The Biden administration (was: The NEW 2020 Election Thread)

[PermissionToLand]

Apparently there are people concerned about a balanced budget or trying to get there.  Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, http://www.crfb.org/.  Impressive people on their on their board.  They are warning the debt is now likely to exceed the size of the economy as soon as next year.  

Ooops, sorry, an article a few days later says we got there, debt exceeds size of the economy.

As the average Jane, I vote we legalize marijuana, get that industry up and going and tax the hell out of it.  Going to party our way out of this one. 

The CFRB is an extremist Neoliberal think tank, literally created to fear monger about the debt. Don't take their scare tactics seriously. They want a "balanced budget" because they can then turn around and propose their actual goal as the solution; austerity. Their goal is to "shrink government down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub". Their goal is to kneecap the government's ability to prevent corporate tyranny. Hell, they even used to be funded by the Tobacco Industry. They're really nothing more than a vehicle for a private equity billionaire and former Nixon crony named Pete Peterson to gut earned benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare through the very "fiscally-responsible" sounding guise of reducing the debt.

https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Committee_for_a_Responsible_Federal_Budget

It's precisely when a country is struggling that a government needs to spend money to stimulate the economy and prevent crisis. Debt is the last thing anybody should be talking about right now. It's like freaking out about credit card debt while your child is drowning in the pool. The government takes on debt so the American people don't have to. The only time to even bother paying down debt is during economic growth. But it really means nothing when you control the money supply. In fact, a healthy government should have debt, because that means it has put more value into the economy than it has taken out.

The government's budget is not like a household budget. You and I can't print money, control interest rates, money supply, etc.

Why exactly are you so apparently concerned about it? We are never going to default. T-Bills are infinitely more secure investments than the average corporate stock for precisely that reason.

Yeah, the CFRB has some people with impressive resumes, that doesn't mean they aren't ideologically motivated, or at the very least, heavily influenced by the assumptions and blindspots of their social and economic peers. There is simply no diversity of thought in a place like that. You'll never find somebody like Noam Chomsky or Richard Wolff at a place like that. They deliberately curate a very narrow range of perspective.

Here is a good article on it:

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/09/why-we-dont-need-to-pay-down-the-national-debt/63273/

"Since 1960, three times our leaders have tried to balance the budget and so reduce the debt. Each time, in 1969, 1980, and again in 2000, guess what happened? Recession. Why? Because running a budget surplus means draining funds from private businesses and families. The textbooks used to call this “fiscal drag.” It just isn’t smart."

But hey, if you still care about balancing the budget, Biden would be your guy, because Trump lied about balancing it and actually blew a multi-trillion dollar hole in it with his tax cuts. One of my biggest frustrations with Biden and other Neoliberals is their acceptance of deficit-hawk narratives.

[cineater]

Apparently there are people concerned about a balanced budget or trying to get there.  Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, http://www.crfb.org/.  Impressive people on their on their board.  They are warning the debt is now likely to exceed the size of the economy as soon as next year.  

Ooops, sorry, an article a few days later says we got there, debt exceeds size of the economy.

As the average Jane, I vote we legalize marijuana, get that industry up and going and tax the hell out of it.  Going to party our way out of this one. 

The CFRB is an extremist Neoliberal think tank, literally created to fear monger about the debt. Don't take their scare tactics seriously. They want a "balanced budget" because they can then turn around and propose their actual goal as the solution; austerity. Their goal is to "shrink government down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub". Their goal is to kneecap the government's ability to prevent corporate tyranny. Hell, they even used to be funded by the Tobacco Industry. They're really nothing more than a vehicle for a private equity billionaire and former Nixon crony named Pete Peterson to gut earned benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare through the very "fiscally-responsible" sounding guise of reducing the debt.

https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Committee_for_a_Responsible_Federal_Budget

It's precisely when a country is struggling that a government needs to spend money to stimulate the economy and prevent crisis. Debt is the last thing anybody should be talking about right now. It's like freaking out about credit card debt while your child is drowning in the pool. The government takes on debt so the American people don't have to. The only time to even bother paying down debt is during economic growth. But it really means nothing when you control the money supply. In fact, a healthy government should have debt, because that means it has put more value into the economy than it has taken out.

The government's budget is not like a household budget. You and I can't print money, control interest rates, money supply, etc.

Why exactly are you so apparently concerned about it? We are never going to default. T-Bills are infinitely more secure investments than the average corporate stock for precisely that reason.

Yeah, the CFRB has some people with impressive resumes, that doesn't mean they aren't ideologically motivated, or at the very least, heavily influenced by the assumptions and blindspots of their social and economic peers. There is simply no diversity of thought in a place like that. You'll never find somebody like Noam Chomsky or Richard Wolff at a place like that. They deliberately curate a very narrow range of perspective.

