All of these things definitely were in the news, of course. They just don’t STAY in the news, and the public memory hole works fast.
And Trump will take credit for it all and his idiot believers will eat it up.
In the exact same way Biden took credit for people returning to work after covid
Did you know that a lot of folks that received aid during the pandemic call it the “Trump check”?
Do you think he takes credit for that?
Biden has made significant progress for the average person during his presidency, which is disheartening given the potential for even greater impact. It seems he knows that simply meeting basic expectations will be enough to outdo previous leaders.
Significant progress is disheartening. Ok.
Tough room.
Lemmy is full of those childish people I met in college.
I suspect it’s also full of foreign agents acting on bad motives. That and children for whom this is their first election, who are caught up on ideals instead of slow and steady progress.
Agreed. Many appear to be attending foreign colleges which . . . well, makes sense, sort of.
We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there “is” such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.
- MLK Jr
Our climate is being destroyed irrevocably, wealth inequality is at record levels, and our corrupt government is completely up for sale and unwilling to represent the people. Corporate-run America is in a death spiral, and geriatric neoliberals are leading the charge. Foreign agents would tell Americans to slowly and steadily continue down this ruinous path as the rest of the world leaves us behind. But red blooded Americans understand how this isn’t sustainable for any length of time. Gradual incrementalism is a far cry from our salvation.
Now give me single payer healthcare/Medicare for All, and I’ll be a happy camper.
We need more Democrats in Congress for that. A third of the Senate and all of the House are up for election in November. Attendance at the polls is crucial for down-ballot candidates just the same as presidential.
Vote in November, or be ready to accept what a Republican President, Congress, and SCOTUS decide for you.
The thing that stinks is
A) the electoral college makes it so only 4 or 5 states really matter
B) there’s an amnesia about trump from the never trump republicans. My dad is conservative but didn’t vote trump. He thought he was an asshole. Now my dad talks about how Biden is crooked, and the only reason people hate trump is because, and his words, “orange man bad”.
C) puritanical leftists have valid reasons to not like Biden, but they are willing to blow up the system as they always have. I say puritanical because I know there are pragmatic leftists who exercise restraint in their actions.
In 2020, the suburban vote was a critical win for Biden. I’m hoping for the best, but I’m starting to sit with the fact that Trump has a decent, if not likely, chance of winning in 2020.
C) is the one that is gonna be the razor’s edge on this stuff. Reasonable people will vote for Biden, but it’s the people that don’t feel like voting will matter or people who are dying on the hill of a single issue who are potentially going to fuck us and the entire rest of the world by not voting.
I plan on voting for Biden because it’s the right thing to do for all Americans and our allies, and I really don’t want to be a tailgunner if Trump breaks up NATO and all the men get drafted for a world war to save Europe or Asia-Pacific again. Preventing assholes domestically and abroad from destroying peaceful countries would be nice.
The Electoral College has nothing to do with congressional elections.
The rest of your points can be addressed by providing information to those who are misinformed or disenfranchised. Abstaining may not be a vote for Trump, but it’s a refusal to stand in his way.
Right they’re talking about Congress. There’s still issues with districting though.
You vote for your Senators and House Representatives directly. The Electoral College has nothing to do with that.
Each state has two Senate seats, voted on statewide. Districting does not affect that vote.
Districting issues may make some votes less likely to make a difference in the House vote in specific districts in Republican states. That’s all the more reason to get as many Democrats to vote as possible.
The average Democratic voting representation for congressional elections is less than 50%. We constantly complain about the repercussions of our own inaction.
He can’t do that.
People keep saying the things Biden have been doing are weak, half measures, but they have no idea what he’s actually capable of doing without Congress.
He literally tried to wipe away a significant amount of student debt. He tried to fulfill that promise without Congress. The Supreme Court stopped it.
Honestly I think the entirety of the last 10 years of complete government failure should be tied back to the almost totally non-functional legislature.
The president can’t pass laws. The supreme court would matter far less, if we weren’t trying to creatively reinterpret ancient laws and applying them to technology and culture that didn’t even exist at the time they were written. Instead of updating and clarifying any of those laws, the supreme court has been allowed to effectively make policy by continually shifting interpretations of a static and obsolete set of laws that Congress should have updated 20 years ago. Several times courts have effectively changed policy by saying ‘the law doesn’t mean that, go write an actual law for that, don’t just make shit up’ and then Congress just doesn’t react at all.
If you look back at history, constitutional amendments were relatively regular up until recently. Can anyone imagine our current government passing an amendment for anything at all? Even the most minor tweak would be impossible in this Congress. Several of our major ‘wins’ were mere court cases and like we found out with abortion, what the court gives, the court can take away. Anything about our current day to day life that exists solely based on a court ruling we should be fighting to codify into law, but we all seem to recognize how futile that task is.
amendments require the states agreeing, and the states do NOT like to agree on things anymore.
The bullshit appointed Supreme Court.
which is disheartening given the potential for even greater impact
What potential? Without Congress or the Supreme Court, what potential things could Biden be doing that would have “greater” impact that he isn’t doing?
