The Biden-Harris Administration

[caseyedwards]

It's still not derogatory - disrespectful, sure - dismissive, yes - but the former guy still hasn't recognized the results of the election so I don't see why he's do anything other then cursory respect.

There’s no respect. People who post TFG aren’t doing so out of any kind of respect. And no democrat in America accepted the results of the 2016 election. They all said trump was illegally made president by Putin. So why should not respecting results of an election be a problem?

 

[skatingguy]

deleted

 

[MacMadame]

Come on, @caseyedwards. You know damn well that guy isn't a slur and that it's not the same as saying FU, Biden.

 

[purple skates]

Not opposed to this, but anyone who can pay should keep paying as interest keeps accruing. Whether at a micro or a macro level, we as a society have to stop kicking the can on debt.

Student loan forgiveness needs to come with some kind of a "penalty," IMO -- e.g., reduction in funding for universities that are churning out large numbers of graduates who can't pay their bills. Otherwise, we just perpetuate a bad system with no accountability and never-ending bailouts.

I believe that there is no interest accrued during the payment hiatus.

I also agree about blaming the universities. Take a good look at the salaries at the University of Michigan, for example, and see how these young students are being exploited.

ETA: I believe that the median salary in Ann Arbor is around $75k.

Here are the 2021 salaries for all 48,000+ University of Michigan employees

Search MLive's database of UM base salaries, including high-ranking officials like Coach Jim Harbaugh and President Mark Schlissel.

www.google.com

 

[clairecloutier]

ETA: I believe that the median salary in Ann Arbor is around $75k.

Here are the 2021 salaries for all 48,000+ University of Michigan employees

Search MLive's database of UM base salaries, including high-ranking officials like Coach Jim Harbaugh and President Mark Schlissel.

www.google.com

The officers' salaries are pretty . It's like what you read about top exec salaries in private business.

All the money goes straight to the top, it seems.

For average-level employees, $75K seems reasonable, depending on the job. I would hope that most professors would make more than that.

 

[MacMadame]

The officers' salaries are pretty . It's like what you read about top exec salaries in private business.

It's probably because of those exec salaries. They don't want to lose officers to private industry. So it's a reinforcing situation.

 

[caseyedwards]

Come on, @caseyedwards. You know damn well that guy isn't a slur and that it's not the same as saying FU, Biden.

I do believe it’s the same. “Former guy” is not normal

 

[Jot the Dot Dot]

There’s no respect. People who post TFG aren’t doing so out of any kind of respect. And no democrat in America accepted the results of the 2016 election. They all said trump was illegally made president by Putin. So why should not respecting results of an election be a problem?

Howzabout because one would not want to sink down to the level of one's opponents? Or would you?

 

[MacMadame]

I do believe it’s the same. “Former guy” is not normal

Idiotic

 

[caseyedwards]

It is idiotic to demand total complete respect for someone who created “former guy”

 

[skatingguy]

It is idiotic to demand total complete respect for someone who created “former guy”

I'm not sure who created 'guy' as a reference to the former President, but I'd give the credit to Whoopi Goldberg who called the former guy 'the guy in the White House' throughout his presidency.

 

[MacMadame]

It is idiotic to demand total complete respect for someone who created “former guy”

Objecting to someone saying FU to the President is not the same thing as demanding "total complete respect." Stop trolling.

 

[MacMadame]

Here is a list of the 10 best things the Biden Administration did this year according to a conservative:

Opinion: The 10 best things Biden did in 2021​

https://wapo.st/347UhTC

I don't agree that everything in this list is good but I think it's a good list to show to your conservative friends who say things like "I can't think of anything good Biden has done"

 

[Louis]

Here is a list of the 10 best things the Biden Administration did this year according to a conservative:

Given that defending Earth from a killer asteroid made the list, I wouldn't put too much stock in this .

The infrastructure bill possibly puts his presidency at D-minus instead of an F. I'll give him partial credit for the vaccine roll-out, and some credit for sidelining the court packing movement on the left.

It's too early to give him credit for distancing him from lockdowns and other quasi-lockdown measures, but I will give him credit for that if he keeps the US from the sad measures we're seeing in Europe and elsewhere.

Still an F for me. Still would vote for any Republican, including Trump, if an election were held tomorrow. Still will keep an open mind if the Democrats make a legitimate attempt to rebuild the trust they've destroyed with me and many others over support for school closures and other lockdown measures.

 

[clairecloutier]

Here's a Bloomberg article about the child care/preschool industry in the U.S. and how it might have been affected by Build Back Better (if it had passed).

It's such a depressing read. I hate how child care--as basic a human need as could exist--has been politicized in this country. As always, it's Republicans who have prevented any progress on this issue. Their desire to make child care exclusively mothers' responsibility serves the twin purposes of keeping gov't costs down and keeping women in permanent second-class status. It's so infuriating. What's even more frustrating is the gov't has been fully aware of the problem since at least the 1960s (as this article makes clear), yet has done nothing absolutely nothing about it. And they wonder why Americans are having fewer kids.

