SDNY == DoJ
You are thinking of the NYS Manhattan DA's office, which is where a lot of the current news is coming out of.
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SDNY == DoJ
You are thinking of the NYS Manhattan DA's office, which is where a lot of the current news is coming out of.
SDNY has to get approval for any indictments from Merrick Garland. He's not going to approve any indictments for Trump or family after seeing his actions since taking office. There is the state investigation at least, but I don't have much hope there either at this point.
Yes, I've read the same article you did about how it's legal. Biden and other people in the WH disagree with it, and I don't think the people who disagree are evil centrists who want people to be burdened by debt, but rather people, with different legal interpretations than, "actually, POTUS can do expansive EO's for basically anything," which seems to be the David Dayen/left-wing view of EO's.
Also, yes, I think more needs to be done, but like I pointed out, the current speed is not out of step of even a Republican President w/ a trifecta including a 50-50 Senate, despite the fact I've been told Republican's get to do whatever they want, and no, I don't tihnk student debt should be the top prority if there is limited political capital.
Yeah, that's a mistake on my part. Thanks for the correction.
Also, this. I think there's a non-zero chance Biden pushes the zero interest until the beginning of next year, and tries to put the $10,000 dollars of forgiveness as part of the budget omnibus, before trying an EO.
The negativity is indeed strong here and I have to read this thread in small doses otherwise I would get severely depressed. I do think the daily Manchin / Sinema handwringing for the last 4 months has been a bit too much.
That said, speaking on the real, it's been a bad couple of weeks. No doubt. Republicans have successfully tied up / delayed Infrastructure and Police Reform legislation. Democrats seem completely paralyzed when it comes to voting rights legislation and don't seem to have a coherent strategy. Manchin and Sinema seem more entrenched in their positions. Similar to Robert Mueller, Merrick Garland seems to be functioning in a"pre-MAGA" world and is trying to "preserve institutions" instead of understanding those institutions are already broken and it requires a new level of urgency and house cleaning. It's still early to see if Garland is the man for the moment, but he's not off to a good start. And Kamala showing some early growing pains and that she still has a ways to go before she'll be a powerhouse in 2024.
So yeah, rough couple of weeks. But to balance things out there iS some optimism.
The economy is going through an interesting change where we might actually see wages increase in the lower income levels within a year from now (just in time for midterms). Even if we fall short of Biden's July 4th vaccination goals, we're going to be damn close. Biden is getting very strong marks/credit for handling the latter stages of the pandemic and the public overall is a lot more optimistic with actually feeling the sunlight at the end of the tunnel. Trump of 2021 is nothing like the Trump of 2016. At his recent "rally" he looked severely diminished. His blog failed, he has a permanent Twitter ban, and a 2 year Facebook ban. I can't imagine what mental shape Trump will be in by '23 / '24. And with the GOP still clinging tightly to Trump this gives DEMs a ray of hope in holding on to certain swing districts / states in the midterms.
Also Biden' and his agenda is still very popular. Progressives have not been happy about certain agenda items stalling / ignored, but the GOP so far hasn't been able to land a clean punch on Biden with an issue that the public actually cares about. And yeah it's frustrating seeing Biden exhaust every last bipartisan option with infrastructure, but we all know a infrastructure bill WILL be passed this year via reconciliation. The schedule will be tight, but it'll get done. There's too much pork at stake, Senators will get it done. Police Reform is 50/50. And Voting Rights WILL likely get done, it's just it probably won't get done in time for redistricting unfortunately. But I get a sense it'll be something that will get squeezed in in mid '22 before Dems potentially lose power.
And bless Rachael Maddow, her show the other day on Garland was a huge signal flare to Democratic insiders and you get the feeling the message has been received the Biden DOJ is falling well short of its promises. It was announced Garland will be making a speech tomorrow about voting laws / enforcement so we'll see if we start seeing a pivot soon. Fingers crossed.
That said, speaking on the real, it's been a bad couple of weeks. No doubt. Republicans have successfully tied up / delayed Infrastructure and Police Reform legislation. Democrats seem completely paralyzed when it comes to voting rights legislation and don't seem to have a coherent strategy. Manchin and Sinema seem more entrenched in their positions. Similar to Robert Mueller, Merrick Garland seems to be functioning in a"pre-MAGA" world and is trying to "preserve institutions" instead of understanding those institutions are already broken and it requires a new level of urgency and house cleaning. It's still early to see if Garland is the man for the moment, but he's not off to a good start. And Kamala showing some early growing pains and that she still has a ways to go before she'll be a powerhouse in 2024.