Something that doesn’t require a new law, and won’t be shot down by a hostile conservative court?
Please give me examples.
Without Congress or the Supreme Court
Pretty sure the potential lies in changing this.
Vote. Not just for president, but for every office you’re able to. Because this shit isn’t just “Trump did it!” or “Biden didn’t do enough!” It’s also the legislators, and a lot of the judiciary they approved (and probably pushed during the Trump administration). Not to mention all the state and local reps that initiate most of the policies that affect people.
It basically all starts with Congress. We could fix so much shit if we ever managed to get a real majority (not 48 Dems and two ‘not technically Republicans’)
We could fix so much shit if we ever managed to get a real majority
We would just change it to “we could fix so much shit if we ever managed to get a supermajority.”
And then redefine “supermajority” to mean 67.
They can’t give you any examples and neither can the dorkuses downvoting you. Biden has accomplished a lot with the maggats playing the “I don’t wanna” game whenever a dem is in office. He not only had to dig us out of the hole the orange menace left us in, he also has to cure cancer, be the first human to step on Mars, etc and even then people will find something to bitch about.
With any luck (and a lot of hard work) we will have Biden for a second term and then a dem to replace him in 2028 so at least 12 years of the adults running things. Then maybe we can get some shit done and stop trying to tread water at best.
Biden could fix everything and walk on water and they’d still hate for some bullshit that isn’t true or above their room temp iq.
He could get caught trying.
He could frame a big-picture vision of what he and Democrats value, expressed in terms that speak to Americans emotionally. He could push for policies that Republicans and the Supreme Kangaroo Court will shoot down, and then go to the American people and blame them for taking away good things that everybody wants.
The student-loan debt relief effort had about 1 1/2 of those things. The rest of the time he tends to talk about particular bills and policies. Republicans can stop those, and those things become dead letters, but dreams and hopes are evergreen.
It takes immense amounts of time and effort to bring new items like this forwards, so each item you choose to do means time and money that can’t be used bringing a different policy forwards.
Based on that why should Biden waste his time developing and bringing forward policies that the Republicans are obviously going to immediately shoot down, it just prevents him from being able to work on things that might actually get passed
No, it really doesn’t. I can think them up by the dozens. If they’re not going to pass, there’s no reason to lay all the groundwork. But they’re still good for rhetorical purposes.
Sure you can think up the tag line line liner title for each item but what about all the details? How will they work the restrictions the requirements the funding. How much of that requires large amounts of work just to be shutdown and tossed by the Republicans
This is why Democrats struggle so badly, so I’ll say it straight up: It’s about sales. Reich is complaining that the public doesn’t lose its shit over arcane policy details. Yeah, sit down for this truth bomb (/s): That’s human nature. It’s not fair. It’s not right. It’s not good. It’s just the way it is. Complaining about it won’t help, or change the content of headlines.
So somebody asks for examples of what can Biden do when he’s blocked by Congress? I say: Sell, sell, sell. Get in the PR game. Put on a show that the people in the cheap seats can enjoy. (That is a metaphor for a rhetorical spectacle that even politically unengaged citizens will hear about.) Show everybody that the problem is in Congress.
What do the details matter? The headline is all that people will hear, and Republicans will block it, anyway. He needs to sell the perception that Democrats are trying. The details can come later, after they get the votes.
Dozens? Off the top of your head? Name a dozen, for science.
- Build a giant net on the border with Canada to keep geese out.
- Make Friday part of the weekend.
- Give every new baby a chocolate eclair.
- Issue bulletproof vests to all citizens to help survive mass shootings.
- No more speed limits in Interstate highways. (Okay, absurd ones are harder to think of than real issues that people care about.)
- Cheaper health care.
- Cheaper housing.
- Cheaper groceries.
- Cheaper fuel.
- Codify reproductive freedom in law.
- Hold the media accountable to the truth.
- Ban insider trading in Congress.
- Ensure that people have secure jobs, with dignity.
Details, schmetails. The post is a complaint by Robert Reich that voters aren’t paying attention to details. And ITT, plenty of Lemmings pointing out that Biden can’t pass very many policy proposals, anyway. The idea is to sell the perception that Democrats understand and care about issues facing Americans.
The big picture comes first to get Democrats elected, then get down to the details.
The president doesn’t have the power to do any of that.
This document should cover many of the points, so it’ll be referred to a lot.
This is how you end up with poorly thought out legislation.
I’m doing 1000 calculations in my head and they’re all wrong
How? Or, why does it matter? It’s not going to pass the House.
Because any president doing this immediately comes across as a 5 year old pretending to have a magic wand.
I’m looking at the list of a dozen items you made - you can’t just say “I want this” and not have a detailed plan for how it’s meant to be executed - where the money comes from, what effects it’s expected to have, etc.
When you are proposing legislation that you know won’t be able to be made into law, you’re just virtue signaling since even you believe there’s no real-world impact. People are even frustrated with Bidens attempts as they are - I’ve definitely read frustrated comments here talking about how Bidens approach to relieving student debt is so poorly thought out that nobody will actually benefit.