How Child Care Became the Most Broken Business in America

Biden has a plan to make day care more affordable for parents—if the providers don’t go out of business first.

www.bloomberg.com

... Child care doesn’t work like a normal business. Looking after young children comes with a litany of regulations to ensure the programs are safe ... The priciest regulation is a child-to-staff ratio requiring one caregiver for every three or four infants, depending on the state. That’s a lot of employees, and it explains why quality care for one baby costs more than many families can afford. Cheaper options are often unlicensed and unregulated ... Because babies are so expensive, a lot of businesses simply don’t accept them. Others charge less than it costs to look after them and load up on older children.

Child care in the U.S. is the rare example of an almost entirely private market in which the service offered is too expensive for both consumers and the businesses that provide it. This reality is reflected in two alarming facts: In most states, putting a baby in a licensed child-care facility costs more than in-state college tuition, yet the people who provide that care make an average of about $24,000 a year, less than a fast-food worker or janitor, even though 87% of them have some form of higher education. Every year a quarter of the industry’s workers leave.

In 1960 the Department of Labor and what’s now the Department of Health and Human Services concluded that a private child-care market “will never be able to meet the current national need.” But there’s never been enough political will to do anything about it ... “The free market works well in many different sectors, but child care is not one of them,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in September. Louise Stoney, a child-care financial consultant who works with state and local governments, puts it more bluntly: “This is an industry that literally can’t generate enough money to survive.”

The government stayed out of child care, though, out of a general wariness of anything that encouraged mothers to work. That briefly changed during World War II, when about 1.5 million women with children younger than 10 entered the workforce .... Congress ultimately passed the Lanham Act of 1940, which created 3,102 nationally run day cares, known as Lanham centers. They were federally funded but locally administered, with services and hours tailored to employees’ needs. Parents paid the equivalent of what today would be $8 to $13 a day. Lanham centers were wildly successful but existed only until the end of the war, when the funds were withdrawn. To this day they remain the only time the U.S. government has offered an affordable child-care solution for working parents.

The country then spent 75 years trapped in an ideological debate: Should the government help children of working parents, or would that encourage mothers to work outside the home and therefore threaten some idealized notion of family life?

For decades the U.S. has had chronically low levels of female employment, especially among women age 25 to 50, compared with places such as Canada, Germany, and the U.K., which is a drag on gross domestic product. In a 2018 study analyzing why so many American women stopped working in the middle of their career, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco cited the absence of paid parental leave and a functioning child-care system. If the U.S. offered something similar to what other industrialized countries do, the study concluded, it would add 5 million people to its workforce.

 

[caseyedwards]

Here is a list of the 10 best things the Biden Administration did this year according to a conservative:

Opinion: The 10 best things Biden did in 2021​

https://wapo.st/347UhTC

I don't agree that everything in this list is good but I think it's a good list to show to your conservative friends who say things like "I can't think of anything good Biden has done"

Conservatives are so nice! They pass Biden’s agenda on infrastructure and write stuff like this

 

[MacMadame]

An article on why the economy is going like gangbusters but hardly anyone has confidence in it:

Opinion: This is the worst economy we never had

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/29/this-is-worst-economy-we-never-had/?utm_campaign=wp_todays_headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_headlines&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F35a285c%2F61cd914a9d2fda6d17252e67%2F596a8967ae7e8a0ef33f4e67%2F28%2F59%2F61cd914a9d2fda6d17252e67

TL;DR - the GOP and conservative media are a bunch of liars

 

[Reuven]

Here’s that commentary. Dana Milbank is always worth the read. BTW, the title is sarcastic. I gifted it, so it’s supposed to readable.

 

[caseyedwards]

So there is no inflation at all?

 

[Sparks]

On January 6th, @POTUS and @VP will deliver remarks to mark one year since the deadly assault on the Capitol.

 

[rfisher]

I've been trying to get a document from the national archives for over 6 months. In desperation, I called Manchin's office in mid-December. Of course, I used my work title and it got immediate attention, they called the director of the archives and I got the documents today along with multiple copies of letters sent to Manchin about how they were so happy to help his constituent. I know I'm going to get a follow up call from his office next week. After I thank them for the help, which they really did help, do I tell his aide that I think he's a disgrace and get off his middle of the road fence and vote to actually help his constituents? Or should I just be nice and express my thanks.

The down side is because I used my work title and work stationary, I got an immediate response from the Senator's office. I did that on purpose to get his attention. It worked. I wonder if Joe Smith, the laid off coal miner, would get the same.

 

[SkateSand]

I've been trying to get a document from the national archives for over 6 months. In desperation, I called Manchin's office in mid-December. Of course, I used my work title and it got immediate attention, they called the director of the archives and I got the documents today along with multiple copies of letters sent to Manchin about how they were so happy to help his constituent. I know I'm going to get a follow up call from his office next week. After I thank them for the help, which they really did help, do I tell his aide that I think he's a disgrace and get off his middle of the road fence and vote to actually help his constituents? Or should I just be nice and express my thanks.

