What does a BIDEN Presidency look like?

[Habbaku]

I haven't paid much attention to politics since Biden was sworn in. What has he done that's convinced you guys he's not as bad?

I do like the way he's been speaking, mind, but I don't know how much of that is just listening to a guy who sounds like a normal human.

[Berkut]

I haven't paid much attention to politics since Biden was sworn in. What has he done that's convinced you guys he's not as bad?

I do like the way he's been speaking, mind, but I don't know how much of that is just listening to a guy who sounds like a normal human.

He is absolutely NOT succumbing to the demands from the <insert word other then woke to describe exactly what we all know that word describes in this context> crowd to make a bunch of dumbass speeches about defunding the police or abolishing cops or cancelling anyone.

He IS coming up with sane, rational, but surprisingly progressive policies and proposals for actually making things better, without getting all wild eyed and bonkers about it - just the facts, ma'am kind of approach.

But really, coupled with some pretty damn progressive policies.

Fingers are crossed he can keep it up.

I would like to see a lot more aggression on climate change though.

[garbon]

He is absolutely NOT succumbing to the demands from the <insert word other then woke to describe exactly what we all know that word describes in this context> crowd to make a bunch of dumbass speeches about defunding the police or abolishing cops or cancelling anyone.

Not succumbing to black people?

[Barrister]

He IS coming up with sane, rational, but surprisingly progressive policies and proposals for actually making things better, without getting all wild eyed and bonkers about it - just the facts, ma'am kind of approach.

But really, coupled with some pretty damn progressive policies.

I'm fading on Biden honestly.

I think I read he's proposed 6 or 7 trillion dollars in spending.  That's just

Yes, no need to point out that the former guy was hardly any better in terms of reckless spending.

[Razgovory]

Only beef I have with Joe right now is that throwing around Trillion dollar plans make me kind of queasy.  I really wish there was a Republican party that could contribute to these bills, but there isn't.  Democrats learned during the Obama years that any negotiations with the GOP are fruitless as the GOP does not act in good faith.  I'm not sure how to fix that.  Obviously removing Mitch McConnel would be a good start, but that doesn't seem likely.

[Habbaku]

As a loud and proud budget hawk, I no longer give a shit about what most other budget hawks think because most of them were/are clueless Trumpists.

If we're going to quibble about spending, it's not at a time when interest rates are at historic lows and the economy is facing a generational challenge of a pandemic.

[Razgovory]

As a loud and proud budget hawk, I no longer give a shit about what most other budget hawks think because most of them were/are clueless Trumpists.

If we're going to quibble about spending, it's not at a time when interest rates are at historic lows and the economy is facing a generational challenge of a pandemic.

I don't disagree with you.  Still, its a bitter medicine.

[Berkut]

He is absolutely NOT succumbing to the demands from the <insert word other then woke to describe exactly what we all know that word describes in this context> crowd to make a bunch of dumbass speeches about defunding the police or abolishing cops or cancelling anyone.

Not succumbing to black people?

Yes, that's right. That is the only possible thing that anything can be about. It's all about you, always.

[Valmy]

We have to stabilize the political and economic situation then balance the budget.

[The Brain]

I tried to tell you guys he was awesome when the primaries started.

The opinion of Kentucky has been noted.

[Sheilbh]

As a loud and proud budget hawk, I no longer give a shit about what most other budget hawks think because most of them were/are clueless Trumpists.

If we're going to quibble about spending, it's not at a time when interest rates are at historic lows and the economy is facing a generational challenge of a pandemic.

Yeah I totally agree - and after the pandemic the energy transition.

My view is that the signal from the market is: spend, and that frankly helping through the pandemic and then the energy transition are basically like wartime. The only thing big enough to act on these things is the state. I keep on coming back to it but look at these hundreds of millions of vaccines being given now - that would happen without the state backing the research massively and then basically entirely de-risking huge chunks of the manufacturing. We should be learning from this and thinking how we can apply it to energy (obviously having said that - it's easier to say from the UK where fossil fuel production is not a big political issue anymore thanks to Maggie and what we do is arguably almost a side-show to the changes China will make).

