategy that amounts to more than 'these damn kids'

Freyja wrote:
OG_slinger wrote:

And don't give me the "what have politicians done to appeal to young voters?" If that group wants to gain the attention of politicians then they have to show up in such numbers so that their wishes cannot be ignored. Instead, politicians rightly view younger voters as a fickle bunch who barely show up to vote so what's the point of focusing their campaigns and messages on their wants and needs? They're better off spending their very limited time and money appealing to the groups they know are going to show up in large numbers.

They already do focus campaigns on those issues, medicare for all, infrastructure and domestic spending, police reform, civil rights for queer people, and then once elected, act like it's impossible to do.

Pelosi just came off campaigning for an incumbent forced birth advocate in Texas over his progressive challenger. It's not hard to connect actions like this to a lack of enthusiasm in under 30 voters when the party is *actively working against them*.

This is just more of 'the Democratic party can never fail, it can only be failed'. Theyre the ones with millions of dollars in the warchest and political power, please come up with another strategy that amounts to more than 'these damn kids'

This is truly why I think the Dems and R's in national office reached a backroom deal to betray the country in exchange for golden parachutes and safety for their families and boardroom seats. Even if the geriocrats in office who have been there for 30-50 years in government didn't see a slow motion coup like this coming, they have very smart people advising them who do.

You saw this appeasement, bipartisanship, play by the rules talk from the word go. Refused to use even the above board tools available to them to get Manchin and Sinema in line. All the D's do is appease, wring their hands, ask for donations and ask people who they have shown a consistent unwillingness to give *anything* to vote in increasingly jerrymandered swing states.

America's tombstone shouldn't read "I couldn't bear to vote Biden one more time" It should read "Betrayed by Democrats!"

Geriocrats is my favorite new word. Thanks!

It's disheartening to see the resignation here, and from what I can tell in the US as a whole - at least the non-crazy part which is still a 2/3rd majority. It took the loonies 4 decades to eat the GOP from the inside out, with rabid bigotry the only thing keeping them together. Or more generously: the perception that equal rights for anyone who's not a WASP is a personal attack.

Now the fascists are actually attacking you personally, dismembering your already flawed democracy. Volunteering locally is absolutely vital, but if the Good Guys don't start taking over the Democratic Party from the inside, babystep by babystep, you're just buying time until these fascist f*cksticks make your good deeds a crime and you a criminal.

And frankly (selfishly) I dread the day an actual Christofascist believer takes over the most powerful military to ever grace our planet.

I would say it is a bit disingenuous to lump all D politicians as "appeasers". Since the Ds have taken control of the House the Ds have pushed hundreds of bills to the Senate, many of them on progressive items. I feel the Rs have found so many "cracks" and really used them to have more control then they should. When there is zero compromise and half the govt is not interested in governing the whole thing quickly falls apart. Any positive changes to the status quo involves changes that are just impossible in this day and age. I know it has been said a lot but it seems the best thing we can do is focus more on local politics and hopefully it will filter to the state legislators. Unfortunately a lot of us live where to many nutjobs just want "freedom" to win. When that freedom get shown as false they just blame it on something else vice blaming the actual liers.

Democrats are safer now than they ever have been to push bills through congress. They can reap the benefits of looking like they're trying while the Republicans block these efforts. They know nothing will change.

The last thing that Democrats actually passed that seemingly mattered was Obamacare, and even that has basically resulted in tons more money for health insurers, and American healthcare debt is as high, if not higher, than it has ever been.

You just have to look back to the last time they talked about passing new stimulus bills at how quickly they folded on how much money to give because they immediately assumed Republicans wouldn't pass anything higher. They didn't even try.

Appeasers? Perhaps not. Just own-goaling before the fight even starts

I wish yall would go after the GOP with as much vitriol.
I guess that is why people who could help have learned to strengthen their filters.

I mean the only reason I voted for Biden was that he was not the other guy. Biden was pretty much my last pick in the primary but he is the one everyone picked. I would love to see more progressive people get elected but my home is still trying to turn purple so our version of progress may just be reduce the power of the GQP by adding some blue seats in the sea of red. I don't think Biden has any chance to win again and while I am glad he did some good things I am annoyed at how he has not made a clear push to get more done. It is like he knew he was getting elected to hold pattern for 4 years until the Dems had a good candidate who's whole platform was not "well I am not him".

