The Biden Presidency

[Horatius]

Then there's always the story that Joe is going to limit us increase our meat supply to 4 lbs. of meat per year!

Did you learn nothing from 1984?

 

[Lurch]

You'd have a better point if you were paying taxes to a King, but in a democracy, there's an expectation that the government won't use tax money on things most of the people really don't want.

I mean, would you be okay with government officials using tax dollars for personal holidays? I suspect not.

Of course, we express our opinions on how to use tax money via voting, and a majority voted in favor of Biden, who openly supported the Green New Deal, so that question should be settled for the moment.

Nuh uh! Biden stole the election! So MORE people DON'T want his burger-ending Green New Deal!

 

[JoeMorgue]

There's two very different questions being asked on top of each other.

- Is doing what most people want to do the right thing to do?
- Is doing what most people want to do the right thing to do... when there's no reason everyone has to do the same thing?

Yes, sometimes solutions are all or nothing and the first question is the one that should be asked, sometimes not. Politics love to pretend that everything is the first question though.

In other words if I want to go to Burger Hut and 5 people want to Pizza Shack for lunch, "Do we all have to go the same place to eat" is a perfectly valid question in some scenarios (insert all of the nuance and exceptions and special cases in all of history here to cover my butt from pedantics.)

 

[dudalb]

You'd have a better point if you were paying taxes to a King, but in a democracy, there's an expectation that the government won't use tax money on things most of the people really don't want.

I mean, would you be okay with government officials using tax dollars for personal holidays? I suspect not.

Of course, we express our opinions on how to use tax money via voting, and a majority voted in favor of Biden, who openly supported the Green New Deal, so that question should be settled for the moment.

There are very few people who agree with everything their tax money is spent on.
Just fact of life.

 

[Dr. Keith]

Yeah, this. They have emergency powers to issue licenses to use the patents to other companies, if the owning company is incapable of meeting the immediate demand. Sometimes this is done with no license fee, but usually they do set a reasonable fee, which is often lower than the owner would prefer.

The owner still owns the patent, and once the crisis is past, can profit from it for the remainder of its lifetime.

There's a very good article on it here:

https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/public_health_faq_e.htm

Patent nerd!





(Thanks for finding an actual article so that my unsourced memories are not relied upon.)

 

[Dr. Keith]

There are very few people who agree with everything their tax money is spent on.
Just fact of life.

Yep, we wouldn't need politicians if we all agreed on everything the government should be doing.

Lots of my money will be spent on things I don't like and none of Trump's money will never be paid in taxes. What are those bastards complaining about again?

 

[acbytesla]

You'd have a better point if you were paying taxes to a King, but in a democracy, there's an expectation that the government won't use tax money on things most of the people really don't want.

I mean, would you be okay with government officials using tax dollars for personal holidays? I suspect not.

Of course, we express our opinions on how to use tax money via voting, and a majority voted in favor of Biden, who openly supported the Green New Deal, so that question should be settled for the moment.

To begin with, Biden never supported "The Green New Deal". And The American Rescue Plan isn't The Green New Deal. Yes there are a few things in common. But there definitely are substantial differences. One for example, the GND is staunchly anti-nuclear and the ARP promotes nuclear power.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I might be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure that once I pay my taxes, it isn't my money anymore. If I buy something at the store, I don't get to complain about them spending "my money" on purchasing inventory that I don't like.

When you pay your taxes, you are essentially giving it to someone to buy something for you.

I'm good with Biden's handling of the money he has to spend for me. Tax cuts Trump oversaw benefitted only private citizens in a certain economic class and jacked up the deficit by trillions of dollars. Now we have a POTUS who recognizes that giving money to the rich does nothing to stimulate the economy while spending a similar amount on infrastructure, going by history, does.

 

[smartcooky]

You'd have a better point if you were paying taxes to a King, but in a democracy, there's an expectation that the government won't use tax money on things most of the people really don't want.