Shame on you for saying that! I’m sure you’ll be downvoted.
He’s boring and uninspirational and isn’t accomplishing anything of note… but you should not question any of that!
Just rah-rah until defeated, and repeat.
Maybe we could start by not aiding a genocide? Just spitballing here…
I’m just glad he’s not using a sharpie to write “finish them” on bombs instead of pushing for a cease fire.
But don’t you think getting the 10 commandments in our classrooms will make things soo much better? 🙃
Calling mr 34 felonies a leader is a bit of a stretch.
Leading us to our doom is a type of leadership, right?
fair lol
If only politics were about policy and not popularity.
Yeah. But they’re not. Usually.
Interestingly that’s more a function of media more than politics. Political movement “in a vacuum” doesn’t require popularity. But since we have put political power in the hands of everyone vs a king or whatever, the media is the ocean in which politics “swims”.
Interesting
But they did make headlines, that’s how we know about these. The FTC and FCC doing their job more is good and makes headlines.
It’s good, don’t get me wrong. But man it feels like table scraps compared to a lot on what Biden ran on in 2020.
Not really. The average person knows more about trump’s bowel movements than these accomplishments. The average undecided voter is lazy and needs information spoon-fed to them. That’s why it matters what is reported in the media.
And also, the people who run the media have very fucked up priorities. Biden’s NLRB can make historic strides in bringing unions back into American working life and they every so often run a story about it if there happens to be something they can say that has the word “Starbucks” in it.
But, if either Biden or Trump ever farted on camera, it would be all we heard about for a month.
if either Biden or Trump ever farted on camera, it would be all we heard about for a month.
The public’s attention span has gone down, for better or words. It probably wouldn’t last that long. So we got that going for us.
Remember the fucking “Dean scream”? Fuck policies, a dude yelled!
It started as a deliberate engineering technique. Let’s take the most left wing guy we can find, and make him look like an evil crazy weak moron fascist pants shitting wimp robot that nobody likes, by sheer force of peer pressure and insult. It hurt Al Gore and John Kerry quite a bit, and I think the Dean Scream was probably the peak of the middle school peer pressure bullshit. I think soon after that a lot of people just stopped paying attention to the TV news for anything. But it’s still happening; now it’s just phrased as things like “Biden is old and out of touch and we’re concerned that his polls are down.” I think around the time of Bernie Sanders (when no one gave a shit that they were broadcasting that he was officially not cool and a crazy person communist stupid head and everyone better stop liking him), was when they realized they’d have to regroup and come up with a fresh updated strategy with it.
Also, the beast has gotten out of control, a little bit – it used to be exclusively a tool of the corporate media aimed at the lefty-est candidate, but it started being how the political press covered everything, to the point that they couldn’t really steer it anymore to shit exclusively on the left wing candidates they were trying to destroy. Then a while after that, Trump came along and was 10 times better at it than anything the news could come up with, and the rest is history.
When it comes to progress being made for unions, I think it might have something to do with the fact that the owners of the newspapers are billionaires.
Sure, I agree that it should be brought up more, and that Trump gets endless free airtime even from liberal news outlets. But it’s just wild to go “No one remembers or talks about these, the media ignores it!” while we’re talking about it and the good it has done.
“We” are not the corporate media, but to your point they did dutifully report these stories, perfunctorily, on page 23 or behind the weather, sports, movie recommendations and lots of ads.
The reporting was not commensurate with the benefits of the policies. As such, the people who most need to know about them likely won’t, but “we” do.
If there was a liberal equivalent to Fox News, they would be talking about it literally every night. Interviewing people who got jobs, putting up the numbers, airing new factories and manufacturing plants and putting up the numbers of how much of their funding came from Biden’s policies. Putting up the graph of how much Amazon is paying in tax now and tossing up softballs about how people must have been waiting for this for a long time.
But because there’s nobody with 200 billion dollars just kind of sitting around that they feel like investing in setting up that kind of operation, it’s all in White House press releases and the occasional print story from some online news site that’s asking for donations and might be gone 2 years from now when the unsustainable nature of their business model finally becomes unavoidable.
If there was a
liberalleftist equivalent to Fox NewsFTFY. Liberalism is right-wing economically, and therefore is motivated to downplay Biden helping workers over corporations just as much as Fox News is.
I actually wrote left wing originally and then edited it specifically to match Lemmy’s Overton window - I agree with you; his trade policies seem liberal to me, but union support and corporate taxes are pretty explicitly left wing I agree. But in Lemmy terms I think he wouldn’t be considered “leftist” unless he is overthrowing the means of production, maybe.
But man it feels like table scraps compared to a lot on what Biden ran on in 2020.
Given that the republiQans retook the house in 2022, what did Biden run on that he hasn’t delivered?
