The Biden Presidency

[acbytesla]

Deb Haaland Confirmed As First Native American Interior Secretary

The Senate voted 51-40 Monday to confirm the Democratic Congresswoman to lead the Interior Department.

I knew it would be a battle.

 

[SezMe]

And yet, they are under Biden's control.

Yes ... and no.

Yes, on an org chart of the federal government, they are under Biden's control.

No, in that the federal bureaucracy is a huge behemoth with incredible inertia. People, department, sections, division, etc., etc. all protect their turf. Those who disagree with new policy may actually work to undermine it. Significant changes may require finding new people, getting them hired and trained and letting them get experience on the job to be effective.

Biden's been on the job ... what, 50 days. Confirmation of appointees who need Senate approval is going slow. T**** left many hostile actors in place to gum up Biden's efforts. Biden's got one helluva lot on his plate besides bad police policy.

So your claim that some bureaucrats are "under Biden's control" is just plain misleading. Actually, just simply incorrect. As I suggested, you need a refresher course on reality. One of the lessons should include instruction on what a straw man is.

 

[SezMe]

My own guess is that he won't run again owing to age, and that Harris is being groomed as the successor, her current position close to incumbency.

That's my favorite scenario.

 

[SezMe]

Unless you want to sentence old people to starve to death, the nation requires an influx of young workers to support retirees. Population growth equals economic growth. The countries that limit immigration, especially including Japan and Russia, are facing economic stagnation, if not decline, as their populations age. Despite right-wing claims, nobody supports open borders. Obama deported more people than any of his predecessors. But generally speaking, immigration is not only good, but essential.

So we need more workers. Who end up staying and having families and getting old. So we need more workers. Who end up staying and having families and getting old. So we need more workers. Who end up staying and having families and getting old. So we need more workers...........

And so on. It's not essential, it's a death spiral of decreased quality of life, a degraded environment and massive social ills.

 

[SezMe]

Posted in the new thread.

 

[acbytesla]

My own guess is that he won't run again owing to age, and that Harris is being groomed as the successor, her current position close to incumbency. But who knows?

That's my favorite scenario.

Not mine. And I like Harris. I'm afraid America is far too racist and misogynistic to elect her at this time. I don't really care who is President, I care what they will do. A losing Democrat does nothing for the country.

Hillary was a great choice for President and really a terrible choice for a candidate at this moment in our history.

I don't want to entertain the possibility of electing a fascist President who will tear the country apart given the opportunity.

 

[bruto]

Not mine. And I like Harris. I'm afraid America is far too racist and misogynistic to elect her at this time. I don't really care who is President, I care what they will do. A losing Democrat does nothing for the country.

Hillary was a great choice for President and really a terrible choice for a candidate at this moment in our history.

I don't want to entertain the possibility of electing a fascist President who will tear the country apart given the opportunity.

I'm torn, because I agree that we need someone who can win. But at the same time the idea that we must run a half-republican president in order to get anywhere at all kind of ruffles my feathers, especially since the usual outcome is that they stall and gridlock anyway and eat the Democrats' lunch.

Of course the solution is that there's no solution, and the realistic outcome is that we're ****** anyway.

 

[acbytesla]

I'm torn, because I agree that we need someone who can win. But at the same time the idea that we must run a half-republican president in order to get anywhere at all kind of ruffles my feathers, especially since the usual outcome is that they stall and gridlock anyway and eat the Democrats' lunch.

Of course the solution is that there's no solution, and the realistic outcome is that we're ****** anyway.

I don't think it has to be a "half Republican". In fact I think policy has little to do with it. It's about people feeling comfortable with their choice. I think the country is more misogynistic than racist. People absolutely hated Hillary and mostly for reasons they never would have used against a man.

The first female President is going to have to be very charismatic.

 

[Silly Green Monkey]

So we need more workers. Who end up staying and having families and getting old. So we need more workers. Who end up staying and having families and getting old. So we need more workers. Who end up staying and having families and getting old. So we need more workers...........

And so on. It's not essential, it's a death spiral of decreased quality of life, a degraded environment and massive social ills.

How is it a spiral when they're "having families"? The whole reason that immigrants are needed is because USians *aren't* having enough families to replace all the workers.

 

[Roger Ramjets]

How is it a spiral when they're "having families"? The whole reason that immigrants are needed is because USians *aren't* having enough families to replace all the workers.

Which is why we need to ban abortions and decriminalize spousal rape.

So we need more workers. Who end up staying and having families and getting old.

We found a solution to that - Covid-19.

The countries that limit immigration, especially including Japan and Russia, are facing economic stagnation, if not decline, as their populations age.

OMG! Economic stagnation, if not decline! In a grossly overpopulated country like Japan.

The whole World needs to depopulate, and the consequences of not doing so will harm us much more than a little 'economic stagnation'. That doesn't mean we should stop all immigration, but we should be aiming towards a sustainable population, not ever-increasing growth at the expense of the environment.

 

[PhantomWolf]

I don't think it has to be a "half Republican". In fact I think policy has little to do with it. It's about people feeling comfortable with their choice. I think the country is more misogynistic than racist. People absolutely hated Hillary and mostly for reasons they never would have used against a man.

The first female President is going to have to be very charismatic.

You have to remember though that the Republicans had spent 30 years working hard to get people to hate Hilary for no real rational reasons, even to the point that a number of democrats hated her, and even then they needed a massive Russian smear campaign and the whole Emails saga to squeak out one of the narrowest victory margins in US history.