Like a border wall, for example, or making up the shortfall when the government decides to take less tax from rich people.

 

[acbytesla]

When you pay your taxes, you are essentially giving it to someone to buy something for you. I'm good with Biden's handling of the money he has to spend for me. Tax cuts Trump oversaw benefitted only private citizens in a certain economic class and jacked up the deficit by trillions of dollars. Now we have a POTUS who recognizes that giving money to the rich does nothing to stimulate the economy while spending a similar amount on infrastructure, going by history, does.

I don't really care for that analogy. IMV, Taxes are part of the societal contract we have as citizens. I don't pay it for the government to buy "something" for me.

I pay them one, because it is my duty to my country, just like it is a duty to serve in the military. It's an acknowledgement that we are not in this on our own.

Paying taxes is one way to serve the nation.

 

[dudalb]

I think there is a flaw in the logic here: the government OUGHT to spend money on stuff I don't want to spend money on, because if the people would be willing to spend money themselves it would not be necessary for the Government to do it.

As stated, everybody has complaints about what they consider to be wasteful government spending. Of they differ wildly about what exactly wasteful spending is..............

 

[SezMe]

I'm good with Biden's handling of the money he has to spend for me. Tax cuts Trump oversaw benefitted only private citizens in a certain economic class and jacked up the deficit by trillions of dollars.

Speaking of the deficit, have you noticed how Republicans are asking, of the infrastructure plan, "How is this going to be paid for?" I cannot remember a single time between 2016 and 2020 when that question was uttered by any member of the GOP at any level (fed, state, local, etc.)

 

[gabeygoat]

I don't really care for that analogy. IMV, Taxes are part of the societal contract we have as citizens. I don't pay it for the government to buy "something" for me.

I pay them one, because it is my duty to my country, just like it is a duty to serve in the military. It's an acknowledgement that we are not in this on our own.

Paying taxes is one way to serve the nation.

I don’t see them as a duty, though I do see them in a community light. They’re more like an HOA fee, but with more bang for your buck. (I know the government can be inefficient, -sidenote- but when I did appraisals, 500$ a month in HOA fees would get you...not being able to park your car in front of your house for more than 2 days, a limited amount of paint colors for the house (in, CA, that was usually beige, dark beige or pink), a restriction on plants you can have, etc).

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I don't really care for that analogy. IMV, Taxes are part of the societal contract we have as citizens. I don't pay it for the government to buy "something" for me.

I pay them one, because it is my duty to my country, just like it is a duty to serve in the military. It's an acknowledgement that we are not in this on our own.

Paying taxes is one way to serve the nation.

It wasn't an analogy.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Speaking of the deficit, have you noticed how Republicans are asking, of the infrastructure plan, "How is this going to be paid for?" I cannot remember a single time between 2016 and 2020 when that question was uttered by any member of the GOP at any level (fed, state, local, etc.)

2016, hah, try going back to Reagan and probably earlier.

Reagan and GW Bush both, like Dump, oversaw tax cuts that resulted in massive increases in the deficit.

 

[acbytesla]

I don’t see them as a duty, though I do see them in a community light. They’re more like an HOA fee, but with more bang for your buck. (I know the government can be inefficient, -sidenote- but when I did appraisals, 500$ a month in HOA fees would get you...not being able to park your car in front of your house for more than 2 days, a limited amount of paint colors for the house (in, CA, that was usually beige, dark beige or pink), a restriction on plants you can have, etc).

You don't see them as a duty. I get it. Patriotism requires no sacrifice. We get to act like we support our country. That is until it costs us something.

To live in a society that has roads, court, laws, police, fire protection and there isn't homeless people begging for help on countless corners costs something.

Wait a minute, there are homeless people begging almost everywhere. (My bad)

 

[pgwenthold]

Speaking of the deficit, have you noticed how Republicans are asking, of the infrastructure plan, "How is this going to be paid for?" I cannot remember a single time between 2016 and 2020 when that question was uttered by any member of the GOP at any level (fed, state, local, etc.)