- Freeing Mexican citizens locked in cages at the border, but has in fact increased the numbers according to the ACLU, and now limiting the numbers of who can come in like fascist Trump wanted
- The COVID pandemic is still ongoing, we’re just ignoring it while I’ve had friends die from it after it was “over” according to the CDC. Also removing the 14 day expected leave for it to improve
companies fucking over sick and healthy workers alikethe economy - Roe v Wade being reinstated, for the party that “cares about women’s rights”.
- Minimum Wage increases (Yes Congress is in charge of the purse, but can he say “please fucking do it so everyone has better income?”)
- Ran on trying to stop cops from shooting innocent civilians, but in his first State of the Union said “We don’t need to defund the police, we need to fund the police!” to bipartisan roaring applause. I know he has a fucking cop as a VP, but god damn.
- And he’s not doing anything to stop Project 2025 from getting into place if Trump wins.
- Could maybe consider giving new arms to Ukraine and stop funding explicit genocide in Palestine.
- Didn’t help the unions during the rail strikes give into the demands for better worker safety and benefits, blocking it like how Reagan blocked the FAA from striking for safety and benefits
- Still allows Trump-era expansions of spying agencies, that was made public under “constitutional lawyer and defender” Obama, and instated under Dubya.
But we don’t have the President saying stupid shit on Twitter every day, so I guess that means we’re back to a sane normal, or whatever white cishet liberals need to say to sleep well at night. Ignore the bloodshed of BIPOC and queers, women and their doctors fleeing red states over being arrested for bodily autonomy, and that white nationalists just goosestep freely because its not respectable to tell fascists to fuck off and die, it doesn’t impact you, so it’s all sane politics and electable!
- Freeing Mexican citizens locked in cages at the border, but has in fact increased the numbers according to the ACLU, and now limiting the numbers of who can come in like fascist Trump wanted
Numbers have increased because more people are crossing the border. Biden has initiated several programs to streamline the asylum process and reduce the time people are detained. For example even though unaccompanied minors crossing the border have doubled since the end of Trump’s term, the number of pending asylum cases for minors has decreased.
- The COVID pandemic is still ongoing, we’re just ignoring it while I’ve had friends die from it after it was “over” according to the CDC. Also removing the 14 day expected leave for it to improve
companies fucking over sick and healthy workers alikethe economy
If you thought Covid was ever going away, that’s your mistake. Nothing to do with Biden. Get your vaccine and boosters on schedule and you will be fine.
- Roe v Wade being reinstated, for the party that “cares about women’s rights”.
Congress passes laws, not the president. The Supreme Court wouldn’t let and executive order last a day. Biden did what he could by allowing Mifepristone to be dispensed by pharmacies and sent through the mail.
-
- Minimum Wage increases (Yes Congress is in charge of the purse, but can he say “please fucking do it so everyone has better income?”)
He has said that and he did what he could by raising the minimum wage for federal workers.
- Ran on trying to stop cops from shooting innocent civilians, but in his first State of the Union said “We don’t need to defund the police, we need to fund the police!” to bipartisan roaring applause. I know he has a fucking cop as a VP, but god damn.
“Defund the police” as a slogan is just ammo for Republicans. He is right to move away from it. Biden tried to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing act but the Republicans blocked it. He has done a lot more. See below
- And he’s not doing anything to stop Project 2025 from getting into place if Trump wins.
He’s running against Trump. That’s how he is stopping Project 2025. Stop fucking trying to make that fail by repeating lies and propaganda
- Could maybe consider giving new arms to Ukraine and stop funding explicit genocide in Palestine.
You said before that you know Congress has the power of the purse. He cannot do the things you want without Congress voting for it.
- Didn’t help the unions during the rail strikes give into the demands for better worker safety and benefits, blocking it like how Reagan blocked the FAA from striking for safety and benefits
You’re ignoring what Biden did after. He kept pushing for what the union wanted and in the end they got their sick leave. The IBEW that led Biden
https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid
- Still allows Trump-era expansions of spying agencies, that was made public under “constitutional lawyer and defender” Obama, and instated under Dubya.
It sucks but that is going to happen no matter who is president. At least Biden took action to protect us from foreign spying.
Thank you
Why is the ACLU suing the Biden administration?
The ACLU is always suing whatever administration is in power. It’s their job.
Ah, you don’t know.
It’s because Biden’s latest border actions are a violation of international law. Restricting asylum seeking by shutting down the border is illegal. The ACLU is suing to stop him from committing a crime against humanity.
Here is the ACLU statement on the lawsuit.
Nowhere does it say it is a “crime against humanity”. Meanwhile the ACLU sued Trump over 400 times.
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-has-filed-400-legal-actions-against-trump-administration
(Note that the say they have sued literally every president since their inception)
So chill the fuck out. There are only two choices for president and one is objectively the better choice for legal management of the border.
Because they’re Russians. Duh.
You are right on every single one of these, but you aren’t going to get a response to any of them on here.
Liberals stop caring about immigrants, women, poor people, COVID, etc, as soon as there is a Democrat in power they can make excuses for.
Someone responded.
This aged poorly.
Meanwhile, conservatives never cared about those things?
Is there anyone else? won’t somebody please think of the children!