NSMike wrote:

The last thing that Democrats actually passed that seemingly mattered was Obamacare, and even that has basically resulted in tons more money for health insurers, and American healthcare debt is as high, if not higher, than it has ever been.

Yup. Obamacare basically resulted in nothing...

Kaiser Family Foundation wrote:

A KFF analysis examines key provisions of the 2010 law that have changed the nation’s health care system, including what’s known about their impact on people’s access to affordable care and coverage, including state-by-state data where available. Key impacts include:

-- About 12 million Medicaid enrollees in 33 states and D.C. became newly eligible for the program through Medicaid expansion as of June 2019. This includes 3.7 million in California and at least half of a million each in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Washington, Ohio and New Jersey.

-- As of February, 10.7 million people were enrolled in coverage through the health insurance marketplaces created under the ACA, including 9.2 million who received premium tax credits and 5.3 million who got cost-sharing reductions. In Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Nebraska and Oklahoma, at least 95% of marketplace enrollees receive premium tax credits and/or cost-sharing subsidies.

-- Insurers can no longer deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, charge higher premiums based on health status or gender, revoke coverage when someone gets sick or impose annual or lifetime limits. About 54 million people have a pre-existing condition that could have resulted in them being denied coverage in the pre-ACA individual market. This includes more than a third of residents in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia.

-- Private insurers now must cover a wide range of preventive services at no out-of-pocket costs to consumers. This includes recommended cancer and chronic condition screenings, immunizations, and other services. Nearly 150 million people are enrolled in employer plans or through individual market insurance that must provide these free preventive services.

-- The law phased out the Medicare coverage gap, often called the “doughnut hole” by gradually reducing the share of total drug costs paid by Part D enrollees in the coverage gap. About 46 million Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Part D drug plans.

-- About 2.3 million young adults gained coverage due to the ACA’s provision allowing adult children to remain on their parents’ insurance plan up to age 26.

And this is after a decade of continuous assault on the law by Republicans who have repeatedly tried to overturn or outright dismantle the law.

NSMike wrote:

You just have to look back to the last time they talked about passing new stimulus bills at how quickly they folded on how much money to give because they immediately assumed Republicans wouldn't pass anything higher. They didn't even try.

Appeasers? Perhaps not. Just own-goaling before the fight even starts

The American Rescue Plan Act barely got passed in March 2021. In the House every Democrat except two voted for it and every Republican voted against it. In the Senate every Democrat voted for it and every Republican voted against it.

Republicans complained about the law's $1.9 trillion price tag so the idea that they would have been up for additional stimulus spending beyond what they already had already rejected is just ridiculous.

Hell, Dems barely got the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed later in 2021 even though everyone accepts the dire need for spending more on our infrastructure (but that hasn't stopped the Republicans who voted against it from touting the money and benefits the law is brining to their districts).

At the risk of being a broken record, the GOP does not represent my interests, doesn't claim to, doesn't want to, and has more than one faction that would happily put me in the ground. I'm mad at the GOP, that's a given and the feeling is mutual.

Ostensibly, the Democrats take a position that is at least nominally friendly to my life and well being, why shouldn't I reserve most of my energy for them instead of swearing fealty? If they want a coalition and to differentiate themselves from the GOP then they have to not simply blindly demand unquestioning group cohesion, like the GOP does.

We want the Democrats to deliver on their campaign promises to improve people's lives and not to simply skate by on not being outright fascists when they don't, while smugly telling the people saying 'you broke your promise' that it's just politics and we're all children who just don't understand adult things. What is so complicated about that where people will twist themselves into pretzels talking about parliamentarianism or whatever to avoid the simple fact that the Democratic party always punches left?

Stealthpizza wrote:

It is like he knew he was getting elected to hold pattern for 4 years until the Dems had a good candidate who's whole platform was not "well I am not him".

Bold of you to assume that the next Dem candidate will have any appeal beyond "better than the literal fascist."

Like, who's interests matter more, people under a new wave of state sponsored assault via moral panic or validating a breathless op-ed columnist desperate to publish his pet theory that 'talking about trans civil rights' caused the party's loss to a rodeo clown in 2016?

I know what my opinion is.