What does a BIDEN Presidency look like?

[alfred russel]

Sucks for the people entitled to some of the billions in aid that need an approved cabinet member to get it to them

wut?  Do you know something about confirmation and cutting checks that I don't?

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/transition-playbook/2021/02/18/the-biden-backlog-491804

The Agriculture Department's Covid relief payments to farmers, for example, are on hold until Vilsack is confirmed. The Justice Department's review of a last-minute Trump administration legal opinion stating that federal inmates must be sent from home confinement back to prison once the pandemic is over can't be completed until MERRICK GARLAND is confirmed as attorney general.

The Biden administration has largely run their pandemic response out of the White House but the delayed confirmation of XAVIER BECERRA as Health and Human Services secretary has slowed the department's effort to review what it can do about high prescription drug prices, according to a person familiar with the matter.

"Timely confirmation of the President's deeply qualified and crisis-tested nominees is more critical than ever to defeating the pandemic, putting the American people back to work, ensuring families have food on the table, and re-opening our schools," ANDREW BATES, a transition spokesman, said in a statement.

Vilsack's confirmation delay has been particularly consequential, holding up billions of dollars in relief payments to farmers and giving some farm-state lawmakers anxiety.

The Agriculture Department suspended the checks after Biden's inauguration as part of a broader regulatory freeze, which is standard practice in a new administration.

"There are a lot of important decisions awaiting feedback from an eventual Secretary of Agriculture, including the direction of the [farm aid] program," MATT HERRICK, an Agriculture Department spokesman, said in a statement.

The Senate Agriculture Committee tried to fast-track Vilsack's nomination, citing the need for him to review the relief efforts. The committee approved his nomination hours after the hearing — an abnormally fast turnaround — but he still hasn't received a vote on the Senate floor.

That's left Vilsack — and the farmers who were counting on the aid money — with no choice but to wait. (Local Agriculture Department offices are still taking applications, but they're not mailing any checks.)

The Senate is expected to vote on Vilsack's nomination when senators return next week.

[alfred russel]

He knows everything about those things. And he will tell you all about it.

I don't know everything, but I know more than you, obviously.

[Berkut]

He knows everything about those things. And he will tell you all about it.

I don't know everything, but I know more than you, obviously.

No, you only know what you need to know to confirm your defense of Moscow Mitch. The rest you just ignore. Classic cognitive dissonance.

[Admiral Yi]

Fredo, I draw a different conclusion than you do.  I don't see anything there about a legal requirement for the SecAg to be confirmed before those checks are sent.  What it looks like to me is Biden holding up money to a Republican constituency in order to speed Vilsack's confirmation.

[alfred russel]

You keep claiming that it was the trial, and absent the trial, nothing else would matter. Except you bring up them taking a recess. Well, they could have not taken a recess in the exact same manner they could have not had the trial - just decided to do so.

So why is it the trial that is at fault, while you keep mentioning other things?

I brought up before the trial that this would happen. They would have a sham trial, then a recess, then a big cabinet backlog. A proper trial would have probably taken a few weeks, and that is out of the question. They could have canceled the recess, but LOL.

They could have had the trial, AND gotten confirmations done, had they wanted to do so, and had Senate leadership in the minority decided to do so - they didn't, which is entirely predictable.

No, actually they couldn't. They had recess last week.

It's funny how you are pretending to not know that all these confirmations could have been done prior to Jan. 20th anyway - when McConnell still controlled the Senate. Of course he did not, because your dear McConnell is a fucking douchebag, and now you are sitting here blaming his refusal to do his job on the Dems.

Pathetic. There is one reason and one reason only there has not been the normal confirmations done - because McConnell did not act when he was supposed to do so, safe knowing that his faithful would invent all kinds of reasons why it was actually someone else fault.

I don't know that a nominee from an opposing party has ever been approved prior to the next inauguration. That said, McConnell absolutely could and should have been holding hearings prior to Biden being inaugurated. They did hold five hearings before but there should have been more and earlier. The Trump nonsense was obviously a problem.

But Schumer has to play the hand he is dealt, and two weeks have been spent on impeachment and recess. We will see if it changes, but Friday is possibly also going to be recess. The Senate didn't convene today after the vacation until 3 PM.

It is possible for McConnell to be an asshole and for Schumer to also be a lackluster majority leader providing poor support for the new administration, and unable/unwilling to lead a body walking and chewing gum at the same time. These are not mutually exclusive opinions.

[alfred russel]

He knows everything about those things. And he will tell you all about it.

I don't know everything, but I know more than you, obviously.

No, you only know what you need to know to confirm your defense of Moscow Mitch. The rest you just ignore. Classic cognitive dissonance.

Berkut, I'm going to speak to you from my heart. I want you to absorb what I'm saying, reflect on it for a few moments, and contemplate the possibility that it is true.

You are a useless fucking idiot.

Three weeks ago I was arguing it would be better for Schumer not to schedule the Senate trial in February. I gave several predictions on what I thought would happen if the trial was held in February, and why I thought a delayed trial would be advantageous. MM and others disagreed with me. Schumer apparently does not read m posts on languish, and the trial was held anyway. What I thought would happen has indeed happened, and so I'm making an "I told you so" post to those who disagreed with me earlier.

I'm not defending Mitch McConnell. This was about a decision point the democrats had weeks ago.