Oh sure they do. And all they say is, "Tax cuts will pay for themselves." If you assume that tax cuts will stimulate 10% growth, see, then revenues are going to increase.

That's al the democrats need to do. How will we pay for the infrastructure? Call it an investment that will pay for itself.

Or they could use the answer Trump gave on who was going to pay for his infrastructure plan. "People. Investors."

That's right. He thought that there would be "investors" to pay for fixing the bridges in rural Minnesota and Iowa. I'm not joking, this is what he actually said. Before he was elected. This is where Hilary screwed up. She should have gone after him on this type of nonsense.

 

[gabeygoat]

You don't see them as a duty. I get it. Patriotism requires no sacrifice. We get to act like we support our country. That is until it costs us something.

To live in a society that has roads, court, laws, police, fire protection and there isn't homeless people begging for help on countless corners costs something.

Wait a minute, there are homeless people begging almost everywhere. (My bad)

Just to clarify, I’m not against taxes. I just don’t feel like it’s a duty as much as a contribution. Maybe I wasn’t clear. I think taxes are by far, better than HOA fees. I just think the initial idea is the same. A community gathers resources for the group benefit. I think taxes (government) are better at this than HOA fees (private).

 

[Aridas]

Speaking of the deficit, have you noticed how Republicans are asking, of the infrastructure plan, "How is this going to be paid for?" I cannot remember a single time between 2016 and 2020 when that question was uttered by any member of the GOP at any level (fed, state, local, etc.)

I think I recall Rand Paul(?) doing publicity stunts a couple times, which pretty much just amounted to him dragging things out a bit.

To poke at a couple other bits of news...

First, some very good news...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that the number of unaccompanied minors detained in unfit Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities has plummeted nearly 90% since March, CBS News reports. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that 677 children who arrived to the U.S. without a parent were in the agency’s custody over the past weekend, down from 5,767 children at the end of March.

<snip>

The Biden administration also noted significant drops in wait times for children in both HHS and CBP custody. CBS News reports that Mayorkas said that the length of time that children are spending in CBP custody has lowered, from an average of 130 hours in March to 20 hours now.

<snip>

In HHS’ case, CNN reports that the administration said “[t]he average time that children are being reunited with a sponsor has been reduced to 29 days, down from 40 days on February 22. Children being reunited with a parent or guardian is less, taking about 22 days.”

Second, some eyerolling news -

Late last week, in response to a state judge's order, the Florida tech firm -- a group named Cyber Ninjas, with no experience in either elections or voting systems, who were retained by the GOP-majority state Senate to carry out this unprecedented "audit" -- revealed a 191-page document [PDF] supposedly detailing their recount and forensic audit procedures. (Though in fact, as we also report, these procedures have been changed many times since the "audit" began over a week ago.)

Many questions, such as why they are running ballots through a UV light, are not answered by the documents, which the far-right group, whose leader has claimed last year's Presidential election was stolen (without offering actual evidence to support the claim), attempted to keep concealed as "trade secrets".

Other information was revealed, however, such as the group's process for tallying ballots which, as I explain today, would actually allow the group to add (yes, steal) a minimum of 42,000 votes for Trump, without ever raising any alarms or red flags in the group's internal procedures. That, in race that was decided statewide for Joe Biden by just over 10,000 votes.

 

[mgidm86]

Ronna McDaniel tweets

@GOPChairwoman
More conflicts of interest in the Biden administration as they move to waste trillions of dollars of your money on Green New Deal “investments.”

Yeah and your guy tried to steal an election. Backatcha' bitch.

That's my go-to response right now with the morons. Short, simple, and shuts them up.

I don't care what Biden does for the next, oh say year and a half. I'm still getting over the jackass before him, and trying to cope with the fact that people all over this country still like him.