So yeah, rough couple of weeks. But to balance things out there iS some optimism.
The economy is going through an interesting change where we might actually see wages increase in the lower income levels within a year from now (just in time for midterms). Even if we fall short of Biden's July 4th vaccination goals, we're going to be damn close. Biden is getting very strong marks/credit for handling the latter stages of the pandemic and the public overall is a lot more optimistic with actually feeling the sunlight at the end of the tunnel. Trump of 2021 is nothing like the Trump of 2016. At his recent "rally" he looked severely diminished. His blog failed, he has a permanent Twitter ban, and a 2 year Facebook ban. I can't imagine what mental shape Trump will be in by '23 / '24. And with the GOP still clinging tightly to Trump this gives DEMs a ray of hope in holding on to certain swing districts / states in the midterms.
Also Biden' and his agenda is still very popular. Progressives have not been happy about certain agenda items stalling / ignored, but the GOP so far hasn't been able to land a clean punch on Biden with an issue that the public actually cares about. And yeah it's frustrating seeing Biden exhaust every last bipartisan option with infrastructure, but we all know a infrastructure bill WILL be passed this year via reconciliation. The schedule will be tight, but it'll get done. There's too much pork at stake, Senators will get it done. Police Reform is 50/50. And Voting Rights WILL likely get done, it's just it probably won't get done in time for redistricting unfortunately. But I get a sense it'll be something that will get squeezed in in mid '22 before Dems potentially lose power.
And bless Rachael Maddow, her show the other day on Garland was a huge signal flare to Democratic insiders and you get the feeling the message has been received the Biden DOJ is falling well short of its promises. It was announced Garland will be making a speech tomorrow about voting laws / enforcement so we'll see if we start seeing a pivot soon. Fingers crossed.
This thread has become virtually unreadable. Last night there was an entire page of people apoplectic over Dems supporting a gas tax for the infrastructure bill - something that not only hasn't happened, but was specifically shot down by other Senate Dems and the White House! But from the mood in here you'd think the Senate had already passed it and Biden was eagerly waiting to sign it.
This thread hasn't been too bad but era at large is definitely getting Biden derangement syndrome with some just really outrageous threads getting super active. Like the one of Biden supposedly ending unemployment benefits 🥵
Or maybe some have followed it before and have realized the typical legislative games should not be a thing in light of the events in this country over the last few years.
I know it's cliche, but I blame Twitter.
Twitter is rank with "professional" doom-posters who intentionally get people riled up so they can get traction and boost their social media reach. And with the rapid nature of Twitter, you got "influencers" who are trying to stir a panic by the hour. Before you could at least get towards the end of a 24 hour news cycle to see how all the major players are reacting to a gas tax, but now people react to hourly Congressional hallway chatter / gossip before anything has been actually finalized or formally distributed. The hourly hot takes and hysteria is exhausting.
Yes in the Trump era things were literally falling apart on an hourly basis. But the grownups are back in charge, so it's safe to check in on the news just every couple of days or so, sans actually Breaking News (like yesterday's NYT story). Most of these freakouts like the gas tax thing doesn't even register on the radar if you check in on political news only a couple of days at time.
Thank you for the effort you put into your level-headed takes, you're saving this thread.
Exactly, people have been fed this far Left idea that the dems are just as bad as republicans, they are going to do XY and Z terrible thing and blah blah blah puritan politics. It's just not healthy discourse at all. I used to be in that sphere to a point, but I met a good friend who is also a Progressive person like myself and many here, but she introduced me to the concept of Incrementalism the opposite of Accelerationism which really helped me find my pragmatic positions. People here, on Twitter and on Twitch really need a dose of this imo.
In fairness, we also haven't really had a productive Congress in about a decade. The last time any of this wheeling and dealing was super important was when the Democrats held the trifecta under Obama. There have been smaller, typically bipartisan bills that have passed since then of course, but nothing on the scale of say, trillions of dollars in infrastructure spending.
Following the Affordable Care Act's progress from start to finish was a ride, let me tell you.
God Lieberman was such a fuck. People hating Manchin now would have had a total meltdown over Lieberman.