The difference is that Republicans never pretend to care, Democrats talk about caring and then legislate like their conservative counterparts
Yeah these absolutely made headline / TV news when they passed. No idea what OP means.
He means they aren’t brokered talking points. No one is pushing this, because there’s not a huge amount of money, bots, every news outlet that has a vested financial interest in getting Biden a second term.
Trump was found guilty, took a huge hit in polls, then turned around and had the biggest funding boost in US history.
Expanding internet access in rural areas with the Build Back Better plan. That alone was a massive investment into our infrastructure.
Lol what about like the ten times they’ve done that before
I have family in rural NC , two different areas. Both have lived in those areas for 15 yrs. When AT&T pulled out due to not enough customers, they lost internet. The only option they had was 10 down, 1 up (advertised), for $65 a month.
Last year they got word AT&T, and several smaller name companies were moving out there. Now they get 300 down, 10 up for $50.
I’m actually switching very soon to a fiber company that recently started covering my area and has only been active at all for a few years. They only have coverage in like three towns, and don’t cover all of any of them (mostly for obvious reasons related to local geography and where you reach the most people by running the lines).
Is there any info on who got funding for Internet in rural areas via Build Back Better? I’m curious if Biden is the reason they are a thing and we have any broadband Internet competition at all.
You can see of you qualify for the program : reconnect. It has a few reference to who has received funding. If you dig deeper, I’m sure you will find more info.
Biden made the big announcement as part of multiple packages at the time. The same plan that is suppose to put high speed rails on the east and west coasts.
I’ll have to dig deeper. It just seemed…convenient that a local fiber provider started up in 2021, started service in 2022 and has been slowly expanding through the region since.
Wait… no medical debt goes to your credit report? Is this a thing now or is it something he’s working on?
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed a rule that would remove medical bills from credit reports, a ban that would prevent lenders from considering those debts when making decisions about whether to issue loans.
The proposed rule change, announced Tuesday, would also increase privacy protections, help raise credit scores and prevent debt collectors from using the credit reporting system to coerce people to pay.
. . . The proposed rule is open for public comment through Aug. 12, with the bureau working toward a final rule that would take effect next year.
So it’s another case of counting proposals as accomplishments, then.
Right? Shoulda said that in the beginning.
It didn’t even HAPPEN? What the hell homesweethomeMrL?
I’m not going to factcheck your post. I have to dismiss it. You have clearly mislead us all
If you’re TRULY on the side of facts and integrity, you should edit it and explain which items here aren’t actually done.
Disgusting.
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It does mean something. It means there’s a plan, a bill, an Executive Order, political capital, political will, money/budget, and to see it through to universal acceptance so that it can’t be immediately rescinded by the next orange rapist administration and it only takes votes.
In many cases it is already actually happening. These are all real examples, real things that are, in fact, happening. Things often “never go anywhere” because right-wing sewerholes and their friends around the political spectrum destroy those efforts at every available opportunity.
RepubliQans and their supporters have, often, stated that their only goals are to prevent efforts like these from “going anywhere”. It’s a constant fight just to keep what we have now ffs because big money buys fascists cheaply and that’s what we’re fighting every session, every conference, every vote, every goddamned time.
I get cynical, it’s absolutely understandable but, after decades of mikquetoast middle-of-the-road republiQan-lite Democratic initiatives (think “better jobs” and “middle-class tax breaks”) we’re finally - after the deeply humiliating disaster of the trump “presidency” - finally getting traction, buy-in, and votes for real positive progressive things.
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Fair enough. Having lived through decades of continuous so-so blah Democratic actions, this latest movement is, possibly from just the failure of everything else they’ve tried instead of listening to the progressives, it’s well, pretty good. And it gives me some hope, should we survive the next existential threat, and the ones after that.
Meanwhile: “Good isn’t perfect, so fuck that and fuck you.”
Too many people are all too ready to say that improvement isn’t enough, it has to be a perfect and complete solution or else what was the point.
Which says they’re either not clear on how this whole “government” thing operates (which, tbf most people aren’t) and/or too young to have had experiences with government much before, and/or deliberately parroting a talking point designed to depress turnout for one of a few reasons.
It’s that last one that seems most in evidence unfortunately. And mostly from people who don’t seem to remember 2016 that well.
But it’s BlUe mAgA which is why I support red maga winning! /s
Negotiating drug prices? How about making price gouging ILLEGAL? How about a world market price for drugs instead of a monopoly market in America?
I can go through the entire list like this. Trying to cheer for these crumbs is contortion at it’s most contorting.
Most governments negotiate the drug prices around the world. This is standard practice. They have buying power so they can get far better pricing than anyone else. Just because it’s a new concept to you, doesn’t make it stupid.
The fact that it’s standard practice doesn’t make it non-stupid. Bullfighting in my country, Spain, is pretty stupid and unfortunately in some areas it’s general practice.
