Biden's report card. See link for rationale & details

Here's where Biden's 2020 campaign promises currently stand - POLITICO
Agree

I guess he actually did accomplish all in the quote above. But the economy is obviously still shaky so using the Politico scale, I'd called this In Progress vs Kept His Promise.

Okay with this but I could also go with Broke His Promise.

Agree

Agree

Agree but it's on the precipice of Broke His Promise.

Has there been any movement to codify Roe v. Wade?

Agree

Agree.

Things change when you become POTUS. Start the discussions now and hopefully a 2nd term priority.

Agree, think IRA was pretty good but could also go with In Progress.

Agree but not for lack of trying. Early casualty of the IRA compromise.

Looks like McCarthy will get enough support for this GOP Debt bill with a floor vote today or very soon.

Now the negotiations (and/or playing chicken) starts.

I had read earlier that July'ish was the deadline. But now possibly "early June" because tax receipts were less than expected. Fun times ahead.

Chances that US could default on its debt in early June grow amid weak tax collections | CNN Politics

I never liked that the Dem house drafted bills in secret and then just had a vote.

The GOP constantly (and correctly) complained about that and promised to do better.

They, unsurprisingly, lied.

Will be interesting to see how it plays out in the Senate. With Feinstein MIA, it comes down to Manchin and Sinema again.

Well it's not going well.....

Because Senator Feinstein was absent, the Senate overturned a Biden rule that would cut pollution from heavy duty trucks and causes harm to people’s lungs. We are putting decorum over democracy and our values. It’s time for Senator Feinstein to step down gracefully. https://t.co/qmNsJO671a

— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) April 27, 2023

Nice! Not good singing but what a performance (check out the video).

I'm guessing from karaoke in his younger years.

South Korean president woos White House with ‘American Pie’ rendition - POLITICO

Karaoke is hugely popular in parts of Asia

Hope he wasn't joking, I'm sure the offer will be accepted. It would be fun to see this happen.

Don McLean offers duet with South Korean president who sang 'American Pie' to Biden | CNN
I've not heard of it as alchemy before but his description is apt.

Since WWII, only 3 sitting VPs have run for POTUS following a 2-term President: Nixon, HW Bush, and Gore.

All three of Nixon, HW Bush, and Gore benefited from their predecessors' administrations polling in the high-50s/low-60s for approval rating at around the start of the primary season, but still, one win, two losses.

So, there's not a lot of precedent for Harris for us to go on. In addition, all three of the above had run national campaigns before and had political careers far more extensive than Harris' when they came to the VPOTUS role.

It's of course different if Biden dies and Harris runs as the incumbent in 2028, but that's effectively what happened in 1976 and although there was a temporary setback for the GOP, they then held the Oval Office for 3 terms.

There's just a ton of variables in play.

All three won the nomination, though. Of course Harris might not, but the party apparatus is definitely going to be hers from the jump. And if she is already President, it is a particle guarantee she has the nomination.

Eh, I dunno. Ford barely held onto the nomination in '76. Granted, many argue that Reagan hurt Ford's chances in the general which may serve as a warning, but I don't know that it's a lock, especially if such a term didn't go smoothly.

On the SCOTUS leaker, will they name a name(s) or say "... came from office of"?

I wouldn't be surprised if it was a justice; or a staffer who did it without knowledge of the justice; or a staffer that did it with a justice's blessing but who has enough plausible deniability.

Justice Alito says he has 'pretty good idea' who was behind leak of draft abortion opinion | CNN Politics

The Biden Presidency - 2020
 

So he’s worried that someone in the general public might try to assassinate one of them based on their ideological view? Hmmmm where have I heard that before that some extremist might cause violence against someone that is made the target of words?


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It obviously came on Alito or Thomas' side. They'll never announce that.

There's a SS Fairness Act that seems to have bipartisanship support. Doesn't address the broader issue and may well make it more complicated.

But it does address an issue my wife has.

She has a complicated SS situation. She's had SS taken out as a regular employee, she's had SS taken out as a teacher, she's had SS not taken out as a teacher (different county), she is eligible for 50% of my SS via spousal benefit, she's worked enough quarters to get SS on her own, and she has her own teacher TRS pension.

With current laws, there is an offset/proration where she won't get her full SS and full pension. Simple example is 1+1 = 1.5. I think the proposed legislation below will resolve that and make it 1+1 = 2.

I read somewhere its like $80B over 10 years. TBH I am unsure this is a good bill or just pork.

Collins, Brown Introduce Bipartisan Bill... | U.S. Senator Susan Collins

SCOTUS agrees to take a case on Chevron deference and Justice Jackson recuses herself. That's the end of the regulatory apparatus.

This will be one of those rulings talked about in history books, if we still have them. Actually, they'll be corporate textbooks because the government won't be able to regulate anything unless Congress explicitly says it. Because, you know, if the government created an agency to regulate, say, education, they can't make specific rules about it -only enforce the ones that Congress explicitly states. Sigh. This is somewhat under the radar but is going to be awful.



SI

Why did she recuse herself when no one else is going to ever again... One party plays by the rules, one uses the rules to take advantage of the field. SMH

Interesting Biden move and not sure I agree.

I think Willow is defensible because we need to become energy independent. From what I've read, we are a already net exporter of natural gas, don't have a domestic need.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/0...biden-00093092
The article refers to allies needing an alternate supply. So probably not national security but having enough to help out allies. Surprised he thought it was worth the political capital.

SHINGLES DOESN'T CARE!

She needs to take on for the team and retire.

The only problem is she thinks the team she needs to take one for is the Chicago Black Sox.

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June 1 is the magic x date.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/01/trea...-mccarthy.html
Time to get serious. It'll be interesting considering all the supposed line the sands already drawn.