Why attack Biden on this? As has been discussed here often, as recently as yesterday I think, wiping away debt with an EO right now is both unnecessary and stupid. It's unnecessary because payments don't resume until end of September, and it's stupid because it wouldn't solve any of the structural issues and would likely have the opposite effect of sending costs soaring. A more complete solution should be attempted first.
Yes, and Obama squandered his majority, goodwill and political capital chasing Olympia Snowe for months only to pass ACA through reconciliation. Biden is doing the exact same run, but chasing Capito or some other douche nozzle for infrastructure plan.
I really don't know if all of this is just an exhibition for Manchin or Biden really thinks he can get 10 Republicans.
I don't think he's under the illusion he can get 10 Republicans but if he doesn't try then Manchin won't even allow him to pass it through reconcilliation.
I don't think Biden is particularly keen on chasing Republican votes. It's all Manchin. He wants bipartisanship because he has brain worms. Biden would prefer bipartisanship, sure, but I think he'll be more than fine going it alone like he did with the ARP. He ended the talks with Capito and now it is just Senators dicking around.
Great post(s). I only follow this politics thread here and tune out of most of the daily "This one person said this so the world is ending." talk. Like you said, taken on a daily or longer basis it's usually nothing.
As for a new administration and the grown ups being back in charge - some of that generation raised my generation. They called us the "me generation" as they complained about the prospect of strongly caring about the wants and needs of people younger than them, even ones most resembling them - nevermind people in the minority or virtually out of sight of society.
In the early 1980s we were taught to "get ahead" of the other person before it was "too late". If anyone fell on hard times, the prevailing attitude was "gee, that's too bad" as if nothing could be done, or it was their own doing. Like the AIDS crisis being viewed as a "naughty drug user's problem" or the result of "dirty gay sex", what can you do if these people "choose" to do this stuff - THIS was the kind of stance people took, and they didn't need to have an internet to spread it.
Bipartisanship and back-room dealing were a lot easier then, when both parties closely agreed on where people's places were in society. All while families' earning power was diminished over a period of 50 years, starting after the Civil Rights act and continuing through the "women's lib" movement as the work force became more diverse. The reaction to diversity and a larger workforce was to let the majority of the labor market lose value, rather than let more people share in the gains made by productive work.
These biases are still present in this generation and in some of mine - maybe not in spoken word, but in the way they view the justice system, the operation of the economy, and what is possible for the government's roles to be. The institutions they now are back in charge of still closely resemble these biases as a result.
As for this thread, people sense this divide in attitudes between the institutions and a quickly-changing congress with a nascent progressive force in the Democratic party. It's why they can't just relax and check in every now and again, they want to ensure that the institutions will work for and towards them too, before it is really too late (never mind the "too late" time constraint we were raised on, which was bullshit). Hopefully people will understand this in time.
In the early 1980s we were taught to "get ahead" of the other person before it was "too late". If anyone fell on hard times, the prevailing attitude was "gee, that's too bad" as if nothing could be done, or it was their own doing. Like the AIDS crisis being viewed as a "naughty drug user's problem" or the result of "dirty gay sex", what can you do if these people "choose" to do this stuff - THIS was the kind of stance people took, and they didn't need to have an internet to spread it.
Bipartisanship and back-room dealing were a lot easier then, when both parties closely agreed on where people's places were in society. All while families' earning power was diminished over a period of 50 years, starting after the Civil Rights act and continuing through the "women's lib" movement as the work force became more diverse. The reaction to diversity and a larger workforce was to let the majority of the labor market lose value, rather than let more people share in the gains made by productive work.
These biases are still present in this generation and in some of mine - maybe not in spoken word, but in the way they view the justice system, the operation of the economy, and what is possible for the government's roles to be. The institutions they now are back in charge of still closely resemble these biases as a result.
As for this thread, people sense this divide in attitudes between the institutions and a quickly-changing congress with a nascent progressive force in the Democratic party. It's why they can't just relax and check in every now and again, they want to ensure that the institutions will work for and towards them too, before it is really too late (never mind the "too late" time constraint we were raised on, which was bullshit). Hopefully people will understand this in time.
Heard this interesting take on Manchin. The reason why he, and to a lesser extent Sinema, see so logic-proof on the filibuster is because they've adopted bipartisan deal maker as an identity. It suggests a very different approach than what a lot of people here (and on Twitter) have pushed for, and I think it's kind of what the WH is doing, mostly. If you try to pressure them they're just going to put their backs up. You need to take a softer touch if you want to move them.