Here is a good article on it:

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/09/why-we-dont-need-to-pay-down-the-national-debt/63273/

"Since 1960, three times our leaders have tried to balance the budget and so reduce the debt. Each time, in 1969, 1980, and again in 2000, guess what happened? Recession. Why? Because running a budget surplus means draining funds from private businesses and families. The textbooks used to call this “fiscal drag.” It just isn’t smart."

But hey, if you still care about balancing the budget, Biden would be your guy, because Trump lied about balancing it and actually blew a multi-trillion dollar hole in it with his tax cuts. One of my biggest frustrations with Biden and other Neoliberals is their acceptance of deficit-hawk narratives.

Oh god damn it!  I finally find what I think is going to be good information and it's an extremist group.  Glad I talked about it, not happy with what I found out. 

[pilferk]

So, I guess now Biden has to cure cancer, then engage in an epic rap battle vs Kanye, then ride a unicycle while dancing with a bear, and finally doing the Dirty Dancing lift with Rachel Maddow.  THEN he will have proven his mental capabilities are strong enough to be president!

Til he does those things.  Then we'll just have to move the goalposts again...and allege he got too handsey with Rachel on that lift!

[tim_m]

So, I guess now Biden has to cure cancer, then engage in an epic rap battle vs Kanye, then ride a unicycle while dancing with a bear, and finally doing the Dirty Dancing lift with Rachel Maddow.  THEN he will have proven his mental capabilities are strong enough to be president!

Til he does those things.  Then we'll just have to move the goalposts again...and allege he got too handsey with Rachel on that lift!

He killed it last night, i thought it was great he stayed afterwards to continue to talk to the voters answering every question. I hope that one guy that asked why blacks should vote for him reached out to him afterwards. Biden clearly wanted more time to talk to him.

[PermissionToLand]

Gee, I wonder why Biden's town hall beat Trump's in the ratings, could it be because everyone already knows that Trump won't answer a single question and will just repeat the same fear mongering dogwhistles, incitements to violence and rejections of democracy as he always does? Whereas Biden has actual policies they'd like to learn about? Hmm...

[COMAMOTIVE]

When you're as bat-shit crazy as Rudy Guliani has become, I wonder if you even realize it?

I thought he might (or should I say hoped) just finally go away after the whole Ukraine thing but seeing him back out there peddling this dogshit about Biden's son a month before the election - brutal to see what this man has become.

[cineater]

I got stuck in a Trump parade on the highway.  Have to admit it was pretty cool seeing a long line of pickup trucks with flags flying going down the highway.  Had to be a couple miles long.  Folks seemed to be having a good time.  I was pretty tolerant, changing lanes and running on by them but then they took over all three lanes and slowed traffic down to 30.  You know, I'm on my way to play the new GNR pinball machine folks, get out of the way! 

[PermissionToLand]

I got stuck in a Trump parade on the highway.  Have to admit it was pretty cool seeing a long line of pickup trucks with flags flying going down the highway.  Had to be a couple miles long.  Folks seemed to be having a good time.  I was pretty tolerant, changing lanes and running on by them but then they took over all three lanes and slowed traffic down to 30.  You know, I'm on my way to play the new GNR pinball machine folks, get out of the way!  

I bet they also talk shit about BLM for impeding traffic, too.  

When you're as bat-shit crazy as Rudy Guliani has become, I wonder if you even realize it?

I thought he might (or should I say hoped) just finally go away after the whole Ukraine thing but seeing him back out there peddling this dogshit about Biden's son a month before the election - brutal to see what this man has become.

Giuliani was always a joke. He rode a wave of undeserved goodwill after 9/11 for years.

I have to say, Biden's response when Trump attacked his son at the debate was powerful. In a country where millions of Americans are struggling with the opioid crisis, to hear Biden say "Hunter had a drug problem, he's worked hard to overcome it and I am proud of him" was really touching. It also really drove home how the cruelty of Trump just knows no limits. He won't even hesitate to weaponize the immense struggles of his opponent's child. Imagine if Barron caught covid and Biden mocked him for it and called Trump a failure of a father.

[tim_m]

I got stuck in a Trump parade on the highway.  Have to admit it was pretty cool seeing a long line of pickup trucks with flags flying going down the highway.  Had to be a couple miles long.  Folks seemed to be having a good time.  I was pretty tolerant, changing lanes and running on by them but then they took over all three lanes and slowed traffic down to 30.  You know, I'm on my way to play the new GNR pinball machine folks, get out of the way!  

I bet they also talk shit about BLM for impeding traffic, too.  

When you're as bat-shit crazy as Rudy Guliani has become, I wonder if you even realize it?