The very concept of a patent is tenuous: “no, you can’t make this, this is MY idea and I get to decide who profits by how much and who enjoys my invention”. When applied to medicine, it’s downright immoral and murderous. Even with negotiation of drug prices, you end up with things like the Hepatitis C curing drug costing several tens of thousands of Euros per patient even in European countries, whereas it costs less than one tenth of that in some others. It’s just this is paid by the state and not by the end user so it’s not as Machiavellian as in the USA, but it’s still extremely fucked.
If you want some of the few examples of countries that don’t follow the “standard practice”, you can look at Cuba being the first country in the world to double-vaccinate 95+% of their population with the COVID vaccine. How? State-funded research, and state-funded vaccine manufacturing, with the primary objective of vaccinating as many as possible as early as possible, instead of the profit motive as the driver.
I sure don’t know everything, but why mention it then? It’s just normal? Or is this new for the US?
How is it negotiation when there is only one medicine, like in the case of insulin, or even Zolgensma? What chips does the government have to negotiate with? Buying power doesn’t matter.
I still think that’s screwed up, and needs fixing, but if it brought us in line with the rest of the world when it comes to drug prices, then bring it on.
They are negotiating the prices paid for drugs by Medicare. You know, like, the largest single purchaser of drugs in the country. That purchase power was not being negotiated prior. They have started with a list of 10 drugs and will expand over time. This can affect prices in a few ways, like insurers saying fuck that and wanting the same rate as the government, manufacturers could set the pricing to match across the board like Eli Lilly did for insulin for non Medicare patients, or we could vote for a fully democratic Senate, house, and president and get Medicare for all, with which this existing law would wield immense powers to negotiate far more benefits for many more people. Gimme 63 Dems in the Senate and shit will get passed. The reason we are stuck like this is that the margin is so slim nothing can happen.
Here’s a quote from the HHS.
The selected drug list for the first round of negotiation is:
Eliquis Jardiance Xarelto Januvia Farxiga Entresto Enbrel Imbruvica Stelara Fiasp; Fiasp FlexTouch; Fiasp PenFill; NovoLog; NovoLog FlexPen; NovoLog PenFill These selected drugs accounted for $50.5 billion in total Part D gross covered prescription drug costs, or about 20%, of total Part D gross covered prescription drug costs between June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2023, which is the time period used to determine which drugs were eligible for negotiation. CMS will publish any agreed-upon negotiated prices for the selected drugs by September 1, 2024; those prices will come into effect starting January 1, 2026. In future years, CMS will select for negotiation up to 15 more drugs covered under Part D for 2027, up to 15 more drugs for 2028 (including drugs covered under Part B and Part D), and up to 20 more drugs for each year after that, as outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act.
There are 3 companies that produce insulin. Why don’t you ask some of your Canadian neighbors how much they pay for insulin.
I mean, I’m with you that would be great, but the President isn’t a dictator. I don’t know why this keeps coming up, I don’t want one person having the power to make huge sweeping decisions because they feel like it.
Holding the president to an impossible standard is only going to hurt getting where we’re trying to go here.
Comparably he’s doing more stuff than obama with less legislative backing. I think, in general, US presidents are going to be shit piles no matter what until our electoral system undergoes some changes (probably first at the state constitution level)
All of these are reported in “corporate news.”
This is the beauty of not consuming the MSM, you can believe it has reported on or not reported on whatever you want.
What do you believe ‘headlines’ to be in this instance? Any mention whatsoever?
First, let me point out how interesting it is that I was clearly responding to your title, but instead you are trying to defend the words that Reich used in the tweet.
But anyway, your title says “no corporate news story.” That literally means no mention whatsoever, but I would fairly interpret that as meaning that it’s buried or there little to no mention of it. Which is untrue, I mainly consume “corporate media” for, as biased as they are, they are still hundreds of times less biased and more reliable than other news “sources” I’ve come across. And these are all things I’ve know about from my typical news consumption (with the exception of OT expansion, this is the first I’ve heard of that). So I disagree with your “no corporate news” claim. I think it’s actually patently false.
What Reich here means is that they aren’t the main news stories of the day. None of these single things is ever going to be, on it’s own, the biggest news of the day. But it’s the constant little steps that are good. And it’s not like these are being hidden, it’s just that none of them are going to be as popular as the main news stories of the day so they aren’t getting the same traction.
Eh, fine. We disagree, no big deal.
The problem with those is the maggat adherents in the repuglican ranks. Get rid of those and good things will happen
Capping credit card fees? At what, 25%?
35% APR, compounded DAILY?
What fees are we talking about? They’re already cash-it-here high. It’s there something worse than that? Is the president making their interest remain at a reasonable amount above prime?
Now THAT WOULD be a cap worth bragging about.
PS: How about cash-it-here, and title-loan, and buy-here-pay-here, and instant-refund tax preparers, and accident attorneys, and bail bonds, and pawn shops, and rent-a-centers, and dollar tree/dollar general, and all the other predatory bad-financial-decision institutions we allow to thrive in poverty-stricken areas?
We know what we’re doing, and we just let that shit happen. Fuck us, we deserve whatever comes.