The down side is because I used my work title and work stationary, I got an immediate response from the Senator's office. I did that on purpose to get his attention. It worked. I wonder if Joe Smith, the laid off coal miner, would get the same.

I don't think you have to tell him he's a disgrace. I'm sure there's some diplomatic way to express your thanks and gently point out you would appreciate his vote for programs that would help his constituents.

 

[NeilJLeonard]

I've been trying to get a document from the national archives for over 6 months. In desperation, I called Manchin's office in mid-December. Of course, I used my work title and it got immediate attention, they called the director of the archives and I got the documents today along with multiple copies of letters sent to Manchin about how they were so happy to help his constituent. I know I'm going to get a follow up call from his office next week. After I thank them for the help, which they really did help, do I tell his aide that I think he's a disgrace and get off his middle of the road fence and vote to actually help his constituents? Or should I just be nice and express my thanks.

The down side is because I used my work title and work stationary, I got an immediate response from the Senator's office. I did that on purpose to get his attention. It worked. I wonder if Joe Smith, the laid off coal miner, would get the same.

Middle of the road? He is actually owned by coal and is basically GQP.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Here's a Bloomberg article about the child care/preschool industry in the U.S. and how it might have been affected by Build Back Better (if it had passed).

It's such a depressing read. I hate how child care--as basic a human need as could exist--has been politicized in this country. As always, it's Republicans who have prevented any progress on this issue. Their desire to make child care exclusively mothers' responsibility serves the twin purposes of keeping gov't costs down and keeping women in permanent second-class status. It's so infuriating. What's even more frustrating is the gov't has been fully aware of the problem since at least the 1960s (as this article makes clear), yet has done nothing absolutely nothing about it. And they wonder why Americans are having fewer kids.

How Child Care Became the Most Broken Business in America

Biden has a plan to make day care more affordable for parents—if the providers don’t go out of business first.

www.bloomberg.com

Plus add to that abortion, healthcare, education, minimum wages, etc. Anything that would actually improves people's lives are things the GOP actively fight against.

 

[Susan1]

Psaki says maybe Trump 'learned something' from watching Biden's January 6 anniversary speech

"There's only one president in the history of this country who fomented an insurrection," Psaki said of Trump on Thursday.

www.yahoo.com

NBC News' Kristen Welker asked Psaki during Thursday's press briefing about Biden's decision not to call out Trump by name.

"There's only one president in the history of this country who fomented an insurrection and which prompted the seizing of our nation's Capitol," Psaki said. "I think everybody knew who he was referring to. ....." (That's a meme on FB.)

 

[Dobre]

Biden's speech yesterday about the attack on the Capitol on January 6th:

Watch President Biden's entire January 6th speech

President Joe Biden marked the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection by forcefully calling out former President Donald Trump for attempting to undo...

www.youtube.com

Or you could just enjoy The Late Show version of the speech:

Biden Takes The Gloves Off, Tears Into The Former President For Inciting Jan. 6th Riot

One year after a violent mob ransacked the U.S. Capitol, Stephen looks back at The Late Show's spontaneous live episode from that night, and listens as Presi...

www.youtube.com

 

[love_skate2011]

Desperation ?

Opinion | Hillary Clinton’s 2024 Election Comeback

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have become unpopular. It may be time for a change candidate.

www.wsj.com

Or beating a dead Horse ?

Opinion | Biden-Cheney 2024?

Saving American democracy may involve following Israel’s example.

www.nytimes.com

 

[caseyedwards]

Democrats and Biden fought to help Putin and blocked sanctions on nordstream which would help Putin fund any Ukraine campaign

Senate Democrats back Biden, reject Cruz's Nord Stream sanctions bill - Roll Call

The Biden White House scored a victory Thursday when Senate Democrats rejected a GOP-pushed Nord Stream 2 sanctions measure.

www.rollcall.com

The time has come to try to force Germany to stop supporting and funding Putin

 

[caseyedwards]

Press conference now

 

[ballettmaus]

Democrats and Biden fought to help Putin and blocked sanctions on nordstream which would help Putin fund any Ukraine campaign

Senate Democrats back Biden, reject Cruz's Nord Stream sanctions bill - Roll Call

The Biden White House scored a victory Thursday when Senate Democrats rejected a GOP-pushed Nord Stream 2 sanctions measure.

www.rollcall.com

The time has come to try to force Germany to stop supporting and funding Putin

Senator Murphy says that Democrats don't think there's a need to sanction Germany if the new government has a different position about the pipeline than the old one. (The change of position and suspension of regulatory approval is mentioned in the article, by the way). Kind of makes sense to me. Sanctions can be revisited if the German government changes its position again.