I thought he might (or should I say hoped) just finally go away after the whole Ukraine thing but seeing him back out there peddling this dogshit about Biden's son a month before the election - brutal to see what this man has become.

Giuliani was always a joke. He rode a wave of undeserved goodwill after 9/11 for years.

I have to say, Biden's response when Trump attacked his son at the debate was powerful. In a country where millions of Americans are struggling with the opioid crisis, to hear Biden say "Hunter had a drug problem, he's worked hard to overcome it and I am proud of him" was really touching. It also really drove home how the cruelty of Trump just knows no limits. He won't even hesitate to weaponize the immense struggles of his opponent's child. Imagine if Barron caught covid and Biden mocked him for it and called Trump a failure of a father.

We all know if the shoe was on the other foot and it was Biden or Harris who got Covid-19 Trump would have mocked them relentlessly. He mocked Biden mask wearing at the debate. He mocked Hillary in 2016 for having pneumonia. He has to attack anyone he perceives at weak. I can only imagine the things he says about his supporters in private, sad thing is even if they knew they'd still support them. It is a classic abusive relationship.

[jarmo]

The average Americans who support Trump, does anyone think they are welcome at his country clubs or golf courses?

Can anyone apply to be a member?





/jarmo

[cineater]

The average Americans who support Trump, does anyone think they are welcome at his country clubs or golf courses?

Can anyone apply to be a member?





/jarmo

You could ask Dizzy.  He might have played on a Trump course.  I take it golf courses aren't as interested in who you are as to how much they can get you to pay.  Golf is an expensive sport.

[jarmo]

Oh, I get it.

I'm just puzzled by this myth that he's somehow a man of the people, just a regular working man.

He's part of a rich elite that doesn't have to worry about things ordinary people worry about.


Yet he's promised to drain the swamp etc..... He hired his family to work at the White House. Like it's suddenly a royal palace (or worse)... It's all very ironic.





/jarmo

[tim_m]

Just looked into his doral in Miami, the one with bed bugs. 50k initiation fee, monthly fee is over 1k. So you're looking at over 170k just in your first year.

[tim_m]

With Mar A Lago initiation is 200k with 14k annual dues.

[cineater]

Oh, I get it.

I'm just puzzled by this myth that he's somehow a man of the people, just a regular working man.

He's part of a rich elite that doesn't have to worry about things ordinary people worry about.


Yet he's promised to drain the swamp etc..... He hired his family to work at the White House. Like it's suddenly a royal palace (or worse)... It's all very ironic.





/jarmo

No, man of the people is Biden.  Trump has always portrayed himself as a rich business man who just keeps getting richer because he's so good at business.  He has ran with the swamp because they wanted his money and he wanted favors.  There's a lot of politicians not talking.  Dare say, if you look back over who contributed to their campaigns and who might contribute in the future to get favors for their business the name Trump would probably be there.  Nobody asks about that.  Or how all these politicians get so rich when their salaries aren't that great.

[PermissionToLand]

Biden's town hall was really informative. He was on point, with in-depth and direct responses to every question, even following up to be sure he answered sufficiently and expounding if needed. I think we can really close the lid on any debate over his acuity at this point.

[tim_m]

Oh, I get it.

I'm just puzzled by this myth that he's somehow a man of the people, just a regular working man.

He's part of a rich elite that doesn't have to worry about things ordinary people worry about.


Yet he's promised to drain the swamp etc..... He hired his family to work at the White House. Like it's suddenly a royal palace (or worse)... It's all very ironic.





/jarmo

No, man of the people is Biden.  Trump has always portrayed himself as a rich business man who just keeps getting richer because he's so good at business.  He has ran with the swamp because they wanted his money and he wanted favors.  There's a lot of politicians not talking.  Dare say, if you look back over who contributed to their campaigns and who might contribute in the future to get favors for their business the name Trump would probably be there.  Nobody asks about that.  Or how all these politicians get so rich when their salaries aren't that great.

Have you seen the movie the swamp on HBO? That explains a lot of it. A large part of it goes back to the early 90s when Newt Gingrich was speaker of the house.

[tim_m]

So Trump is bitching about the topics of the final debate and that they will cut the mics off when it isn't your turn to speak.

[COMAMOTIVE]

So Trump is bitching about the topics of the final debate and that they will cut the mics off when it isn't your turn to speak.

I heard about the muting - it's one debate too late

I kept asking myself during debate one - why don't they have a mute button when it's not his turn

Well done

[tim_m]

So Trump is bitching about the topics of the final debate and that they will cut the mics off when it isn't your turn to speak.

I heard about the muting - it's one debate too late

I kept asking myself during debate one - why don't they have a mute button when it's not his turn

Well done

Agreed, should've been an option during the dumpster fire of the first one.