Oh look at you, the brains of the operation here. Do you know what the Republicans would have capped it at? NOTHING AT ALL. Do you know why the Democrats can’t deliver the perfect policies you demand? Because they have to fight against the other side tooth and nail to get anything through at all. Do you think the Republicans would be forgiving student loan debt right now? News flash: hell no. Do you have complaints about the way loans are being forgiven, oh of that I have no doubt. Do you know why you have those complaints? Because the Republicans are always chipping away and fighting against at every good thing that happens.
You’d be that spoiled brat whose single mother comes home after working her ass off all day, and throws a fit because she made potato soup again when you wanted hamburgers, wouldn’t you?
Thanks for the tongue lashing, but I’m reacting to something. This shitty list and big downvote party.
This was posted like a kid’s picture stuck on the fridge, and we’re supposed to all admire it. Fuck that. Don’t take me to a Dodge and tell me it’s a Mercedes.
He’s not Trump. That’s the line. Nobody is moved by this post. It’s desperate. It’s pleading. And ultimately, it actually works AGAINST Biden’s reelection. Because it’s like telling a girl who’s rejecting you all the reasons she should love you.
Interest is not a fee technically
Hence the question in the comment you’re replying to: “What fees are we talking about?”
Choose not to answer that, did you? Figures. Because I’ll bet it’s a fucking DROP IN THE BUCKET to what those bastards charge regularly.
Late fees. 32 dollar industry average prior to the cap. Down to 8 dollars. Which is relatively reasonable?
But I get what you’re saying, it is a veritable drop in the bucket compared to interest rates charged. But those are different things. And with the limitations imposed with a Republican led House, an essentially tied Senate well below the threshold to overrule a filibuster, capping interest rates federally is nigh impossible.
Additionally, max interest rates are set at the state level. So if you don’t like your interest rate, THAT’S NOT THE PRESIDENT, vote in state and local elections! And for federal banks? That shit is controlled by an independent bureau within the Treasury department. And they are appointed every 5 years. And the current guy is already trying to make shit more fair but they really only enforce the laws that exist from Congress. But if Trump wins, I bet you will find a grifter is his place if you check project 2025.
Actually, on that note, I check the 920 page manifesto of project 2025, on page 705 it states the following.
Merging Functions. The new Administration should establish a more stream-lined bank and supervision by supporting legislation to merge the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Federal Reserve’s non-monetary supervisory and regulatory functions. U.S. banking law remains stuck in the 1930s regarding which functions finan-cial companies should perform. It was never a good idea either to restrict banks to taking deposits and making loans or to prevent investment banks from taking deposits. Doing so makes markets less stable. All financial intermediaries function by pooling the financial resources of those who want to save and funneling them to others that are willing and able to pay for additional funds. This underlying principle should guide U.S. financial laws. Policymakers should create new charters for financial firms that eliminate activity restrictions and reduce regulations in return for straightforward higher equity or risk-retention standards. Ultimately, these charters would replace government regulation with competition and market discipline, thereby lowering the risk of future financial crises and improving the ability of individuals to create wealth.
The above basically outlines how they want to fold all these bureaus together and allow deposit banks and investment banks to be one in the same. Sounds good on paper, until you remember that’s like half the cause of the great depression. And when you have fewer eyes on more problems, even with the best intentions, which I doubt they have, shit hits the fan and hard. So yea. I think Biden has generally better policy there.
Vote for the most progressive candidate you have available to you. Knock doors. Motivate as many as you can.
If you don’t like who got to be the candidate? Well, you should have gotten out the vote for the one you liked when the primaries happen.
But oops, we have this whole incumbent thing! And typically a sitting president will go unchallenged by his own party. Only Crystal Grifter Marianne Williamson and some dude named Doug that no one was interested in voting for were running against Biden.
I’m not saying it’s absolutely perfect, but you really can only play the cards as they are dealt.
Quality fucking post.
I am genuinely worried about Trump, but I think appealing to facts and figures and obscure laws or small “hard to see how it helps me” accomplishments isn’t the way to get Biden back in office.
I’m not sure what is the way.
Agreed. One should tout their record, but it should be tempered against 2 other things. What you want to do next, and how your opponent would approach the same.
Politics shouldn’t really be “Look what I did for you” but rather, "Look at what we accomplished together! Let’s fucking go do some more good shit.
But here’s a non comprehensive list of some good shit he’s done.
Domestic Policy
American Rescue Plan: Signed into law to address the COVID-19 pandemic, providing financial relief, funding for vaccination campaigns, and support for schools to reopen safely.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Secured funding for rebuilding roads and bridges, improving public transit, cleaning up pollution, and expanding high-speed internet access nationwide.
Inflation Reduction Act: Focused on lowering costs for families, reducing prescription drug prices, and making significant investments in clean energy and American manufacturing.
CHIPS and Science Act: Promoted domestic manufacturing and technological advancements, resulting in significant investments in American manufacturing jobs.
Executive Orders on Reproductive Rights: Protected access to abortion and contraception and safeguarded patient privacy following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Student Debt Relief: Provided up to $20,000 in debt relief for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for other borrowers, benefiting millions of Americans.