 

[Fast Eddie B]

I'm afraid America is far too racist and misogynistic to elect her at this time.

As far as racist, we did elect Obama, so there’s that.

As far as misogynistic, that’s possible, but I think selecting a woman VP as a running mate was likely a net positive. And more than 50% of the US population is female. I guess women can be misogynistic as well, but I don’t think that’s all that common.

 

[TurkeysGhost]

Something I've noticed not getting enough attention is the full court press that Republican state legislatures are making for reducing voting access as a result of the Biden win.

Using the "stolen election" myth as a pretext, Republican controlled states across the country are passing restrictive voting laws intended to drive down voter participation. High voter turnout almost always benefits Democratic candidates.

Republicans hold legislative majorities and governorships in 24 states — including battlegrounds like Arizona, Florida, Georgia, even Texas — and 22 of them are pursuing voting restrictions.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/after-2020-loss-gop-targets-voting-restrictions-n1261080

The current SCOTUS will not overturn these restrictions.

The Biden presidency, despite being generally popular, may very well be the last Democratic presidential victory in the foreseeable future. The Republicans are moving hard to entrench themselves as a permanent ruling minority.

I know I'm quite vocally critical of Biden here, but I'm not entirely sure what, if anything, he and the rest of the Democratic party can actually do here.

 

[Ethan Thane Athen]

I don't think it has to be a "half Republican". In fact I think policy has little to do with it. It's about people feeling comfortable with their choice. I think the country is more misogynistic than racist. People absolutely hated Hillary and mostly for reasons they never would have used against a man.

The first female President is going to have to be very charismatic.

Based on her performance in press conferences, I'd elect Jen Psaki...

 

[gnome]

Something I've noticed not getting enough attention is the full court press that Republican state legislatures are making for reducing voting access as a result of the Biden win.

Using the "stolen election" myth as a pretext, Republican controlled states across the country are passing restrictive voting laws intended to drive down voter participation. High voter turnout almost always benefits Democratic candidates.



https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/after-2020-loss-gop-targets-voting-restrictions-n1261080

The current SCOTUS will not overturn these restrictions.

The Biden presidency, despite being generally popular, may very well be the last Democratic presidential victory in the foreseeable future. The Republicans are moving hard to entrench themselves as a permanent ruling minority.

I know I'm quite vocally critical of Biden here, but I'm not entirely sure what, if anything, he and the rest of the Democratic party can actually do here.

Lots of voter advocacy and assistance. Even with access to the voting both limited unfairly, there are lots of ways to get people through the excess of red tape anyway.

 

[Lurch]

Which is why we need to ban abortions and decriminalize spousal rape.

We found a solution to that - Covid-19.

OMG! Economic stagnation, if not decline! In a grossly overpopulated country like Japan.

The whole World needs to depopulate, and the consequences of not doing so will harm us much more than a little 'economic stagnation'. That doesn't mean we should stop all immigration, but we should be aiming towards a sustainable population, not ever-increasing growth at the expense of the environment.

At the end of which is Soylent Green.

 

[Segnosaur]

Something I've noticed not getting enough attention is the full court press that Republican state legislatures are making for reducing voting access as a result of the Biden win.
...
The current SCOTUS will not overturn these restrictions.

The Biden presidency, despite being generally popular, may very well be the last Democratic presidential victory in the foreseeable future.

True, the republicans are trying to 'fix' the system in order to lock out the democrats, and its unlikely that the supreme court will do anything to stop them. (The democrats do have their voting reform bill, although it wouldn't surprise me if the supreme court blocks it, as they did with the previous voting rights act.)

However, things may not be as dire as you make it sound...

- It is possible that at least some of the republican actions might be blocked by state-level courts. (We have seen them do so over cases of gerrymandering.)

- Many of the states that are enacting new voting restrictions (like Oklahoma, Alabama, etc.) are deep red states which likely wouldn't vote democrat regardless of how open the voting process was. Other states might be republican but trending democrat (such as Texas), but in those cases the republican restrictions are just delaying a drift towards the Democrats. Some states that are swing states to some degree (Florida, Georgia) are more of a problem for the Democrats, but the Democrats have won elections without them in the past.

- Some of the attempted restrictions are on mail-in voting. Hopefully however, in future elections covid-19 will be less of an issue, so restricting mail-in voting won't be as harmful

I am not trying to minimize the harm that republicans are doing to democracy. And these changes do make it harder for the Democrats to win. I'm just saying it won't be impossible for them to pull off a victory.

 

[Trebuchet]

The first female President is going to have to be very charismatic.

The first female President is probably going to be a conservative Republican. Someone like Caribou Barbie or M.T. Greene.

 

[Segnosaur]

The first female President is probably going to be a conservative Republican. Someone like Caribou Barbie or M.T. Greene.

I thought that would be the case myself...

But, if Biden decides to be a one-term president, I do think Harris has a pretty good shot in 2024.... She might benefit from being seen as an "incumbent". And with a little luck, the country might be in a big rebound (both economically and socially) following the Covid pandemic (which would make the democrats look good). Those factors might help overcome some of the racism/sexism that exists in the U.S.

 

[bruto]

Harris might have a little advantage, because her rise to public notice has been a little quicker, and the Republicans have not had so much time to launch a defamation industry as they did with Hillary.