[alfred russel]

Fredo, I draw a different conclusion than you do.  I don't see anything there about a legal requirement for the SecAg to be confirmed before those checks are sent.  What it looks like to me is Biden holding up money to a Republican constituency in order to speed Vilsack's confirmation.

That doesn't make sense, and it highlights that you guys don't follow the process. Vilsack was approved by the committee unanimously on February 2. The only think that needs to happen for him to be approved is for it to go to the senate floor for a vote. The holdup isn't republicans--no republicans have put a hold on the nomination.

If you look at a calendar, the second half of February 2 was dedicated to covid. There was some extra time used to approve the VA nominee. The next week was impeachment, then vacation. Vilsack is going to be approved tomorrow. All the pressure in the universe to republicans won't speed this up. Schumer just needed to schedule it.

[crazy canuck]

AF, you are going to a lot of trouble explaining why your bets didn't work out.

[Razgovory]

I wonder if Joe Biden could get away with raising taxes and claim that China is paying them.

[alfred russel]

AF, you are going to a lot of trouble explaining why your bets didn't work out.

We will see how bad the carnage gets. I'm spending a ton of time in the comment section spinning why the ultimate outcome will be worse than I bet on and then trying to escape some of my positions, and then if the price moves saying "oh wait I was think I missed some stuff, it will be better than we were thinking" and posting arguments in that direction to escape the others.

I thought I had the potential to really get hammered, because I was afraid that covid would come back to the Senate this week, but that isn't going to happen so the Senate is using this week to catch up on confirmations (most of the bets expire March 1 at midnight).

I had $1700 bet that Ramiando would be confirmed by midnight March 1--that seems very unlikely at this point. That is the one I'm going to take it on the chin.

[Josquius]

Sooo.... the dollar seems to have crashed a bit?

[Berkut]

He knows everything about those things. And he will tell you all about it.

I don't know everything, but I know more than you, obviously.

No, you only know what you need to know to confirm your defense of Moscow Mitch. The rest you just ignore. Classic cognitive dissonance.

Berkut, I'm going to speak to you from my heart. I want you to absorb what I'm saying, reflect on it for a few moments, and contemplate the possibility that it is true.

You are a useless fucking idiot.

Three weeks ago I was arguing it would be better for Schumer not to schedule the Senate trial in February. I gave several predictions on what I thought would happen if the trial was held in February, and why I thought a delayed trial would be advantageous. MM and others disagreed with me. Schumer apparently does not read m posts on languish, and the trial was held anyway. What I thought would happen has indeed happened, and so I'm making an "I told you so" post to those who disagreed with me earlier.

I'm not defending Mitch McConnell. This was about a decision point the democrats had weeks ago.

Of course you are.

You think Schumer should "Deal with the hand he is dealt" when it is dealt to him by your lovely Moscow Mitch, and in the process, make sure poor Trumpy and is buddies are let off the hook.

Democrats shold make decisions based on reality and what has happened, and what is likely to happen. Letting McConnell set the terms for all decisions is stupid.

They could have had the trial, AND got confirmations, if the GOP had cooperated. Of course they did not, but that is because people like you encourage them to act exactly as they are acting, and cheer them on for it, and turn around and blame the Dems for not cooperating with the GOP and doing their bidding, like "Hey, lets just have this trial of attempted insurrection in, I don't know...some time when there isn't anything more interesting happening...I am sure that will totally come up soon. Give it a few months, and then we can discuss if the timing is convenient for Mitch and Lindsey!"

Fucking GOP sycophant tool.

[The Minsky Moment]

Here we are three weeks later, with only 7 cabinet positions confirmed, and a bullshit senate trial at a historically breakneck pace without witnesses.

It turns out the Senate could not walk and chew gum at the same time. You willing to admit I was right on this?

No capability is not the same as result.

It's clear that the slow pace on appointments has nothing to do with the impeachment trial, which as you correctly point out, was carried out very quickly - because that was in the interest of all factions.

[alfred russel]

Of course you are.

You think Schumer should "Deal with the hand he is dealt" when it is dealt to him by your lovely Moscow Mitch, and in the process, make sure poor Trumpy and is buddies are let off the hook.

Democrats shold make decisions based on reality and what has happened, and what is likely to happen. Letting McConnell set the terms for all decisions is stupid.

They could have had the trial, AND got confirmations, if the GOP had cooperated. Of course they did not, but that is because people like you encourage them to act exactly as they are acting, and cheer them on for it, and turn around and blame the Dems for not cooperating with the GOP and doing their bidding, like "Hey, lets just have this trial of attempted insurrection in, I don't know...some time when there isn't anything more interesting happening...I am sure that will totally come up soon. Give it a few months, and then we can discuss if the timing is convenient for Mitch and Lindsey!"

Fucking GOP sycophant tool.

God damn you are an idiot. Chuck Schumer is the majority leader, not Mitch McConnell. The filibuster for nominees has been removed. McConnell voted that the trial was unconstitutional, and yet it happened against his objections. Covid relief passed in the first round despite unanimous GOP objection. McConnell seems to be some sort of all powerful boogeyman in your mind that can determine Senate results and Schumer is powerless.

[Berkut]

Yes, your right, Schumer has the power to let Mitch tell him how to run the Senate, and if he doesn't go along with Mitch, why, then its his fault for not cooperating with your Dear Leader and his lackeys when shit does not get done.