Criminal Justice Reform: Banned chokeholds and no-knock warrants, implemented policies to reduce the use of deadly force, and promoted accountable policing practices.
Healthcare Expansion: Strengthened the Affordable Care Act, leading to significant savings on health insurance and expanded coverage options for Americans.
Marijuana Policy Reform: Pardoned federal offenses for simple marijuana possession and initiated a review of marijuana’s federal scheduling.
Economic and Social Policy
Bipartisan Safer Communities Act: Passed significant gun violence prevention legislation, expanding background checks and supporting mental health services.
Racial Equity and Justice: Advanced policies to close the racial wealth gap, invest in underserved communities, and reform criminal justice practices.
Veterans’ Benefits: Signed the PACT Act, the largest expansion of veterans’ benefits in decades, particularly for those exposed to toxic substances.
Marriage Equality: Signed the Respect for Marriage Act, protecting marriage rights for same-sex and interracial couples.
Foreign Policy and National Security
Strengthened NATO and Alliances: Enhanced NATO’s capabilities, supported the accession of Sweden and Finland, and coordinated international responses to global challenges. Support for Ukraine: Provided extensive support to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, including military aid and diplomatic backing. Counterterrorism: Successfully targeted leaders of ISIS and Al Qaeda without major ground operations.
Environmental Policy
Climate Action: Rejoined the Paris Climate Accords and enacted the most aggressive climate agenda in U.S. history, including substantial investments in clean energy.International Environmental Leadership: Mobilized international climate finance and pledged substantial contributions to global climate funds.
Public Health and Safety
Opioid Crisis Response: Approved new overdose reversal agents, expanded naloxone availability, and promoted harm reduction strategies.
Behavioral Health Crisis Response: Invested in crisis response teams and mental health services to reduce burdens on law enforcement and improve public safety outcomes.
Is he a perfect vessel? No. Is he better than the shit stain? Absolutely. Do I agree with Biden on every point? No. But it’s not like he’s done nothing. We were just so scarred emotionally by the daily “Wake up and see how Donald Trump made life worse” that we are still in that hangover. Half of the shit on this list is because Donald Trump explicitly broke something in government.
Yeah.
Wait is The medical one true?
Thank you for allowing people with crippling medical debt to get more debt.
This is the help they didn’t know they wanted
Thank you for allowing people with crippling medical debt to still have the opportunity to get a decent loan for a vehicle or a house.
No, they’re right. The last thing anyone in crippling debt of any kind needs is more debt of any kind.
This is a bad solution.
A good solution would be for people not to go into crippling medical debt in the first place.
I’m sure the mortgage brokers and realtors and car dealers and banks and corporate auto loan companies are happy too.
But how about addressing the REAL problem?
Yet when the people ask to not be owned by corporations, to have medical care, to not commit genocide, that all falls on deaf ears.
When wall Street wants something done, Biden jumps to it.
These are all sticking little plasters on the giant gaping wound and saying that you fixed it
i will never understand how people take the time to criticize biden when trump is the alternative. unless those people are actually troompa loompas/russians
“not be owned by corporations” LOL yea… go ahead and vote against biden and see how that “not be owned by corporations” works out for you…
What are you trying to accomplish? Silence any criticism of Biden?
Do you really think that if everybody would just NOT TALK BAD about Biden he would get elected?
The Democrats had a wide open door here to inspire real change against the weakest candidate the Republicans have ever put up. TWICE. But instead of running somebody INSPIRING what did they do? They ran somebody who’s just NOT AS BAD as the Republican candidate.
In 2018 when AOC surprised everyone by winning her seat and Democratic socialism made a big splash and there were so much excitement, what did the established Democratic party do? They squashed that shit.
I don’t care about Biden, nobody does. I care about Democratic Socialism, and the Democrats don’t.
Pointing out that Biden is fucked up and is committing genocide does not have anything to do with trump. I’m not entirely sure how you even got to trump from what I said. That seems like a reading comprehension issue on your part
Trump is fucking awful and would likely be worse than Biden in almost every way. No one, least of all me, said otherwise. That does not mean you can’t criticize Biden and the Democrats though. So not sure what your issue is but if you want to keep arguing a point I did not make then go for it and have fun.
If you want to address the actual issues plaguing the world then stop pretending that either trump or Biden are the right way forward.
pretending that either trump or Biden are the right way forward.
you typed a lot of shit to out yourself as a “bOtHsiDeSbAd” muppet. go ahead and keep shitting on biden для Родины!
Lol I’m not even close to Russian I just don’t like genocide and I don’t like the fact that most people in the states can’t generally afford to live properly. But sure because I point out that the Democrats, who I’ve voted for every single time since I’ve been able to vote, are also fucking up, that means I support Russia and trump. That makes a lot of sense.
Again, you guys need to figure out your reading comprehension
You will never win, they don’t want real discussion. They want to pretend this election would be “in the bag” if people were smart, like them.
They’re all great things to point out and discuss, during primary season.
Well they’re always relevant and worth discussing, but don’t make any sense in the context of the general election.