I'm not a fan of a clean bill to raise the debt limit. Something needs to be added to help return the country to fiscal sanity.

On the other hand I think the Republican bill asks for too much. Also I think it was introduced far too late to have any serious negotiations.

The budget is the time for budget negotiations. Their shouldn't be any hostage taking on paying the bills that were agreed to in the budget.

I get that, but I'm just tired of congress kicking the can down the road and racking up even more debt.

We'll blow up the economy if you don't repeal all of your legislation isn't something that can be tolerated.

On top of the fact, the road to the fiscal responsibility has to include major cuts to defense spending and a large increase to taxes on the top 1 percent, or it is not even serious.

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It isn't proper reform unless it flattens the abhorrently skewed tax structure.

And one of the few justifiable expenses in the entire budget IS the defense portion (though certainly subject to being considered for efficiency).

And there is why we need to figure out the long overdue divorce. You can have your socialist paradise, I might get to have a nation worthy of continued existence, we're both a metric fuckton happier.

When you look at total tax burden, federal, state, and local, taxation is pretty close to flat.

Planning to prioritize debt payments in anticipation that Jun 1 arrives is a good idea as an emergency & temporary Plan B. I guess in this way the US will default on "some" lower priority debt and not all of it. Regardless, it'll be a total cluster.

Congressional Budget Office.

Also the fact that wealthy people are not paying income tax but capital gains if they haven't found a cozy tax haven overseas. Most billionaires barely touch double digit tax rates when we pay that alone in just FICA.

There are most definitely other ways to be serious about it.


Agreed. I'm with NobodyHere on the continually escalating debt issue, but when you vote to spend money and don't vote to increase revenue to match, this is what happens.

I’ve been convinced for a while the gop will purposely default to make Biden look bad. There is no depth to their depravity. They do not care about the American people and the suffering this will cause if they can score political points.

I am positive that is the plan on the MTG side of the party. They have absolutely no intention of coming to any compromise, and that is also why they made sure McCarthy is to weak to make a move without them. What's destroy the economy to them if they see a white nationalist nation rising out of the ashes?


I'm very far from desiring a "socialist utopia", but I do believe we as the "richest country in the world" should at least provide the basic human services that every other industrialized nation provides. As for the defense budget, that "consider for efficientcy" is exactly what I'm talking about. Way too much of that budget is going to just sheer corruption. If we had any kind of political will and a desire to improve the federal budget, someone needs to tackle a reform on the military that would cut spending while actually improving our military force. Get rid expensive weapon system that either are no longer needed or never worked in the first place. Improve life of the service men while getting rid of contractors that are paid to provide services that they don't fulfill. Having a real system of accountability for offering and serving contracts.
That is probably a bigger fantasy than an utopian socialist society.

Biden inviting Congressional leaders to the WH to discuss the debt ceiling.

So, Biden blinked. The GOP line was "you must negotiate." The Biden line was "we won't negotiate."

What's funny is that no one is really going to talk about it in those terms.

The Dems aren't going to trumpet Biden looking weak.

But the GOP won't trumpet it either. They called the WH bluff and won. But their whole deal is constantly feeling shat on. They can't ever admit winning because where do they go from there?

We all know MTG et al don't care, which really weakens McCarthy. The question is are there 5 GOP congresspeople willing to cross the aisle to literally save the global economy?

I still think (and I could be really wrong about this) that the GOP does not lift the debt limit.

But everyone agrees to "suspend" the limit until some time close to the budget deadline.

And then the budget/debt limit negotiations can be the same thing. And the Dems can say that they aren't negotiating the debt limit. And the GOP can say that they used the debt limit to get what they wanted from Biden. Both sides get to save face.

I like this compromise.

But just as likely as the extremists take us to the very brink. Or just over it for a short period of time.

It only takes one member of the nut job parry to call for a vote of no confidence in the Speaker. They can easily shut down any negotiation, and basically shut down the House.

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Fair likelihood a no confidence will be initiated in the next couple years, but seriously doubt the GOP extremist faction will get the assistance of the Dems, and the necessary simple majority.

Now if McCarthy ends up really pissing off the Dems, then all bets are off.

I'm thinking odds are the suspension will happen, don't see getting a compromise with a month left. Definitely a better Plan B than prioritizing payments and defaulting on some-but-not-all.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/02/debt...rats-deal.html

Defaulting on debts makes the deficit issue even worse. Country now has to borrow at much higher rates.


Also the people who were screaming about inflation the past year are the same people screaming about the deficit. Guess what is good for you if you owe people money??????

I read that Biden has called them all there to say “stop fucking around” , that there is really no negotiating this and time to just suspend it for now. This would be with the idea to deal with this as part of the budget. So don’t see this as a win for Rs or Biden being weak. That being said we wil, just have to see where we are come June 1st.

I would be moving far away from nuclear reactors.

This is one of the weaker attempts at a gotcha that I've read in a while. Yes it's better to be able to pay back debts in cheaper dollars, but the effect on inflation on the economy is far worse than the benefit of servicing debt cheaper. I think we have enough examples of governments printing money to deal with debt and the utter disaster that causes.

Any sensible way out of excessive deficit spending is always going to be about not exceeding our means by such absurd amounts.

I'm cool when the entire east side of Houston is oil refineries, right? I'm sure those companies will self-regulate properly. It's not like people don't routinely die there already.

And the Food and Drug Administration doesn't need to check food or drugs, except ones explicitly stated in the initial bill establishing them.

And so on and so forth

SI

Hey, it's been at least a week since I've seen a report of an explosion in Texas.

Best case is they make it impossible to regulate anything going forward. Worst case is they make every current regulation subject to a judge's whim.

This is the way to gut everything the far right hates, environmental regs, Obamacare, vaccines, anti-discrimination regs, etc.