And I think there's been a transformation in mainstream economic thinking on this - I think that the dominant ideas are now the left. Adam Tooze did a fascinating sort of intellectual history of Yellen, Krugman and Draghi from their perspectives in the 80s and 90s to now, and I think they are sort of emblematic of the priestly profession of economics.

[Berkut]

As a loud and proud budget hawk, I no longer give a shit about what most other budget hawks think because most of them were/are clueless Trumpists.

If we're going to quibble about spending, it's not at a time when interest rates are at historic lows and the economy is facing a generational challenge of a pandemic.

The choices right now seem to be between those who want to run up massive deficits buying military hardware and cutting taxes for the ultra wealthy, and those who want to run up massive deficits on badly overdue social spending and infrastructure.

It's an easy choice for me.

[Razgovory]

And to demonstrate my point that the GOP can't be dealt with:

(CNN)Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is wading into the culture wars Friday morning.

In a letter obtained by CNN, the Republican leader asks Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to abandon curriculum in American schools that McConnell argues tells a revisionist history of America's founding.
McConnell claims these programs such as The New York Times 1619 Project "re-orient" the view of American History "away from their intended purposes toward a politicized and divisive agenda." Politico was the first to report on the letter.
The 1619 project has become a hot button issue for conservatives across America and politicians have fought efforts by school districts to make it a part of history curriculum in public school districts.

The project, launched by The New York Times in 2019, reframes American history around the date of August 1619 when the first slave ship arrived on America's shores, and it has launched a fierce debate over the legacy that slavery has played in shaping America, particularly as it relates to its treatment of Black citizens.
Republicans have misleadingly suggested there are widespread efforts to install the program in schools across the country. Former President Donald Trump made it a rallying cry during the 2020 election. While some states, like California, have used the project as part of their learning plan, the federal government has not directly instructed or promoted schools to use it, as it does not play a role in specific curriculum planning in local schools. Those decisions are largely made at the state level.

However, the Education Department, under the Biden administration, has proposed offering grant programs to states and local schools that would incentivize them to use tools like the 1619 Project in their classrooms.
McConnell is calling on the education secretary to abandon the idea.
"Actual, trained, credentialed historians with diverse political views have debunked the project's many factual and historical errors, such as the bizarre and inaccurate notion that preserving slavery was a primary driver of the American Revolution," McConnell writes. "One renowned historian called the project 'so wrong in so many ways.' Citing this debunked advocacy confirms that your Proposed Priorities would not focus on critical thinking or accurate history, but on spoon-feeding students a slanted story."
CNN has reached out to the Education Department for response to McConnell's letter. The White House referred CNN to the Education Department.
McConnell did not limit his criticism to the 1619 Project. He also attacked state level programs that he argues demonstrates a pattern of public schools attempting to indoctrinate children with liberal policies.
"Families did not ask for this divisive nonsense. Voters did not vote for it. Americans never decided our children should be taught that our country is inherently evil."

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/30/politics/mcconnell-1619-project-education-secretary/index.html

This stupid, pointless culture war bullshit is all the GOP has these day.  Who the fuck cares if some affluent school district in California teaches this?  Besides, I thought these assholes were for more local control of schools, not less.  Still, It really pisses me off.  There is a laser focus on the irrelevant and at best an ambivalence toward actually governing the country.  More often it's outright hostility to running the government.

[Jacob]

Virtue signaling is another term that fits nicely into the category of a phrase which has become meaningless.  It is now being used as a slur along with "woke" to mean things the person using the phrase (usually someone on the right) does not like - whatever that might be.

Yeah for sure. As I understand it the derogatory usage originated on the alt-right internet and now it has gained wider currency to disparage anyone taking up positions further to the left with accusations of just wanting to be seen as being right, rather than actually mean what they say.

There's a lot of that going around these days, it seems. And while I agree that there are flakes and counter productive zealots on the left and far left, I don't the term isn't deployed particularly precisely IMO.

[Jacob]

Agreed. I think Biden is right to focus on getting things done. I also think, and as someone on the centre-left, I've always thought that the best course for the left is to campaign and speak moderately, while governing radically.

I concur.

I think there are times and places for the drawn out inquiries, but not on centre stage.