Speaking to the tone of the thread for a second... Folks need to go on a rage diet, I think. There's not a lot any of us can do right now, and just constantly reading about everything that's going wrong is just going to send people into a tailspin. It's all frustrating and scary as hell but there is no level of anger on the internet that's going to fix things.
I was listening to Stacey Abrams on PSA recently and there's a lot still to be done in terms of persuasion and organizing. Better to focus on that than Manchin Being an Asshole tweet #9066 or whatever.
Speaking to the tone of the thread for a second... Folks need to go on a rage diet, I think. There's not a lot any of us can do right now, and just constantly reading about everything that's going wrong is just going to send people into a tailspin. It's all frustrating and scary as hell but there is no level of anger on the internet that's going to fix things.
I was listening to Stacey Abrams on PSA recently and there's a lot still to be done in terms of persuasion and organizing. Better to focus on that than Manchin Being an Asshole tweet #9066 or whatever.
I mean, this advice applies to the whole forum, not just PoliEra. I don't think you'll find a receptive audience however.
What would be different? They already impeached Trump, their committees are already investigating, and they already passed a bill for an independent commission. Are they supposed to have killed someone in the GOP in retaliation?
Republican behavior would be no different either. These people live in greater fear of a MAGA primary than a threat to their lives. Steve Scalise was actually shot and actually almost died, and it didn't change anyone's mind one iota about guns. Mike Pence is giving speeches about what an honor it was to be Trump's toady despite Trump almost getting him killed.
It's not even just reading about bad things. People ITT just get torqued up, spit out hot takes regardless of what's actually happening, then just move on to the next angry hot take regardless of any follow up on the first one. Not to harp on the gas tax thing again but it was a perfect example of posters going batshit over something despite it not actually being a thing, and will be completely forgotten a week from now. It's like rage posting for the sake of rage posting.
Barr revels in corruption. That's his whole thing and he's been doing it for decades. Very smart there. Sessions is kind of an idiot. So kind of makes sense.
Honestly it's only because his stint was so short and he was performing under the assumption that norms still mattered and actions had consequences. If he was in there for another year and saw the caustic effect that Trump's walking aura of corruption had on DC he would have been just as slimy as Barr.
I'm not sure it should be too surprising. Barr was the person that was specially brought in to fuck shit up.
Yeah there was a trend where people cheered on some Trump admin asshole getting fired only for them to be replaced by someone worse.
Yeah, this is why I put every political thread except for PoliEra on ignore to preserve my sanity.
Back at this game where they waste a year before getting someone to testify when they should just immediately subpoena.
This admin continues to defend and protect Trump.
Curious how the entire Sessions / Barr fiasco was essentially a (worse) rerun of what already played out during the GWB years:
First everyone rightly freaks out due to the new Attorney General being an ultra-conservative, racist piece of shit (Ashcroft/Sessions). And then said AG, while of course still being an ultra-conservative, racist piece of shit doing ultra-conservative, racist shitty things, surpisingly seems to take the duties and responsibilities that come with that job at least a tiny little bit seriously – which pisses off the White House in the process.
So then that AG gets replaced with a nondescript apparatchik who, at least on paper, has the better credentials to act as AG (Gonzales/Barr), but then things get much, much worse as the last vestiges of respectability are immediately thrown out of the window.
Twitter is on absolute fire today about all of the Barr news.
Is THAT going to be the tipping point that some people need to starting holding these fuckers accountable?
Crime after crime after crime.. and just NOTHING.
START HOLDING THESE PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE AND SHOW THAT NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!!!!
Is THAT going to be the tipping point that some people need to starting holding these fuckers accountable?
Crime after crime after crime.. and just NOTHING.
START HOLDING THESE PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE AND SHOW THAT NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!!!!
I remember several democrat talking heads making statements that Barr would be much better.
If Reps are shameless ass-kissers, Dems are spineless cowards. Reps are clearly telegraphing that THEY DON'T WANT TO WORK WITH YOU. THEY WILL GO AFTER YOUR CHILDREN.
Still waiting on that 1/6 House investigation announcement after it failed in the Senate 2 weeks ago too
Man pretty much singlehandedly demolished the state department. I wouldn't call him normal.
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